Possible Future Upgrade Advice

R

Rip181

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Messages
90
Hey Guys/Gals,

I have a dilemma, I currently have the below computer and I cant decide if I should wait for Nehalem or if I should upgrade now or cheaply upgrade now and save for Nehalem.

Old System

MB: Asus P4C800 Deluxe
CPU: 3.0 P4 1MB L2
Ram: 2 Gig of DDR 400
HD: WD 250 Sata
DVD Burner & DVD Rom old (ATA)
PS: 600 Watt with 35+ on 12V (I bought a X1950 Pro that Crapped out on me thats why I have a big PS)
VC: x850 Pro AGP 8X

I just bought my first house so I am a little money struck right now, so if i was to upgrade today I only want to spend around $350 and then save for Nehalem. But my current system is starting to show its age (usb ports power on and off all the time, I here the beeps from windows all the time) and it is really starting to bug me that I can not play some of the new games out since the x850 doesnt have SM3 (Bioshock right now).

If I upgraded with the below system do you think I would see decent improvements in Gaming and everyday stuff like CD/DVD converting/ripping. I will probably overclock the processor a little at a time until I get comfortable with OCing since I have never done it.

MB: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L - $89 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813128059
CPU: Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale - $79 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16819116052
Mem: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 - $34 AR http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16820145034
GPU: XFX GeForce 9600GT 512MB -$149 AR http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814150277
Old Case
Old PS
Old DVD Burner
Old Hard Drive

Basically would it even be worth it to upgrade to the above system or should I just save up for a full upgrade with Quadcore, high-end board and what not.

Forgot to add I am using an older 19" LCD with a max Res of 1280 x 1024.

Also any possible alternitives to the above componets would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.
Rip
 
I would probably spring the extra $30 for one of those $180 8800GT's that seem to be popping up lately.

But taking into consideration 19" LCD...9600 may be plenty.
Everything else looks good :)
 
That ram runs normally at CL4 right? or is it saying it's overclockable to CL4? :S
 
BoWzA said:
That ram runs normally at CL4 right? or is it saying it's overclockable to CL4? :S
Click to expand...

Newegg said:
CORSAIR XMS 2GB DDR2 SDRAM System Memory, offers targeted low latencies of 5-5-5-18 at JEDEC standard speeds, overclockable to 4-4-4-12, and it's been certified as “SLI Ready”, giving you some screaming data transfer rates and exquisite renderings.
Click to expand...


That is from Newegg so I am quessing overclockable to CL4.

Does that matter or should I look for non overclockable CL4?
 
There's no difference performance-wise between CL4 and CL5 RAM, outside of synthetic benchmarks. Don't pay more for CL4 RAM. With the E2xxx series, it's pointless to buy anything faster than DDR2 800.

Get the DS3L and the E2160 at ClubIT. All of the E2xxx processors have the same approximate overclocking threshold, so there's little need to spend $10+ more for the E2180. (The E2160 also has a $5 off promotion code at ClubIT.) You could use the savings to bump your RAM up to 4GB (for example, the 4GB A-DATA kit costs $84) and/or get a better CPU cooler like the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, which you'll need for overclocking the E2xxx CPUs. (You will need a 64-bit OS in order to fully utilize all 4GB of RAM, but you would still have around 3.2GB-3.5GB available to work with.)

BTW, what is the specific brand/model of the power supply you are reusing?
 
The PS is a cheap one. Let me see what I can dig up and post a link. (Bought it for the X1950pro right after it died thinking my old PS caused it)

Here is the PS http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339001

Well Newegg didnt send me a new one they just refunded my money since they ran out of that paticular card.

What about this Ram would it be better? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565&nm_mc=AFC-Bensbargains&cm_mmc=AFC-Bensbargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA
 
tiraides said:
Get the DS3L and the E2160 at ClubIT. All of the E2xxx processors have the same approximate overclocking threshold, so there's little need to spend $10+ more for the E2180. get a better CPU cooler like the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, which you'll need for overclocking the E2xxx CPUs.
Click to expand...

I forgot I also am using this CPU cooler for the P4 and seems to run great would it work for any of the Pentium Dual Cores?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223

Also I can get the 2180 for 59.99 at tigerdirect with a rebate if my old cooler will work.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3505668&sku=CP2-PD-E2180
 
That heatsink will do. You can use this for now and see how it will do in overclocking.
 
I'm not a big fan of mail-in rebates... personally, I never seem to get all of the MIRs that I turn in. (Plus, you have to pay the full amount up front... how does that save you any money right now?)

With the RAM, I suggested the 4GB kit because it seemed like you could afford it (based on your initial list). If you really can't afford it, or if you want to get as much savings as possible, then pick up a cheaper (off the bat) 2GB kit. (I say cheaper because with mail-in rebates, you still have to pay the full "before rebate" price when you order everything.) For example, you could purchase either the A-DATA or G.Skill kit for $45 each with free shipping. (The A-DATA kit also has a $10 mail-in rebate, which makes the AR price the same as the Crucial Ballistix.) You don't need to overclock the RAM when overclocking the CPU, so don't spend extra getting "high-performance" or "overclocking" RAM.

