cheap system advice

T

tronics

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 30, 2004
Messages
87
Ok i currently have a

amd 3000+ skt.939
msi neo4 k8n platinum sli
1 1GB stick pc3200
two 6600 GT's one went bad

My grandparents send me $300 each christmas. So i thought i would upgrade what i could. Heres what i picked out.

Motherboard

VideoCard

Processor

Tell what you think, with that i will use my exsisting memory. Or should i keep the mobo and upgrade around that.
 
So you're budget is $300? Go for this:

$181 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$57 - ASRock 775Dual-VSTA Socket T (LGA 775) VIA PT880 PRO
=======
$240 + tax and shipping

That setup will allow you to use your current 1GB stick and your 6600GT.

If you get more money for the holidays, go for this:

$100 - Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express (review)
$181 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$180 - OCZ S.O.E 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-667 OCZ2SOE6672GK ($210 - $30MIR) [can OC to DDR2-800)
$114 - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB ($145 - $30MIR)
=======
$575 + tax and shipping
 
Roofles McSquared! He linked to 939 AMD shit and said $300. Both of you linked to Intel and the first doubled the budget, shipped. :p

Ah well.

OP, I would look for used gear if I were you. That's what I did, actually. I'd keep the mobo and chip and OC it. Then I would pick up a video card and 2 gigs of RAM. If you can only afford one thing, make it a nice video card.

I picked up

939 3000+ Venice w/ Biostar Tforce 6100 for $90 shipped, used.
eVGA 7800GT CO w/ NV silencer for $140 shipped, used.

In all honesty this chip of mine OCed to 2.5 is just fast. Does what I need it to and then some. Already had PSU, 1GB RAM and HDD's. I play DoD:S on completely maxed out settings.

Check the for sale/trade section! Remember, that you can sell off your old video card and RAM to help pay for new video card and RAM!
 
enginurd said:
So you're budget is $300? Go for this:

$181 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$57 - ASRock 775Dual-VSTA Socket T (LGA 775) VIA PT880 PRO
=======
$240 + tax and shipping
Click to expand...


Definitely seconded.

SOOO much more performance that the AMD chip you linked us to OP :).
 
mdameron said:
Roofles McSquared! He linked to 939 AMD shit and said $300. Both of you linked to Intel and the first doubled the budget, shipped. :p

Ah well.

OP, I would look for used gear if I were you. That's what I did, actually. I'd keep the mobo and chip and OC it. Then I would pick up a video card and 2 gigs of RAM. If you can only afford one thing, make it a nice video card.

I picked up

939 3000+ Venice w/ Biostar Tforce 6100 for $90 shipped, used.
eVGA 7800GT CO w/ NV silencer for $140 shipped, used.

In all honesty this chip of mine OCed to 2.5 is just fast. Does what I need it to and then some. Already had PSU, 1GB RAM and HDD's. I play DoD:S on completely maxed out settings.

Check the for sale/trade section! Remember, that you can sell off your old video card and RAM to help pay for new video card and RAM!
Click to expand...
So since someone asks for advice and starts off with AMD, we can't recommend Intel instead?

Anyhow, if you want better gaming performance, mdameron is right, all you need is a new vidcard, and maybe some ram. If you don't game much, I'd keep the 6600GT and upgrade the CPU/Mobo with the combo I suggested earlier. If you want both better gaming performance and better overall performance, go with this:

$157 - AMD Opteron 165 Denmark 1.8GHz 2x1MB s939
$100 - eVGA 256-P2-N550 -T2 GeForce 7600GT 256MB ($120 - $20MIR)
=======
$257 + tax and shipping

And again, if you do get more money to spend on the rig, go for my 2nd suggestion above.
 
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