Looking to upgrade ($300 budget)

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Buginfested

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Hey all! New here!

I'm looking for advice on how to upgrade my aging PC in anticipation of the new TES 5 coming out in November. Not looking for a monster PC, but just enough on a tight ~$300 (more or less) budget.

I'm running an:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0 Ghz (sockey 754)
Motherboard: ASUSTek Salmon 1.04 motherboard
RAM: 4 GB Ram
Video: 512MB ATI Radeon 1950GT AGP
OS: Windows Vista

So far it's been playing all the latest games at rather reasonable performance (My PC is heavily optimised), except for Shogun 2. Now it runs quite well (run it on high settings but not very high - but the game still slows down in huge battles and loading times can be a bit annoying)

So, I did some research beforehand, and found out to upgrade my processor, the best I can achieve with this motherboard is a 3700+ 2.4 Ghz CPU, and the best video upgrade is an ATI Radeon HD 3850

Now comparing the performance, it's not a big jump (or is it?). Yet it will only cost me less then $100 to upgrade. Still, what I don't want is to upgrade yet it doesn't give me enough of a boost. So I'm thinking of a full motherboard upgrade, and a PCI-E video card. (I also heard stories of the Radeon HD 3850 and the lack of support)

Now I don't want a monster PC, since I don't play many games except for the ones I really want; like Skyrim! But I want to be able to play it with reasonable performance. (And hopefully make my Shogun 2 experience also better! It's the load times that drive me nuts in that game). I've seen a deal for an AMD Athlon X2 255 CPU + motherboard + extra ram for $200 and a 1GB Radeon HD 6870 for another $200. But I'm thinking whether getting such a top of the line video card is worth it and the X2 255 isn't like a Phenom or something right? Possible CPU bottleneck?

Also, I've never used dual core before, so the advertised speed of 3.1 Ghz for the X2 255 means it's actually a total of 6.2 Ghz potential processing power? I don't know...
 
I suggest you spend slightly more for althon II x3 CPU.
Also, making sure your mobo is AM3+ socket, in case you want to upgrade in future

Dual core cpu do not mean doubling the speed.
 
What OS are you running? 32bit or 64bit? Going over 4GB of ram would be useless with a 32bit OS as it can only read up to 3.5gb-4gb or RAM.

I would suggest going with a new AM3(+) Motherboard, that way you have a good bit of future proofing. Check out this combo deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.728534

and for RAM (granted you do the new MOBO/CPU set up and have a 64 bit OS):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233180

and if you have a 32 bit OS:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104166

and for Video (same as before if you go with MOBO/CPU):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150516

I realize this is a touch over budget, at $380 before shipping, but if you wanna upgrade you might aswell do it right the first time.
 
Thanks for the replies! I'm getting warmer to a decision!
I have a 64-bit Vista OS, I've already ordered some RAM (it's so cheap lol)

In regards to tri/quad-cores I wonder about whether games this year or next year can really utilise such technology without issues - and if it makes a big enough difference), and considering I only play maybe 3-4 games a year... what do you think is best?

The HD 6850 is getting fantastic performance reviews however, and it seems it can also keep the temperatures down low, but it's worth a CPU/MOBO combo combined!
Also, is it true that Newegg takes forever to ship the goods? Keep hearing rumors...

So far I have a few options:
Budget upgrade: Athlon 64 3700+ 2.4 Ghz and ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP
(No need for MOBO upgrade - less then $100)
Mid upgrade: A decent dual-core (still deciding), ATI Radeon HD 6850 PCI-E, and MOBO upgrade - around $300-$400
High-end upgrade: Quad-core phenom, ATI Radeon HD 6850 PCI-E and MOBO - around $400-$500

So it seems the main decision lies in the performance comparison between the planned budget upgrade and the mid/high-end upgrades, as well as the performance comparison between dual or quad/tri-cores. Heck I've seen benchmarks for video cards but none for CPU/GPU combos.
 
Options 1 you will need a new PSU.

Option 2 You will also need a new PSu and another copy of Windows if the Vista copy you have isn't retail.

Option 3: PSU required
 
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Well, my current PSU is 500W, with 12V rail -> so it runs the X1950 properly, I don't see how option one would require a new PSU though, the 3850 requires only 450W and the 3700+ Athlon is the same architecture as the 3000+ yes?

