Small upgrade

GJSNeptune · May 9, 2007, 07:14 PM

Been thinking about a cheap ($100 or less) CPU/mobo upgrade that can use my existing hardware and not bottleneck my x800 GTO (AGP).

Since I need an AGP board, I likely have to look in the FS/FT forum, but I figured I'd make sure it's practical and a good idea. I won't have the money to build a completely new system for awhile. Maybe not even this year.

Which socket offers the best performance and value? I've seen 754 and 939 AGP boards, but none of them seem to have the best reviews. I'm not that concerned about overclocking, so any solid board is fine. Just don't know what board or CPU to look at. Also, I suppose I'd have to get another HSF as well.

I'm also open to the Intel route, like Pentium D, although they seem to be mostly mATX.

Current:
AthlonXP 3000+ Barton
Abit NF7-S v2
1.5GB (3x512) Corsair VS DDR400 (PC3200)
Thermaltake Silent Boost
Antec TrueBlue 480W
WD 1600YS - WD 1200JD - WD 400EB
NEC 3550A
Memorex 52x CD-RW

Estatic_Fear · May 9, 2007, 09:09 PM

maybe the best chance for a cheap upgrade for you, is to choose a mid or low range AM2 Athlon X2 processor with a AMD690 mainboard.
If this is still too expensive for you, just try to look something on refurbished stuff. Any Athlon 64 Venice or Pentium D platform will be better than your current stuff.

Wile E · May 9, 2007, 09:35 PM

The best budget stuff goes to AMD at the moment, but you couldn't go AM2 without buying ram also. All AM2 is DDR2. You could get an Intel Socket 775 board that supports both memory standards and both AGP and PCIe gfx.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157107

It's not a great board, by any means, but it will support your current hardware, and also support the newer ddr2 and PCIe standards as well as Core 2 Duo chips. Don't expect to be able to overclock with it, however.

You could couple it with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116249

To come in slightly over budget, but at least have a future upgrade path.

However, my suggestion is to wait a little while, and save some money for a complete build. You'll have a much better system in the end for only having to wait and save for a few months.

GJSNeptune · May 9, 2007, 09:37 PM

I don't need something futureproof. Just something better than what I've got now. A few months of saving still won't cut it. I've got private university student loan to pay off. I'm not gonna have money for a new computer for a long time. I need a new car before a new computer.

Never, ever, have that many simple sentences in a row.

Wile E · May 9, 2007, 09:41 PM

Okay then, I think a 775 board/cpu combo is your only option, really. I also firmly believe dual core is the way to go.

Unless you can find some extra loot for some DDR2 ram. If you can, I would go AM2, but I understand completely if it's not an option.

GJSNeptune · May 9, 2007, 09:43 PM

What about an HSF?

mullered07 · May 9, 2007, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GJSNeptune

What about an HSF?

with a asrock dualvsta board and a 820 you wont need aftermarket

go for retail

GJSNeptune · May 9, 2007, 09:48 PM

The chip is OEM.

Also, Smithfield's don't support Hyper-Threading. Is that a big loss? I'm sure it'll still blow away my 3000+ Barton though.

GJSNeptune · May 9, 2007, 09:50 PM

Also, will the dual cores even be utilized?

bruins004 · May 9, 2007, 09:50 PM

May I suggest any of these boards (I suggest one of the Biostars) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...+AGP+4X+%2f+8X

Coupled with this processor A64 3200+ ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103035 )

and for the heatsink this ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186009 ).

This is good if you are doing any gaming since the Pentium D 805 wouldnt do as well as this.

Frogger · May 9, 2007, 09:55 PM

built 2 rigs last week with the asrock & http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116253
nice board great bios options can use DDR or DDR2 mem

mullered07 · May 9, 2007, 09:55 PM

that pentium d805 will do just as good as a lowly 3200+ in gaming the perf loss would be negligable and it would also perform better in everyday tasks and multimedia, also the 820 retail isnt that much dearer than the oem ? what 5-10$ maybe ? its a good intro into dual cores for the $ if you ask me aside that i wouldnt reccomend getting a single core unless your going to get a significantly better one than the one you have now and the a64 3200+ isnt significantly better imo

GJSNeptune · May 10, 2007, 03:21 PM

Update
Fished around the [H] FS/FT subforum.

Scored a Pentium D 820 + HSF for $58 shipped and an ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA for $50 shipped.

The Pentium D was apparently an unused pull from a Dell, and the ASRock was only used for a review.

