Yet another rig advice thread.....

Hi, all.

I am upgrading my 4yo system: Athlon 5050e, 3.5GB RAM, Sapphire 100236L Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2, and 16GB cache HD.

Since the time I built it, it's felt a bit slower than I'd like, even for my primary uses: Web surfing and office productivity. I want basic tasks like these to function almost immediately.

I am planning to upgrade to an Athlon X4 640 ($70 now) or AMD A8-5500 (most likely the latter because it seems to be both more powerful and more power-efficient), new mobo, 8GB of RAM, and a 120GB SSD on Windows 7. (As much as I want to "future proof" my system, I am not sure it's worth it for me to go with an i5, as that would set me back another $150-200.)

My questions:

My 400W Corsair PSU and graphics card seem fine. Should I just go ahead and replace these now (and get it over with)? Or is there a big downside to waiting until they just die? It's not a question of saving money for me -- I just don't want the components going to a landfill or having to go through the trouble of giving them to someone.

Thank you.

uluvbs said:

My questions:
-1- My PSU and graphics card seem fine. Should I just go ahead and replace these now (and get it over with)? Or is there a big downside to waiting until they just die? It's not a question of saving money for me -- I just don't want the components going to a landfill or having to go through the trouble of giving them to someone.

Click to expand...

We have no idea what PSU you have.

uluvbs said:

-2- The highest-rated mobo on newegg for the X4 640 is a microATX, and I have a mid-Tower case. Is there a downside (other than aesthetics) to keeping my case? Or should I just get a new (smaller) case while I'm at it?

Thank you.

Click to expand...

If your case has adequate cooling, no need to upgrade. If it does not, then upgrade.


Now our questions:

Asking for Build Help?: ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST

PSU is CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W. More answers below -- thank you.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Everything but gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$800 all inclusive
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
UK, but might bring it back with me during the next trip to the US.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Corsair 400W
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Separate -- just purchased a 23" 1080p.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next month
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
No RAID, but perhaps USB 3.0 would be smart.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, but XP, so I'll be buying Win 7.

Thank you.

Next month is a bit vague. We normally recommend that you start planning your build a week or two prior to purchasing everything. Could you clarify when next month you were planning on buying/building your system?

Also, are you willing to live with a micro-ATX or a mini-ITX system?

Sorry for the vaguery.

By next month, I mean this: I will probably buy the components in the next week or two. There is no rush. I'm not going to drop dead if I don't have a new system in place by end of March or anything.

Also, regarding the microATX matter, I've edited my above post: I think I will end up going with the A8-5500, which seems to be both very power efficient and more than strong enough to meet my needs, along with an ECS A75F2-A2 motherboard.

My main questions now are whether people think I should just keep my 400W PSU and graphics card, even if there are no apparent issues with them, or just replace them rather than having to go through the trouble when one of them dies in the next year or so.

Thank you.

I'd just keep the PSU and Video card. If their performance is satisfactory then no need to upgrade. Chances are both will last you several more years.

Thank you, DooKey.

And if either suddenly dies, no harm done to any of the components?

uluvbs said:

Thank you, DooKey.

And if either suddenly dies, no harm done to any of the components?

Click to expand...

The video card wouldn't take anything out, but a failing PSU can take out components.

Corsair sells good PSUs and considering the minimal load you are putting on your PSU it should last for years. Buying a new one really won't significantly change the probability of a PSU failure.