Help Upgrading Computer

A New Guy

A New Guy

New Member
Hello. I currently own a five-year old eMachines, and desperately need to upgrade. After looking at newegg I decided to upgrade my existing computer instead of buying a completely new one. The model of my computer is the T6212. Here is the link to most of what you'd need to know about the model:
http://www.emachines.com/support/product_support.html?cat=Desktops&subcat=T-Series&model=T6212

I have only added a new video card (the Nvidia GeForce Gt 240), added 2Gb DDR Ram, and replaced my power supply to 400 Watts from a (if I remember correctly) 300 Watt power supply, only because the 300 Watt power supply finally died after 3 years. Here are the basics of my computer:

CPU: AMD Athlon™ 64 3200+ Processor (with AMD 64 technology) (512KB L2 cache, 2GHz, 2000MHz System Bus)
Hard Drive: 160GB HDD – 7200rpm, 2MB cache
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce Gt 240
Memory: 2.5 Gb DDR Ram
Power Supply: 400 Watts.

I am looking into upgrading my motherboard and CPU. I would buy the Athlon II X4 2.9 Ghz 635 and the MSI 760GM-E51 AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard. Since the motherboard uses DDR3 Ram, I would buy one stick of DDR3 Ram that is 4 Gb. I was hoping that my 400 Watt Power Supply would be enough to run my computer once I upgrade it, which it perfectly runs now. If I need to upgrade the power supply, I wouldn't know what form factor I'd need. I've looked online and I've seen my T6212 case listed as ATX, micro ATX, and a Mini Tower so I'm not sure what the true form factor is and thus which power supply I would be able to buy. This is the first time I will be upgrading my computer's motherboard and CPU. I'm not even sure if these two upgrades would be compatible with my computer. If you know that the CPU and motherboard that I want won't be compatible with each other or my current computer, it would be great if you could give me some suggestions. However, I'm on a $300 budget and will currently be getting all of my equipment from newegg. If you know of any other websites or a combination of motherboard and CPU that would operate about the same or even better than what I've chosen at a lower price, I'd appreciate it if you let me know.

Thank you.
 
A good upgrade motherboard would be this MSI 785GTM-E45 (comes with better IGP) [neweggLINK] for $75

And 2 dual-channel 2gb stick has better bandwith, and price then 1 4gb stick. So I'd get these Crucial Ballisitix cl4-4-4-12 800mhz 2v 2x2gb for $81.99 and free shipping [neweggLINK] (motherboard i showed is DDR2, DDR2 800 is better then DDR3 1066 due to latencies in most cases)

And this amazing value phenom II 940 BE 3ghz quad core (great for DDR2 motherboards) for $118 and free shipping [neweggLINK].

If you are getting a discrete GPU (optional) get 4650 for $40 and put in hybrid crossfire with your motherboard's IGP. The phenom II 940 x4 is good for OC (optional) so you can score an zalman cnps7500 copper off newegg for $30 (if you get lucky like me). And if you plan on getting a new hard drive you can score an seagate 7200.12 500gb (largest single platter hard drive) for $40(i got lucky here too XD)-$50. And your 400w should be more then enough even if you get all that extra stuff at most you'll only need 370w even with all the extra optional stuff. And if yoiu get a DVD drive get a Samsung SH-S243N/BEBS absolutly the fastest access time you can get, only $25 and free shipping at Newegg.
 
lemon07r said:
A good upgrade motherboard would be this MSI 785GTM-E45 (comes with better IGP) [neweggLINK] for $75

And 2 dual-channel 2gb stick has better bandwith, and price then 1 4gb stick. So I'd get these Crucial Ballisitix cl4-4-4-12 800mhz 2v 2x2gb for $81.99 and free shipping [neweggLINK] (motherboard i showed is DDR2, DDR2 800 is better then DDR3 1066 due to latencies in most cases)

And this amazing value phenom II 940 BE 3ghz quad core (great for DDR2 motherboards) for $118 and free shipping [neweggLINK].

If you are getting a discrete GPU (optional) get 4650 for $40 and put in hybrid crossfire with your motherboard's IGP. The phenom II 940 x4 is good for OC (optional) so you can score an zalman cnps7500 copper off newegg for $30 (if you get lucky like me). And if you plan on getting a new hard drive you can score an seagate 7200.12 500gb (largest single platter hard drive) for $40(i got lucky here too XD)-$50. And your 400w should be more then enough even if you get all that extra stuff at most you'll only need 370w even with all the extra optional stuff. And if yoiu get a DVD drive get a Samsung SH-S243N/BEBS absolutly the fastest access time you can get, only $25 and free shipping at Newegg.
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If the motherboard is DDR2, then you are just buying a motherboard that will outdate quicker. Shouldn't he get a DDR3 mobo, as that is what is the most recent?
 