Option 2 and three though will most probably require 600+ W yes? Based on the requirements for the 6850 - I don't mind it if I am to upgrade that far since PSUs are not expensive. BTW changing the motherboard/CPU/Video card doesn't require a full re-installation of Vista does it? If I remember right, it took a whole darn day to install/update everything! And the microsoft servers are always so slow!

Still, I'm unsure whether to just stick with a cheap upgrade or go all out for a major super-makeover.
 
PSUs are quite expensive. The inexpensive ones will die on your very shortly, so don't skimp on that. Go for an antec, corsair, silverstone, seasonic, PC power and cooling, or XFX.
 
Hmm, I seem to have been mistaken, my PSU is 550W not 500W

It's a WideTech 655 Platinum V2.2 ATX550W model, reading from inside the box. It's been quite reliable for a cheap PSU actually for some strange reason.
 
Eventually probably, but it's been 2 years, though I guess it will burn out with a high performance rig like Phenom + 6850, instead of just an athlon 64 + X1950GT

Still, I'm not sure whether to go for a 3700+ and 3850 upgrade, or all the way with a Phenom + 6850... decisions decisions! Does dual/quad core make such a difference? I know a 6850 is like 3x-4x faster then my 1950GT though, and the 3850 is at least 2x faster

EDIT: Btw, I noticed you're aussie too! That's great! I don't have to convert prices to AUD heh, also, which online shop would you recommend?
 
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pccase gear, and a new mobo almost always requires new os since the current one is liscenced to the mobo, but it is worth the time, you will get a big boost in performance.
 
well bf3 uses quad cores, and a good number of other games use 4 cores too, only fsx uses more but plenty use 4 already.
 
Oh hell, so I'll have to go through the whole OS-installation drama again with a new mobo? Argh!!! And my Vista is registered TO my mobo? ARGH!!!!
So that would also mean anything either then the budget upgrade will be ~$600-$700 (including Win 7 + new PSU) :eek:
Pretty much a new computer... think I'll wait then, unless performance in Skyrim drives me nuts when it comes out (when are they going to release sys requirements? Gah!)

Heh, or I can just go with the budget upgrade, for a mere 25% performance boost lol
 
Yeah, there's not much sense in updating to outdated tech. You're going to need more than $300 for a platform upgrade. Unless you eBay like a shark and get some Core 2 Duo stuff... but even then, that's 775 which is a dead socket.
 
True, I don't want to upgrade only to have Skyrim come out in Nov and I go "DARN IT, not fast enough" *sighs*, games that make you wanna upgrade your computer! Grrrr! Heh

Ok, so I looked up some online stores for prices:

Currently looking at:
1) Antec 620W PSU - $125
2) AMD Phenom II X6 3.2 Ghz AM3 - $189
3) MSI 760GM-P33 Motherboard - $69
(Here are its specs:
AMD® 760G and SB710 Chipset, 2 RAM slots, 1 PCI-E x16 slot, 2 PCI slots, LAN/Audio... Only 2 USB connectors? Darn it...)
4) Powercolor ATI Radeon HD6870 - $209
5) Windows 7 Home Upgrade - $199
(Btw are you sure I need a new OS btw? Argh! And wait, if my Vista is registered to my mobo, if I get a new one, how am I supposed to upgrade?)

Total... $791

However, if I don't need a new OS for the new MOBO it'll be back down to $592 - which is double what I planned to pay, but still affordable. What you think?
 
you don't use an upgrade you use a win7 oem 64-bit which is 100 bucks. that cpu is a waste, the x4 965 is more than you need, and you can get a good corsair or antec 650 for around 60-70, not sure where the 125 came from, but check out newegg.com cuz they'll almost always have the best deals, and if you're now looking at around 800 i'll post up what you should look at for the best value in a few mins.
 
I heard that newegg takes ages to ship, and I'm in Australia so I have to watch out for shipping costs too so heh, and it seems the prices are different here -> even on ebay the Antec PSU is ~$120

So just the Win 7 OEM? I also noticed most of the phenoms available are all X6s atm heh, so just an x4 965 is enough? Speaking of which, if the prices get jacked down low enough I might as well throw in a new 1TB hard-disk (I'm using a 50GB one!) as well - which means I have to install/reinstall lots of stuff like games, and hopefully, they can install Win 7 for me so I don't have to spend a weekend pulling out hairs waiting impatiently.

EDIT: Ok I just realised newegg doesn't even ship to Australia! Unless I get a 3rd party too, so no free shipping I guess!
 
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