Frogger · May 10, 2007, 06:54 PM

now you have something to play with in your spare time

May 9, 2007, 07:14 PM	#1
GJSNeptune Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,743 (0.78/day) Thanks: 24 Thanked 112 Times in 103 Posts System Specs	Small upgrade Been thinking about a cheap ($100 or less) CPU/mobo upgrade that can use my existing hardware and not bottleneck my x800 GTO (AGP). Since I need an AGP board, I likely have to look in the FS/FT forum, but I figured I'd make sure it's practical and a good idea. I won't have the money to build a completely new system for awhile. Maybe not even this year. Which socket offers the best performance and value? I've seen 754 and 939 AGP boards, but none of them seem to have the best reviews. I'm not that concerned about overclocking, so any solid board is fine. Just don't know what board or CPU to look at. Also, I suppose I'd have to get another HSF as well. I'm also open to the Intel route, like Pentium D, although they seem to be mostly mATX. Current: AthlonXP 3000+ Barton Abit NF7-S v2 1.5GB (3x512) Corsair VS DDR400 (PC3200) Thermaltake Silent Boost Antec TrueBlue 480W WD 1600YS - WD 1200JD - WD 400EB NEC 3550A Memorex 52x CD-RW

Processor:	AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3
Cooling:	Tuniq Tower 120 (with Scythe SFF21E)
Memory:	2x1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 CAS4 DHX
Video Card:	PALiT 9800GTX 512MB PCI-E
Hard Disk:	WD2500AAKS, WD1600YS, WD1200JD, WD400EB
Optical Drive:	Samsung S203b SATA DVD/RW
CRT/LCD Model:	LG L1920P, Viewsonic VA520
Case:	Lian-Li A05b (with two 120mm Yate Loon D12SM)
PSU:	Corsair HX520
Software:	Vista Business 32-bit/XP Pro 32-bit dual-boot

May 9, 2007, 09:09 PM	#2
Estatic_Fear Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Santiago de Chile Posts: 15 (0.00/day) Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	maybe the best chance for a cheap upgrade for you, is to choose a mid or low range AM2 Athlon X2 processor with a AMD690 mainboard. If this is still too expensive for you, just try to look something on refurbished stuff. Any Athlon 64 Venice or Pentium D platform will be better than your current stuff. __________________ [img disabled]http://feeds.feedburner.com/overclockers/HONP.gif[/img]

May 9, 2007, 09:35 PM	#3
Wile E Power User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Western PA (Pittsburgh suburbs) Posts: 18,129 (7.39/day) Thanks: 450 Thanked 3,826 Times in 3,124 Posts System Specs	The best budget stuff goes to AMD at the moment, but you couldn't go AM2 without buying ram also. All AM2 is DDR2. You could get an Intel Socket 775 board that supports both memory standards and both AGP and PCIe gfx. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157107 It's not a great board, by any means, but it will support your current hardware, and also support the newer ddr2 and PCIe standards as well as Core 2 Duo chips. Don't expect to be able to overclock with it, however. You could couple it with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116249 To come in slightly over budget, but at least have a future upgrade path. However, my suggestion is to wait a little while, and save some money for a complete build. You'll have a much better system in the end for only having to wait and save for a few months. __________________ Visit Ashentech “What the hell did you expect? Leave Vista under the pillow and the OS fairy would make it Win7?” -El Fiendo “And Bring Mailman back god damnit, he is the Eric Cartman of TPU” -MRCL

System Name:	The ClusterF**k
Processor:	980X @ 4212Mhz 24/7
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling:	MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory:	3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24
Video Card:	Evga GTX 580
Hard Disk:	Seagate 7200.10 320GB x2 RAID0; 2 x Samsung F2 1.5TB; 1 x F1 1TB; 1 x F4 2TB
Optical Drive:	LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner
CRT/LCD Model:	HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case:	Technofront Bench Station
Sound Card:	Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
PSU:	ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software:	Win7 Ultimate N x64

May 9, 2007, 09:37 PM	#4
GJSNeptune Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,743 (0.78/day) Thanks: 24 Thanked 112 Times in 103 Posts System Specs	I don't need something futureproof. Just something better than what I've got now. A few months of saving still won't cut it. I've got private university student loan to pay off. I'm not gonna have money for a new computer for a long time. I need a new car before a new computer. Never, ever, have that many simple sentences in a row.

May 9, 2007, 09:41 PM	#5
Wile E Power User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Western PA (Pittsburgh suburbs) Posts: 18,129 (7.39/day) Thanks: 450 Thanked 3,826 Times in 3,124 Posts System Specs	Okay then, I think a 775 board/cpu combo is your only option, really. I also firmly believe dual core is the way to go. Unless you can find some extra loot for some DDR2 ram. If you can, I would go AM2, but I understand completely if it's not an option. __________________ Visit Ashentech “What the hell did you expect? Leave Vista under the pillow and the OS fairy would make it Win7?” -El Fiendo “And Bring Mailman back god damnit, he is the Eric Cartman of TPU” -MRCL

May 9, 2007, 09:43 PM	#6
GJSNeptune Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,743 (0.78/day) Thanks: 24 Thanked 112 Times in 103 Posts System Specs	What about an HSF?

