$300 Upgrade: CPU/RAM/Mobo

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Cyrenic

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Apr 1, 2010
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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Almost solely for gaming.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$300 (give or take $20) before tax and shipping.
3) Where do you live?
20 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, RAM, Motherboard. I'm trying to focus on upgradability and longevity. I think a quad core would be important for longevity, but let me know if you guys know better :).
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Antec case with Antec Truepower 430w power supply.
400gb hard drive
Nvidia 9600gt 512mb video card
DVD Rom drive
6) Will you be overclocking?
I don't plan on it, I'm shooting for stability.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19 inch CRT.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next two weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing specific really, just something that I can upgrade later.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 64 bit.


Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
Hmmm...

At the $300 total for the CPU/mobo/RAM combo, your choices are rather limited. You might be able to squeeze in an AMD Athlon II x4 processor, a Socket AM3 DDR3 motherboard with one of the newer AMD chipsets and a 4GB dual-channel DDR3 memory kit for that price. Otherwise, you might have to settle for a dual- or triple-core processor or settle for only 2GB of memory instead of 4GB.

Intel is not currently a feasible option unless you are willing to settle for dual-core. This is because the least expensive quad-core processors from Intel cost at least $150, which leaves no room in your budget for more than 2GB of RAM. And 2GB is the absolute bare minimum that's required to run Windows 7 64-bit (according to Microsoft).
 
Do you already have DDR2 from your last build? There are some nice modern AMD boards that use DDR2. That's what I did for a cheap upgrade from my Intel 965 / e4500.
 
You're near a Fry's, IIRC, so wait for tomorrow's ad. It may have a good cpu/mobo combo. ;) Just google for "fry's ad" tomorrow and check -- the pricing of those combos typically makes the mobo free or really really cheap (cheaper than any newegg combo).

As an example, there was an X4 925 + 790GX combo on sale a couple weeks ago for $150; the chip alone is $140, so it's basically $10 for the 790GX Biostar board, plus an additional $20MIR. So, be on the lookout for deals like that. http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com...enom-II-X4-925-BioStar-TA790GX-A3-Motherboard
 
I just looked at the OP's build. It looks like he might want to replace the power supply unit in addition to the components that he is planning to replace (depending on the version of the 430W Antec TruePower that he has). He might have the earliest single-rail version of that PSU, which has a +12V total capacity of only 26A. The later dual-rail version of that PSU has a total +12V capacity of 31A. Plus, it is very unlikely that a five-year-old PSU can even deliver what's claimed; in fact, it might not be capable of handling anything modern due to age, wear and tear.
 
Indeed, I just remembered that I forgot to mention the PSU would need replacing.

@OP: How old is that TP 430 and which exact model is it?

Also, to improve gaming, you'll probably want a new GPU, too. ;)
 
enginurd said:
How old is that TP 430 and which exact model is it?
Click to expand...

In addition, the first TP430 has only a 20-pin ATX connector. Most recent motherboards will not work properly, if at all, with that PSU even with a 20-to-24-pin adapter since they require a native 24-pin ATX connector.
 
Thanks for the quick responses, guys.

If I want to try and jump on one of these Fry's combos, does anybody know when do they have the combos available in the store? Do I need to be there Friday or Saturday morning (or whenever they get the sale items in) when it opens? I've heard they don't get very many units of their best sales, so I've always been too skeptical to try and take advantage of one.

I'll get the exact model number on that power supply this evening when I get home. Would I be able to get a new one for around $50? I think Corsair and Antec both are decent brands and they've got some units for ~$50 on Newegg.

Oh, and just to note, this is an example of what I had specced out on new egg prior to posting this:

$100 - ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G
$105 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
$100 - AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz
 
While Corsair and Antec do have good PSUs for $50, those PSUs may not have enough power for a new video card depending on the CPU you get from Fry's.

Speaking of Fry's, they have those deals in stock on Friday. It's generally a good idea to get there as early as possible.
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