I still believe that the E2160 from ClubIT is the better buy. In addition to the $5 off promotion code, you also receive free shipping (Tiger Direct charges around $6-$8 to ship the CPU). Your Zalman 9500A CPU cooler would work fine, so go ahead and use that instead. Keep in mind though that the E2xxx processors seem to max out around 3.2GHz; but it will perform much better than the P4 you're currently using.

Do not use the hec Orion XPOWER585 PSU in your rig; go with the Cooler Master PSU instead. The hec's long-term reliability is a big unknown, especially since it's a cheap power supply. (You get what you pay for with power supplies... a cheap power supply is more likely to use inferior parts and crap out without reaching its rated limits. And when the PSU goes, it normally takes several components, if you everything else, with it.)
 
tiraides said:
I'm not a big fan of mail-in rebates... personally, I never seem to get all of the MIRs that I turn in. (Plus, you have to pay the full amount up front... how does that save you any money right now?)

With the RAM, I suggested the 4GB kit because it seemed like you could afford it (based on your initial list). If you really can't afford it, or if you want to get as much savings as possible, then pick up a cheaper (off the bat) 2GB kit. (I say cheaper because with mail-in rebates, you still have to pay the full "before rebate" price when you order everything.) For example, you could purchase either the A-DATA or G.Skill kit for $45 each with free shipping. (The A-DATA kit also has a $10 mail-in rebate, which makes the AR price the same as the Crucial Ballistix.) You don't need to overclock the RAM when overclocking the CPU, so don't spend extra getting "high-performance" or "overclocking" RAM.

I still believe that the E2160 from ClubIT is the better buy. In addition to the $5 off promotion code, you also receive free shipping (Tiger Direct charges around $6-$8 to ship the CPU). Your Zalman 9500A CPU cooler would work fine, so go ahead and use that instead. Keep in mind though that the E2xxx processors seem to max out around 3.2GHz; but it will perform much better than the P4 you're currently using.

Do not use the hec Orion XPOWER585 PSU in your rig; go with the Cooler Master PSU instead. The hec's long-term reliability is a big unknown, especially since it's a cheap power supply. (You get what you pay for with power supplies... a cheap power supply is more likely to use inferior parts and crap out without reaching its rated limits. And when the PSU goes, it normally takes several components, if you everything else, with it.)
Click to expand...

Thanks man you dont really think about the upfront all the time when it comes to rebates. I think I bought into my sale to the wife. its only 350 bucks, lol all in knowing after rebates. The 4 gigs of ram is a good deal even though I only have a 32 bit OS. 3.5 avalible is better than 2. I will deffenatly use teh coolermaster if you suggest I have it laying around from a build i did for a friend.

Thanks Again.
 
One more thing to consider, if you haven't already done so, is the total cost of everything, including shipping costs. Based on where you get everything from, it may vary from whatever estimate I could suggest. (Hence, my estimate of the TigerDirect shipping charges is just that -- a guess.) Since you're trying to keep the total close to your $350 budget, you may want to look at the Radeon HD3850 video card instead of the 9600GT. The 9600GT is the better card, but it starts at around $180 (before MIRs), whereas the HD3850 starts at around $150.

What I meant was:

$72 - Intel Pentium (dual-core) E2160 (free shipping & $5 off with promo code)
$83 - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ($8 S/H)
$45 - A-DATA 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 dual channel kit (free shipping & $10 MIR)
$150 - HIS Radeon HD3850 video card ($20 MIR) ($8-$10 S/H)
==========
$350 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates/promo codes)

For me (I live in Georgia), the shipping comes out to around $17 for everything. If the $350 limit has to include shipping charges, and you decide to get different parts from elsewhere, then you may not be so lucky to come this close to your budget limit.
 
I agree with tiraides.

Just a note, that CoolerMaster 550W PSU is actually a Seventeam 450W PSU. Seventeam makes great PSUs -- server-grade and good quality. However, I'm just pointing this out so that you don't expect 550W from that PSU. Your system won't need 550W, and shouldn't even touch 450W at full load -- but just a warning, in case you run into issues after you've added a bunch of upgrades/things to the system later on. Go ahead and use it, since you already have it. If you plan to upgrade to a quadcore and get a higher powered vidcard, or add a ton of HDDs, just remember to upgrade the PSU if needed.
 
That is some sound advice guys, I am going to do some playing around. the 350 is a loose number. As long as it is close to 350 after rebates I can get the wife to buy into it. (not including shipping).

If there is a cheaper MB that you guys would reconmend I am game with that.
 
Cheaper board? The Abit IP35-E has a nice rebate is a great alternative to the DS3L, if you don't need legacy ports:

$90 - aBIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ($30 MIR)
 
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