System Name:	Ma Biatch
Processor:	i7 860
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3A
Cooling:	Noctua
Memory:	8gb (4x2gb) G-Skill
Video Card:	GTX 470
Hard Disk:	WD5000aaks raid0
Optical Drive:	Samsung Blu-Ray/DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Sony Bravia 37" 1080p
Case:	CM 690
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	Corsair HX520
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate

May 9, 2007, 09:48 PM	#8
GJSNeptune Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,743 (0.78/day) Thanks: 24 Thanked 112 Times in 103 Posts System Specs	The chip is OEM. Also, Smithfield's don't support Hyper-Threading. Is that a big loss? I'm sure it'll still blow away my 3000+ Barton though.

May 9, 2007, 09:50 PM	#9
GJSNeptune Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,743 (0.78/day) Thanks: 24 Thanked 112 Times in 103 Posts System Specs	Also, will the dual cores even be utilized?

May 9, 2007, 09:50 PM	#10
bruins004 Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,178 (0.77/day) Thanks: 1 Thanked 80 Times in 55 Posts System Specs	May I suggest any of these boards (I suggest one of the Biostars) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...+AGP+4X+%2f+8X Coupled with this processor A64 3200+ ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103035 ) and for the heatsink this ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186009 ). This is good if you are doing any gaming since the Pentium D 805 wouldnt do as well as this. __________________ RIG #1 - See System Specs. RIG #2 AMD X2 3600+ (AM2), Biostar TF550, 2 x 1GB Buffalo Firestix, XFX 9800GTX+, WD 250 GB HD, NZXT Nemesis Elite Case, Lite-On Combo Drive and Lite-On DVD RW Drive, Antec TruePower 550W, 20.1" Dell w/ 17" Sony LCD

Processor:	AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (939)
Motherboard:	MSI Neo K8n Neo4-F with Nforce 4
Cooling:	ThermalTake Venus12 + 3 case fans + PCI slot cooler for GPU
Memory:	2x 512mb Kingston PC-3200
Video Card:	XFX GeForce 7800GT
Hard Disk:	Western Digital 160GB
Optical Drive:	Lite On DVD+/-RW, Lite On Combo Drive
CRT/LCD Model:	ViewSonic VX2025WM
Case:	Logisys Dracula Case (Black)
Sound Card:	Onboard Sound, Logitech X-530 Surround Sound Speakers
PSU:	OCZ PowerStream 520W
Software:	Window XP Pro, Office Suite, Tons of Games

May 9, 2007, 09:55 PM	#11
Frogger Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: ONTARIO CANADA Posts: 1,951 (0.73/day) Thanks: 342 Thanked 261 Times in 224 Posts System Specs	built 2 rigs last week with the asrock & http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116253 nice board great bios options can use DDR or DDR2 mem __________________ You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline-it helps if you have some kind of a football team,or some nuclear weapons,BUT at the very least you need a BEER!-Frank Zappa

System Name:	MONEY PIT
Processor:	i7-3770K @ 4800 1.20v batch #3231B415
Motherboard:	ASrock Z77 OC Formula w onboard waterblocks
Cooling:	Apogee HD, MCP655,rad MCR320-XP,Micro Rev2 res
Memory:	G,skill Trident X F3-2400C10D-16GTX
Video Card:	MSI R7970 PE @1150/1700 LIGHTING bios Wcooled
Hard Disk:	2x120gig Wildfire raid0 2x120gig VERTEX3 raid0
CRT/LCD Model:	eyefinity 3 Samsung2343bwx
Case:	NZXT Phantom White w/red
Sound Card:	ReCon3d fatal1ty pro, Logitech z906 THX
PSU:	corsair AX860i
Software:	64bit ++++ win 7

May 9, 2007, 09:55 PM	#12
mullered07 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: UK Posts: 2,253 (0.96/day) Thanks: 65 Thanked 206 Times in 170 Posts System Specs	that pentium d805 will do just as good as a lowly 3200+ in gaming the perf loss would be negligable and it would also perform better in everyday tasks and multimedia, also the 820 retail isnt that much dearer than the oem ? what 5-10$ maybe ? its a good intro into dual cores for the $ if you ask me aside that i wouldnt reccomend getting a single core unless your going to get a significantly better one than the one you have now and the a64 3200+ isnt significantly better imo

May 10, 2007, 03:21 PM	#13
GJSNeptune Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,743 (0.78/day) Thanks: 24 Thanked 112 Times in 103 Posts System Specs	Update Fished around the [H] FS/FT subforum. Scored a Pentium D 820 + HSF for $58 shipped and an ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA for $50 shipped. The Pentium D was apparently an unused pull from a Dell, and the ASRock was only used for a review.

May 10, 2007, 06:54 PM	#14
Frogger Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: ONTARIO CANADA Posts: 1,951 (0.73/day) Thanks: 342 Thanked 261 Times in 224 Posts System Specs	now you have something to play with in your spare time __________________ You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline-it helps if you have some kind of a football team,or some nuclear weapons,BUT at the very least you need a BEER!-Frank Zappa

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