best way to spend $300

Easy Rhino · Mar 23, 2009

im upgrading my second rig which i use as a linux server but want to turn it into a decent second gamin rig. (i will virtualize linux once i install windows 7.) anyway, it has a 1.8ghz core2duo and an onboard 9300. i only want to spend $300 on the upgrade between the CPU and GPU. the cpu obviously must be socket 775 and the gpu has to be nvidia cause i want to run hybrid sli. it has 4 gigs of ram already and the gpu cant be too powerful as the psu has only 1 connector.

OzzmanFloyd120 · Mar 23, 2009

How far does teh cpu OC?

Easy Rhino · Mar 23, 2009

OzzmanFloyd120 said:
How far does teh cpu OC?

i havnt tried since i use it to run linux services.

BrooksyX · Mar 23, 2009

I say pick up a 4830 for it. You could get one for about $75 after MIR. Pick up a decent 3rd party cooler for around $25 and then OC the thing like crazy. I got mine running at 700 core and 1000 mem. Its almost as good as my old 4870. I also recommend picking up an an e7500/e8400. You should have no trouble pushing either to 4.0+ ghz. All together that would only cost you about $250. If you are in need of a pick up a xigmatek s1283 or a true and that should put around $300.

Easy Rhino · Mar 23, 2009

BrooksyX said:
I say pick up a 4830 for it. You could get one for about $75 after MIR. Pick up a decent 3rd party cooler for around $25 and then OC the thing like crazy. I got mine running at 700 core and 1000 mem. Its almost as good as my old 4870. I also recommend picking up an an e7500/e8400. You should have no trouble pushing either to 4.0+ ghz. All together that would only cost you about $250. If you are in need of a pick up a xigmatek s1283 or a true and that should put around $300.

can you recommend an nvidia card instead? i want to run it hybrid with the onboard chip.

BrooksyX · Mar 23, 2009

Well in that case probably go with a gts 250: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150357

I'm not a big nvidia guy so I can't give the best advice on nvidia cards.

ShadowFold · Mar 23, 2009

Hybrid only works with 8400/8500, 9800GTX and GTX 260/280 according to the nvidia page
http://www.nvidia.com/object/hybrid_sli_desktop.html

BrooksyX · Mar 23, 2009

ShadowFold said:
Hybrid only works with 8400/8500, 9800GTX and GTX 260/280 according to the nvidia page
http://www.nvidia.com/object/hybrid_sli_desktop.html

Well considering that the gts 250 is really a rebadgedd 9800gtx+ I would assume it would work just fine.

Easy Rhino · Mar 23, 2009

i will have to do a little bit more research.

n-ster · Mar 23, 2009

CPU cooler 27$ after MIR

E8400 170$

GTS 250 130$

CPU + GPU = 300$... 27$ for the Xig s1283, that you can just buy later

oops, forgot GTS needs shipping

well ~300$ then

BrooksyX · Mar 23, 2009

That kinda defeats the purpose of his thread. I think he is looking for a cheap way to upgrade his backup rig. Not build a super good main rig. He wants the best upgrades possible for $300.

n-ster · Mar 23, 2009

ya never know

I'm not good for low budget xD I'll try to modify... better now?

System Name	Desktop
Processor	i5 13600KF
Motherboard	AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-U9S
Memory	4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage	WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s)	Gigabye M32U
Case	Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse	MX Master 3s
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software	The Matrix

System Name	The Netbook
Processor	Intel Atom n270
Memory	1GB DDR2 533mhz
Video Card(s)	Intel G945
Storage	250GB
Display(s)	10.1" LCD
Software	Microsoft Windows 7 Starter x86

System Name	Desktop
Processor	i5 13600KF
Motherboard	AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-U9S
Memory	4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage	WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s)	Gigabye M32U
Case	Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse	MX Master 3s
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software	The Matrix

System Name	Main / Home Media Serever
Processor	Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard	ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling	Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory	12gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Storage	2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex II 80GB & 10TB of HDD Space
Display(s)	2x Acer 24" LED / Samsung 50" LED
Case	Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
Power Supply	Rosewill 750w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
Software	Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 / Ubuntu 14.04

System Name	Desktop
Processor	i5 13600KF
Motherboard	AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-U9S
Memory	4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage	WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s)	Gigabye M32U
Case	Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse	MX Master 3s
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software	The Matrix

best way to spend $300

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

OzzmanFloyd120

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

BrooksyX

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

BrooksyX

ShadowFold

New Member

BrooksyX

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

n-ster

BrooksyX

n-ster

System Name	The ShadowFold Draconis (Ordering soon)
Processor	AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz
Motherboard	ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870
Cooling	Stock
Memory	Kingston ValueRAM 4GB DDR3-1333
Video Card(s)	XFX ATi Radeon HD 5850 1gb
Storage	Western Digital 640gb
Display(s)	Acer 21.5" 5ms Full HD 1920x1080P
Case	Antec Nine-Hundred
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + Creative "Fatal1ty" Headset
Power Supply	Antec Earthwatts 650w
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Benchmark Scores	-❶-❸-❸-❼-

System Name	Homelabs
Processor	Ryzen 5900x \| Ryzen 1920X
Motherboard	Asus ProArt x570 Creator \| AsRock X399 fatal1ty gaming
Cooling	Silent Loop 2 280mm \| Dark Rock Pro TR4
Memory	128GB (4x32gb) DDR4 3600Mhz \| 128GB (8x16GB) DDR4 2933Mhz
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 3080 \| ASUS Strix GTX 970
Storage	Optane 900p + NVMe \| Optane 900p + 8TB SATA SSDs + 48TB HDDs
Display(s)	Alienware AW3423dw QD-OLED \| HP Omen 32 1440p
Case	be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 rev 2 \| be quiet! Silent Base 800
Power Supply	Corsair RM750x + sleeved cables\| EVGA P2 750W
Mouse	Razer Viper Ultimate (still has buttons on the right side, crucial as I'm a southpaw)
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman Elite, Pro Type \| Logitech G915 TKL