should i upgrade or buy new

C

cudenver

New Member
hi, so this is what i have for a desktop, I don't game, just not enough time with girls, school, and work..
I will be using it for photoshop cs 3, mostly i have thousands of photos

Current system
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JSRTL 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 2.2GHz Socket 939 Single-Core Processor Model DA3500BPBOX - Retail

1.5 gigs of ram, 550watt power supply, biostar t-force 939 motherboard, cd/dvd
burner,

thanks a bunch
brett
 
Moving up from a 3500+ on a 939 board with 2gb of Kingston DDR400 ValueRam to an AM2 board with 2gb of Kingston Hyper X DDR2 800 memory with a dual core 6000+ X2 3ghz cpu here made a world of difference in a variety of ways. The FX-60 2.8ghz 939 model cpu was discontinued by AMD before I could simply run a faster cpu on the old build prior to this one.

Some gaming with video captures plus a tv tuner card and a few other work horse tasks were made far easier. New boards out now see AM2+, AM3 with DDR3 memory and faster fsbs and even better mid range video cards while both boards on the builds here are and were Asus models. The next build will likely see a Gigabyte or MSI board as a change there however.

Budget? The upgrade will depend on whether or not you have a need for a newer faster build. Plus the hardwares which will suit your own needs there the best. For only occasional use you wouldn't have to buy all the latest "bells and whistles" to see a good case put together. Why spend on what you won't need?!
 
Upgrade. The harddrive is fine but Socket 939 is dead which means you will probable have to upgrade your memory anyway. P/S seems fine depending the brand and the system you upgrade to.
 
budget

well about 500 usd, I will also be buying a macbook for school only, i hate macs
so what would you buy with 500 bucks ,
can i use my old powersupply, harddrive, cd/dvd burner,
thanks
 
cudenver said:
well about 500 usd, I will also be buying a macbook for school only, i hate macs
so what would you buy with 500 bucks ,
can i use my old powersupply, harddrive, cd/dvd burner,
thanks
Click to expand...

The drives, supply if a good one, and even the case if enough good air flow can be used by simply planning on upgrading the board, cpu, and since 939 primarily ran DDR memory the swap to DDR2 would see a faster fsb. The boards out now see upwards to 1066mhz for a memory standard speed like the Asus model seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131281
 
cudenver said:
well about 500 usd, I will also be buying a macbook for school only, i hate macs
so what would you buy with 500 bucks ,
can i use my old powersupply, harddrive, cd/dvd burner,
thanks
Click to expand...

You want to go AMD or Intel? CD/DVD drive and harddive should be fine. P/S depends on the brand you have and what Video card you run.
 
StrangleHold said:
AM3 DDR3 boards do not exist!! What is wrong with you!!
Click to expand...

They'll be out soon enough like Q3 2008 to see the initial high prices as expected. Keep in mind that a rush to upgrade too fast will then see the new line out where a little wait can make a difference in taking a larger step when upgrading. Memory prices have dropped sharply lately for considering an AM2 or AM2+ board in the meantime which still means a good step up over DDR400 as well as a faster fsb to start with.

The AM3 cpus are supported on AM2/AM2+ boards like the Phenoms now seen out for the pair of AMD quad core models presently available. When those start hitting the 3ghz mark instead of 1.8-2.2ghz that's when I'll start looking to upgrade from a dual core model however.
 
PC eye said:
The AM3 cpus are supported on AM2/AM2+ boards like the Phenoms now seen out for the pair of AMD quad core models presently available. When those start hitting the 3ghz mark instead of 1.8-2.2ghz that's when I'll start looking to upgrade from a dual core model however.
Click to expand...

Get your facts straight before you open your mouth. Theres not just a pair of them and they dont start at 1.8ghz. Theres 7 Phenoms X4s a 9500-9550-9600BE-9600-9650-9750 and a 9850BE. I have a 9850BE sitting right in front of me getting ready to build a system out of it. And theres 3 Phenom X3 on the market a 8450-8650 and a 8750.
 
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