|
Jan 15, 2009, 05:15 AM
|
#1 |
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Martinez, CA
Posts: 333 (0.19/day)
Thanks: 85
Thanked 88 Times in 63 Posts
|
Upgrade advice
I recently purchased one of the GTX 280 deals on Buy.com. It was quite a bit of an impulse buy. What I didn't think about when I bought it is how badly my current 939 rig will bottleneck that card. So I'm considering upgrading my CPU, Motherboard, and RAM. Unfortunately, I don't even know where to begin. I'm trying to keep a budget of about $150 give or take. I would prefer to find something with decent overclock capabilities to help produce the best bang for the buck. So what would be my cheapest performance upgrade option? Is $150 even realistic for well performing parts?
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 04:55 PM
|
#2 |
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 1,251 (0.69/day)
Thanks: 90
Thanked 114 Times in 107 Posts
|
Uhh for a $150 your limiting yourself. I mean your in essence limiting yourself to $50 for the mobo, $50 for the ram, $50 for the cpu. Personally, I don't think thats gonna happen my friend
__________________
 thanks to stefanels for the sig! |
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 07:29 PM
|
#3 |
|
The Knife in your Back
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Duluth, Minnesota
Posts: 6,711 (4.14/day)
Thanks: 3,093
Thanked 2,312 Times in 1,556 Posts
|
Bottlenecking is mostly benchmarking. Yes your 939 rig will not get you the max you can from that card, but your gaming performance will increase.
__________________
 Youtube - The WarZ Myths + Gameplay, BF3 Weapon Reviews and more Dual Loop HAF 922 Build | Dxtory and x264 Codec Guide “Daniel Craig is my Wookiee bitch now!” -Harrison Ford |
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 07:54 PM
|
#4 | |
|
The Mad Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Wherever I can find the iron.
Posts: 11,448 (5.02/day)
Thanks: 2,519
Thanked 3,054 Times in 2,098 Posts
 |
Quote:
__________________
"I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds." -Henry Rollins My heatware Save lives by joining the TPU WCG team! |
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 07:56 PM
|
#5 |
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Brooklyn, New York 11223
Posts: 3,000 (1.61/day)
Thanks: 339
Thanked 510 Times in 482 Posts
 |
Hmm. U bought a 280 when u know it's impossible to run it w/o bottlenecks for a budget of upgrading for $150. Save up some money and then start talking.
EDIT: Ur using MicroATX so will it even fit?
__________________
.................................................. ..  “Originally Posted by mlee49
So pain level on a 1 to 10 scale, 10 being having a wart removed on your butthole with pliers.”
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 08:13 PM
|
#6 |
|
It is simple get E5200 you should be able to overclock it to 3.7 with P31 (I`v head that Gigabyte P31s are great and cheap too) and there are cheap DDR2 kits I`v read that it can buy 2 gb kit for 15$ after rebate and if keep it to WinXP should be enough in most of the cases.
Newegg links: OCZ 2GB kit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227060 GIGABYTE GA-P31-ES3G http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128356 Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116072 165$ total
__________________
“personally i think 3D is gay, but if it leads us closer towards holographic video then i am all for it!” -Easy Rhino
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 08:24 PM
|
#7 |
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Southeastern Virginia
Posts: 3,731 (1.95/day)
Thanks: 367
Thanked 1,079 Times in 795 Posts
|
Best I could come up with from NewEgg-
2 gigs ddr2 800 4-4-4-12 RAM $19 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820161063 Gigabyte P31 motherboard $65 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128356 Intel e2200 dual core $70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116063 Total price without shipping $153.97 |
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 08:28 PM
|
#8 |
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Republic of Estonia
Posts: 1,248 (0.78/day)
Thanks: 158
Thanked 175 Times in 144 Posts
|
just bump up the grafics and you be okay!!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 10:11 PM
|
#9 | |||
|
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Martinez, CA
Posts: 333 (0.19/day)
Thanks: 85
Thanked 88 Times in 63 Posts
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
I know $150 is very little to work with but that's why I was seeking advice. I haven't stayed updated on the whole CPU thing since Socket AM2 and the Core 2 E6000 series of CPUs came out a while back so I wasn't sure what was the best bang for the buck currently. Again, thank you for all of the help thus far. I'm sure I seem like an idiot for purchasing such a powerful card for my limited system but like I said, it was an impulse buy. |
|||
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 10:19 PM
|
#10 |
|
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 242 (0.12/day)
Thanks: 69
Thanked 18 Times in 15 Posts
|
I second R9's reccommendation E5200 is a great processor dead easy to achieve a decent oc on most motherboards due to the high mult.
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2009, 10:43 PM
|
#11 |
|
i would get used stuff from TPU members, get an e2140, they are great overclockers, get a good p35 board, i suggest an asus p5k [NOT SE], and if you cant find some used ram you like, this is mine...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227178
__________________
CPU-Z validation sig pics temporarily blocked |
|
|
|
 |
| Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
Similar Threads
|
||||
| Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
| Need GPU upgrade advice please | Black Panther | Graphics Cards | 15 | Dec 29, 2008 05:17 PM |
| Upgrade Advice? | Castiel | System Builder's Advice | 11 | Dec 29, 2008 02:06 PM |
| Advice for next upgrade | AsGStorm | General Hardware | 27 | Aug 28, 2007 08:13 PM |
| What should my next upgrade be? | Ben Clarke | General Hardware | 39 | Aug 17, 2007 01:45 PM |
| Windows Vista Upgrade vs Clean Install | Jimmy 2004 | General Software | 5 | Sep 9, 2006 07:00 PM |
System Specs