DDR2 is faster, and you can't run a phenom II 940 with DDR3 cause its AM2+, he shouldn't upgrade to DDR3 till bulldozer CPU's come, DDR3 is doing horrible in price's and is too much money. A DDR3 mobo you can get for $10 more, but those ones are quite bad, a decent one would cost $20 more, decent DDR3 ram would cost $20-$30 more, a cpu that can run DDR3 (AM3) near equal to phenom II 940 would cost $40 more, and athlon is not worth it when you can easily get a phenom II, the L3 makes quite a difference in some area's.
 
Thank you all for the help. lemon07r, I think I will go with the motherboard, CPU, and ram you suggested. I'm pretty new into computer hardware altogether, so I was only looking at Mhz and Ghz. I honestly can't tell the difference between an Athlon or a Phenom except for L3 Cache, which I'm not too sure what that is anyway except for that it helps the computer run faster. Like bkribbs stated, I wanted DDR3 because it was the newest. However, lemon07r brought up a good point about price and speed differences (which I had no idea about). The only think I'm worried about the CPU that lemon07r mentioned is that it is OEM and does not come with a cooling device. What would be the difference between buying OEM and regular? Also, would I need to purchase a separate cooling device for the CPU or can I use the same fan from my Athlon 64 3200+? I've never replaced a CPU before, but from looking at an online video I would just need to unscrew the fan on my motherboard, pull a switch to take the existing CPU out, insert the new CPU in the same slot, flip the switch down, then screw the fan back on. Is this correct? And for replacing the motherboard (which I've never done either), would I only need to disconnect everything from it, unscrew it from the sides, take it out, place in the new one, and then connect everything again? I appreciate the help.
 
lemon07r said:
DDR2 is faster, and you can't run a phenom II 940 with DDR3 cause its AM2+, he shouldn't upgrade to DDR3 till bulldozer CPU's come, DDR3 is doing horrible in price's and is too much money. A DDR3 mobo you can get for $10 more, but those ones are quite bad, a decent one would cost $20 more, decent DDR3 ram would cost $20-$30 more, a cpu that can run DDR3 (AM3) near equal to phenom II 940 would cost $40 more, and athlon is not worth it when you can easily get a phenom II, the L3 makes quite a difference in some area's.
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But he won't have to upgrade for a few years more.
 
Dont buy a DDR2 AM2/+ motherboard and processor at this time. Go with a DDR3 AM3 board and processor and DDR3 memory.

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103882
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809

Board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128443

If you want to save some on the board this Asrock isnt to bad.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198

Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

Save some more up and later on upgrade your Power Supply and Video Card.
 
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Before you buy anything.....Have you tried a fresh install of your OS. This can dramatically increase your computers speed. Especially if you have gone 5 years without any routnie scans/checkups
 
I see no problem with going the AM2+ route, provided he plans on sticking with his new setup for another four years. Especially given his budget of $300. Obviously, AM3 is the way to go if there's a decent chance he wants to upgrade within the next 1-2 years, but the cliched response of "get this so you can upgrade" doesn't necessarily fit everyone. Other than the upgrade path, there isn't much difference between AM2 and AM3. Most people would only see the differences on paper (benchmarks), and for gaming an AM2+ cpu isn't exactly going to cripple you. Having a bad video card does that.

I've seen very good advice posted here for both of his options. Which one he ends up going with will probably depend on his budget and budget timetable, and his upgrade plans.
 
trey803, I've actually reinstalled my XP in December. My computer became a little faster, but it still periodically freezes up, runs very slow when I have a lot of applications running (which I sometimes do, usually with upwards of 4 tabs open in a web browser) and doesn't quite run CPU intensive games such as GTA IV without a low frame rate. I figure that upgrading to a Quad-Core would fix all of these problems. StrangleHold, I'm a little worried about the motherboard that you mentioned. I'm unsure of what form factor my computer case is, whether it's ATX or Micro ATX. The motherboard you recommended is ATX, while my current one is Micro ATX. Is there a way that I could find out which form factor case I have, or should I just get the ATX motherboard without worrying about it? Also, in a few months I plan on upgrading to Windows 7 and I notice that the OEM version is about $50 cheaper. When I finally decide to upgrade, should I get the OEM or retail version? Also, what's the difference? Thanks again for the advice.
 
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OEM OS does not come with support from microsoft because it is used by system builders, and OEM can only be installed one time, retail can be installed in 3 computers.
 
lemon07r said:
OEM OS does not come with support from microsoft because it is used by system builders, and OEM can only be installed one time, retail can be installed in 3 computers.
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OEM can be installed as many times you want on the same computer. You can even do upgrades. You might have a problem if you change out the board with a different one activating. But you can just tell them the board went out and that one was the closest one you could find.

Retail cannot be install on three computers at the same time. But you can install it on different computers as you upgrade, but only activated on one at a time. Cant be installed on more then one at a time.
 
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