Budget upgrade - need advice

T

TBogue

n00b
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Jun 4, 2004
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I'm out of HD space and my OS needs to be reinstalled, so I'm thinking it may be time to upgrade.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (HL2 mods, Spore, Fear etc), interweb

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500 or less if possible

3) Where do you live?
Pittsburgh
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, RAM, Vid card, HD

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
DVD burner, Lian Li case, 500W FSP PS

6) Will you be overclocking?
not anytime soon

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
right now a 17" CRT :( would like to get a ~22" LCD maybe in the future

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
in the next few weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
nothing fancy

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
XP Pro, Windows Server 2008

Right now I'm looking at two options.

1. Upgrade computer in sig with 1TB HD for $90
maybe another GB or RAM
Best AGP card I can still find
Cost...~150-$200

2. New CPU, MB, Vid card, HD
ASUS M3A78-CM
Athlon X2 64 6000+
4GB Corsair XMS2 PC8500
GeForce 9800GTX 1GB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB
All that with CPU cooler would run me $466

edit: current computer is AMD A64 2800+ 2GB RAM ATI 9800Pro AGP
 
You'll need a new power supply, as well. FSP isn't the best brand to rely on.

$149 - AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition & Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P combo deal (free shipping on both)
$46 - A-DATA 2x2GB DDR2 800 kit (free shipping)
$115 - Sapphire HD4850 (free shipping & $15 mail-in rebate)
$90 - Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB SATA HDD (free shipping)
$69 - BFG LS-550 550W PSU (free shipping)
=====
$469 - Subtotal (not including taxes or rebates)

Everything in the above list comes with free shipping, which could have added at least $20 more to the above total. You don't need a quad core for gaming and/or general internet browsing, but the motherboard can support the new Phenom II tri- and quad-core processors, and that's more important in terms of long-term viability. The Black Edition processor that I chose for you has an unlocked multiplier to encourage people to overclock it. Though I didn't include one, you would want a good aftermarket CPU cooler, like the Xigmatek S1283V, and faster RAM, like the Corsair kit that you were considering, to help push the processor to its limits. Since you said that you weren't going to overclock, I omitted the aftermarket CPU cooler and found a cheaper yet equally reliable DDR2 800 kit.

Again, you needed a better power supply, so I included one. I also went with a Samsung 1TB drive because I was able to find it at $90 shipped. (That, and I'm a bit distrustful of the Seagate 7200.11 series due to the earlier firmware issues. Though the problem has reportedly been fixed, I keep hearing an occasional story or two where that's not the case.) The HD4850 performs on par with the 9800GTX but is often available for a bit less.
 
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tiraides said:
You'll need a new power supply, as well. FSP isn't the best brand to rely on.

$149 - AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition & Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P combo deal (free shipping on both)
$46 - A-DATA 2x2GB DDR2 800 kit (free shipping)
$115 - Sapphire HD4850 (free shipping & $15 mail-in rebate)
$90 - Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB SATA HDD (free shipping)
$69 - BFG LS-550 550W PSU (free shipping)
=====
$469 - Subtotal (not including taxes or rebates)

Everything in the above list comes with free shipping, which could have added at least $20 more to the above total. You don't need a quad core for gaming and/or general internet browsing, but the motherboard can support the new Phenom II tri- and quad-core processors, and that's more important in terms of long-term viability. The Black Edition processor that I chose for you has an unlocked multiplier to encourage people to overclock it. Though I didn't include one, you would want a good aftermarket CPU cooler, like the Xigmatek S1283V, and faster RAM, like the Corsair kit that you were considering, to help push the processor to its limits. Since you said that you weren't going to overclock, I omitted the aftermarket CPU cooler and found a cheaper yet equally reliable DDR2 800 kit.

Again, you needed a better power supply, so I included one. I also went with a Samsung 1TB drive because I was able to find it at $90 shipped. (That, and I'm a bit distrustful of the Seagate 7200.11 series due to the earlier firmware issues. Though the problem has reportedly been fixed, I keep hearing an occasional story or two where that's not the case.) The HD4850 performs on par with the 9800GTX but is often available for a bit less.
Click to expand...

Excellent, thank you!
 
Well, tiraides actually summed it up :). I can confirm the Radeon 4850 is a very nice card, using it in my rig. You will be able to play any of the latest games with very good settings (probably the highest settings for HL2 & co, Spore and FEAR).
 
never mind about the HD, I went ahead and ordered the same WD Eshelman got. It'll take me a while to fill up 640GB, or I can buy another later.
 
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