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Need help on upgrade (cpu,MB,etc)

sweeper

sweeper

New Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
796 (0.11/day)
Location
SW, Ohio
System Specs
System Name "X"
Processor AMD PHENOM II X 6 3.2GHz @ 3.6GHz
Motherboard ASUS M4A785-M
Cooling ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
Memory Kingston Hyper X DDR2 1066 2X2 - 4GB
Video Card(s) SAPPHIRE Radeon HD4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
Storage Western Digital 500GB SATAII Black / Western Digital My Book Essential External HDD 1TB
Display(s) Soyo 22" LCD / Vizio 32" LCD
Case Thermaltake Xaser II Full Tower
Audio Device(s) ON-BOARD VIA VT1708S
Power Supply Antec Basiq 550W Plus Modular
Software Windows 7 Ultimate
Ok, you can all see my system specs to the left. I'm looking to upgrade the CPU, MB, GPU, RAM. But I'm clueless to what I'm looking for. Now my brother just picked up an Phenom quad core 2.5GHz and an MSI Micro-ATX MB used for just over 100.00 and the thing freakin flies. :shadedshu

So yeah now I'm looking to do the same either used or new. Have the HDD, case, PSU etc

Help? Best bang for the buck (Intel, AMD) ? As you can see it's been awhile since I last upgraded. :confused:

Thanks
 
What are you going to use the rig for? If you are going to use it for MS Word, save your money. However, I think you want to play games (as with all of us), so we need a budget. Right now things you might be interested are the Intel Core i5 750, the AMD Athlon II X4 620/630 and the Phenom II 720BE or 955BE/965BE. Spare some thought on the Core i3, its not too shabby too. All of them are very good at its price point, but the 620/630 are cheaper by a significant margin. You sport an AGP card, so that will have to go, and you will need 4GB ram. Look around the FS thread, you might pick something up nice and cheap.
 
InTeL-iNsIdE said:
You got a budget ?
Click to expand...

A budget would really help, cause if you aren't limited, you can get something that REALLY flies :laugh: Not everyone means the same thing for "bang for the buck". Some think of amd's 720, 955 over 965's. Some think of core i5 over core i7. Some even mix em up or even look at some high clocked, low price dualies. Do you have a preference?
 
Well looking at $200-$250 for the cpu, MB, 2GB memory to start with, Video card. I'll sell the parts I have now but it's a little hard to do that and find something without a PC. My brother is picky about his so I can't be sitting on his all the time. I was just surprised at what he got for the price.

I'm going to be using it as a family PC. Gaming for my son, alot of web surfing, photo-editing (have a SLR digital camera) I do alot of picture taking and editing and if you've ever had to edit a RAW image with a slow PC it takes a long time. Video's , esp. HULU, other video sites. Basic family stuff. It's in use all the time. Nothing EXTREME though. I'm not an EXTREME gamer but I don't want to get something that will be out of date or is out of date. I'm trying to get atleast a foot in the 2010 door.
 
Just to clarify, I assume it'll all go in the Xaser and be powered by your Antec 550w?
 
For the price, I'd look into the athlons, mainly the x4 630 like someone said before, its ~100. Its a decent cpu. But you'll have to part with your gpu, cause its agp. So 250 with a gpu and all the rest (board, ram etc) is a bit tightish. Maybe you could get a board with integrated graphics, till you can plug in something better.
 
Indeed, I think to get the best bang for your buck, you'd be better off bumping your budget up to at least $300 if possible. At $250 for CPU, GPU, MB, and RAM, something in there is going to have to be a component that you'd probably end up replacing after a few months anyway, and you'll end up spending more in the end. But, to keep it low, you could get this CPU and motherboard, find 2GB of DDR2 in private forum sales for ~$35, and have about $80 to put toward a video card.
 
Thats a nice deal, just plug in a 9600gso+ or an ati 4850+ further down the line and your even set for some decent gaming! ;) Or you could even wait some more (due to the fact that you''ll get IG, you can save up for a 5770)
 
If you're willing to scour Ebay and private forum sales for used cards, you could with patience find a 8800GTS 512/9800GT/9800GTX/9800GTX+ to go with that combo and stay within the $250 budget. Or like assaulter said, a 4850 or maybe 4770 (I'm not sure, haven't looked too much for ATI cards lately due to Folding@home being my top priority).
 
