Need advice for the coming months :p

megalowmaniac

megalowmaniac

New Member
Hey guys long time no see Im back again as you guys truely helped me last year with upgrading my PC. So last year I had the cookie cutter budget gaming pc. I cant belive how crappy my 3000+ [$160] is now when to me last year it was the greatest thing in the world HAH Lol. Call me spoiled if you wish but for me upgrading my pc each year is religion :P


as follows:

AMD 64 3000+ Socket 754 :mad:
1gb corsair value ram
Nvidia 7600GT stock [ got it 3 months ago]
15 inch LCD 1024x768 rezz
420 watt psu

Prey and DX10 is coming in the next few months and prices are dropping like mad. What is a gamer like me supposed to do in this situation? Im screwed because I have a socket 754 and it would be useless for me to buy a $350 video card because my processor will bottleneck it. and i would need new psu. I have a MAX $400 budget... I was thinking of going Dual Core 2 and getting myself a 6400 and some $100 mobo and a PSU. Or should I wait for that amazing DX10 card? With my current system I cant play F.E.A.R nicely and Prey is going to kick my ass which is a game I am really looking forward too...

What do you guys think? thanks for reading my boring ass story... :cool:
 
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A Socket 939 or AM2 board and a good buy on an AMD cpu should do good with the budget there. Some are now hearing complaints about Core 2s?
 
Most definately go for a X2 or AM2 build. Dual-core is more future-proof, but a single core is perfectly fine for someone on a budget. I'm at work, and should be working, so don't have time to give you a list of parts to get.

PC eye, what sort of complaints have you heard? I'm really curious now.

EDIT: What MAKE is your PSU? E.g., Enermax, tagan...
 
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thealmightyone said:
Most definately go for a X2 or AM2 build. Dual-core is more future-proof, but a single core is perfectly fine for someone on a budget. I'm at work, and should be working, so don't have time to give you a list of parts to get.

PC eye, what sort of complaints have you heard? I'm really curious now.

EDIT: What MAKE is your PSU? E.g., Enermax, tagan...
Click to expand...

I haven't heard the complaints directly from the system owners at this time. But that has been passed along by a few lately. It was just like when the complaints started rolling in on NVidia 7900 GT model cards where you have to assume someone got less then what they were excited for. Or they simply were trying to push things beyond what the specifications allowed? oops!:eek:
 
PC eye said:
A Socket 939 or AM2 board and a good buy on an AMD cpu should do good with the budget there. Some are now hearing complaints about Core 2s?
Click to expand...
Specifically?

A Core 2 Duo based system would be ideal, but there are no good boards that will take your current RAM. An older, S939 system may be your only option if you wish to retain it. For Example:

Asus A8N-E $86
AMD X2 4600+ $242
XCLIO 450BL $46
Total $374

I'd recommend selling your current RAM, and looking at something like:
Core 2 Duo E6300 $183
Mushkin 1GB DDR2-667 $96
Gigabyte 965P-S3 $117
XCLIO 450BL $46
Total $442
 
For a budget AMD system you could use what I'm assuming is DDR400 memory on an Asus A8N SLI board with the current supply. Someone around here just picked up an AMD64 4200+ X2 cpu for $180 at one vendor. But you would still need a slightly larger supply later if you planned on upgrading the video card to a newer model.

Eventually I'll get out of the 3500+ here and run an FX60 until the next build. But that will be more of a work horse rather then seeing a gaming build there.
 
ceewi1 said:
Specifically?

A Core 2 Duo based system would be ideal, but there are no good boards that will take your current RAM. An older, S939 system may be your only option if you wish to retain it. For Example:

Asus A8N-E $86
AMD X2 4600+ $242
XCLIO 450BL $46
Total $374

I'd recommend selling your current RAM, and looking at something like:
Core 2 Duo E6300 $183
Mushkin 1GB DDR2-667 $96
Gigabyte 965P-S3 $117
XCLIO 450BL $46
Total $442
Click to expand...



Thanks for taking the time to make me a price list :) btw ceewi is that E6300 faster than the AMD X2 4600+?! Also is it not a bit silly to drop a benjamin on ram that will perform the same as my corsair value ram? or will it be faster?

Thanks guys...
 
i find the cpu isn't as much of a worry as the video card is when it comes to power usage. if you plan on using a 7900gtx, you'll want at the very least a 25A 12v rail, preferably dual 12V rails, and 500w or higher...
7900gt 450w 22A id say...
if you're overclocking id suggest a 550-600watt psu just to have a nice buffer zone, and dual 12V.
preferably at least 15A (most come 18A or higher) per rail.
if you only plan on getting a 7600gt its still better to get a higher wattage and amperage rating just to be more stable and more upgradable (since upgrading is a religion for you an i alike) ...
 
It's not only the video card alone that will draw on a supply heavier with the newer board. The AM2 boards now see 8gb upto 16gb of DDR2 memory while the newer line of cpus themselves draw less. For a basic system running either a 7900 NVidia model or X1900 series ATI driven card 450w meets the low point. Once you add in a few drives or devices try a good 550w model.

For a full bored out OCing build you can easily cllimb to 700w with some supplies available at the moment. Or you could go full steam and boot upto 1000w or 1100w model supplies to cover more then you should ever need. After a good supply you'll want to spend on cooling for the OC part. Once you start stressing the hardwares temps will become the burden.
 
So should i wait till Q1 2007 to upgrade? I am not very familiar with price drops atm I noticed amd cpu's are lower but I also noticed a 2gb set will set me back a fat $350 including a new mobo. I pretty much screwed my butt over with socket 754 =/

Just a fun note: two months ago a AMD 64 X2 4600+ Manchester was $550 and now its $240 damn, what a price drop lol.

edit:nvm
 
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Don't feel bad on cpu prices. The FX60 to top off the board here clears $600 at the present time. Maybe it will be under $200 when the decision is made on when to build the next one. So far through the years I've never spend over $180 on model.

Don't feel bad if your 754 board is still running. The case used here now was a fast replacement that cam about when the old one didn't like some high temps and quit.
 
I am propably going to sell my system for about $499

and getting something like this:

- Sonata 2 Case with 450 watt PSU -$95

- Core 2 duo E6400 - $230

- OCZ Gold 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2G8001GK - Retail -$130

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hd -$60

Sapphire radeon x850XT 256mb -$110 [saving for DX10]

ASUS P5B Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX -$150 [ a bit expensive dont you think?]

Total will be $785 or $285 If I sell my pc :p

Tell me what you guys think... thanks
 
Downgrade to the E6300, it can overclock just as much as the E6400 in most cases. I am torn between letting you stick to the Asus P5B or switching to the Gigabyte GA-965P DS3 motherboard. And, no, $150 is worth it all on buying a motherboard that will go to high FSB speeds.

What size cache does the Hard drive have?

OCZ memory and Intel don't go together very well, go with Corsair instead.
 
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