What about this setup?

MSI 785GTM-E45 AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130237

WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 3AXT6400C5-2048K - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161030

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor Model ADX620WFGIBOX - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706

I can use the onboard graphics until I find a card. I was looking for a combo like this in the buy/sell but haven't seen one yet. So my option would be "new". Unless someone has a setup similar to this. PM me if you do. :)
 
The Athlon X4 620 will be better for general-purpose computing, particularly in the future, as more software comes to support extra processor cores. But in the meantime, it's not going to be as good for gaming.

The integrated graphics on that board are better than nothing, but will limit you in gaming/video-intensive tasks compared to an actual card.

Will you be overclocking?
 
Probably not a whole lot even though they say that CPU is a good OC'er. Should I go with just a Dual Core? Also how much of an improvement over my system now am I looking at with that setup?
 
What about this combo:


AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX240OCGQBOX - Retail
ECS GeForce6100PM-M2(V3.0) AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
POWERCOLOR AX4350 1GBD2-H Radeon HD 4350 1GB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail

Original Price: $160.97
Discount: -$25.00
Combo Price: $135.97
 
I'd take another gpu, the 4350 doesn't cut it when it comes to gaming. If you plan to OC, you better stay away from cheap ecs boards. I'd take your first build ^^ over this one.
 
i had a ECS GeForce6100PM-M2(V3.0) AM3/AM2+/AM2 and it was very stable and did what i needed it to do BUT only supported 95W CPUs and had ZERO overclocking abilities. If you are going AM2+/AM3 i would recommend a used M3A78 series board that supports 140W cpus
 
4 cores is the way to go now, 2 is just lacking the ooomph. I would go for the first build but change the ram into something better (brand wise). The 785 comes with a 4200 which is not too shabby if you are not expecting anything.
 
I'll probably go with the first setup I compiled together. Not sure how my brother got his combo at the price he did but damn it's fast.
 
3 cores, 4, either way I don't think you'd be too disappointed. If you ask a gamer who knows the X3 vs X4 CPUs, they'll say grab the X3 and overclock it higher. If you ask someone who's more into productivity and things like video editing, they're bound to say grab the X4. I have two X4 620s that hit 3.6GHz, but it took some doing to get them there. The X3s get made fun of a lot for being a bit odd, but you just can't beat them in their price segment, in terms of gaming performance.

Either way, for gaming the top priority is that video card, and the GeForce 8 and 9 series are available used all over online, at really nice prices. They're still quite capable of handling current games. For a person who really takes the time to shop around patiently, I think that's where the best bang for the buck is.
 
Yeah, I'm going to look around for a graphics card to add on when I get more cash. I still haven't committed on the set-up yet either. lol It takes me for ever (as you can tell by my current setup) to make decisions.

The computer will be used mostly for Music, Video, Streaming video to the PS3, personal use, gaming for my son and photo editing. Of course all the other things that go along with a Home Computer (internet, mail, office, etc.) . ;)
 
Hey, that's a good thing. A lot of people don't even flinch dropping their paycheck on a new piece of computer gear, only to find out there was a better choice right around the corner. Taking the time and thinking it out is worth it, and that becomes perfectly evident when everything comes together and you know you have a great rig that was well thought out.
 
That's how I see it too. Unlike my son who is bugging me to not only have the PS3 to game on but have this PC "faster" so he can play newer games and watch his "HULU" shows. Plus he's always complaining how SLOW this is. lol I just want to make sure it all comes together right. As the saying goes "Gotta love it when a plan comes together!"
 
Lets face the truth!
Here is what you need for now to be happy:
Amd phenom 550 be (or 555 be)
An MSI motherboard with 2 pcie slots
4 Gb ram (2 Gb if you dont have cash)
5770 graphic card
 
Last edited:
little scary with no reviews on the Athlon X3 440. ? . It also doesn't have an L3 Cache? But of course I am still looking and appreciate ALL the input everyone has been giving me. It's been a long time since I updated other than my HD4650 AGP I bought. lol Big upgrade eh?
 
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