The Eternal Question: Upgrade or Replace...

I

irishBoiler

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 29, 2008
Messages
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See my desktop specs in my sig.

I want to put Vista on my machine, but I feel I need at least 2 gigs for it to run well. Do I purchase 2 gigs of memory for it or am I just polishing a turd? If I replaced it, it would just be motherboard, processor, memory, graphics card.

My budget is $800 for now, although I might come into some money in the next couple months.

I write multi-threaded applications, graphic editors, and pretty serious gamer. (Notice monitor resolution) I also use it as a media center for sharing among my household.

Do I upgrade, replace, or wait for more mullah? Help!
 
Man.. looking at what you do, you need a Q6600 ASAP. LoL

Q6600 - $250
Mobo - $90 Intel P35 Chipset Mobo
RAM - 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 - $85
Video - Geforce 8800GTS 512MB - $240

$665 roughly. Upgrade man!

BTW, what's your PS rating? What's the total amperage on the +12V
 
Those numbers are pretty much on spot, unless you're living outside the US (you didn't mention either way.) Price these components out in newegg and find out for yourself.
 
NewEgg.com pricing

Yeah man it can be done. The Q6600 cpu, Video card and RAm prices are very good these days.

Cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

RAM - Damn! $80 bucks now. I outta get these also
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127323


BUT, looking at your name and where you are coming from, you may not be able to get these items for that amount though.
 
Also, what tools / IDEs do you use to develop apps? Note that Vista has issues with older versions of Visual Studio, up to and including 2003.
 
based on what you plan to use this computer for I would also recommend the same thing. make sure you get a G0 SLACR if your going with the Q6600, because it runs less power and heat. for ram. all you need really is DDR2 800mhz. if your not planning to oc then 1000mhz should do fine. and if you do plan to oc then I recommend the Zerotherm Nirvana NV 120. That should get the Q6600 to 3.6GHz, depending on air flow of your case as well. For motherboard you should look into the P35 chipset. $90 provides you with the basic cheap board while $100-$150 provides you with a better P35 board with more SATA ports and such. if you do go with 4gb of ram or more then get a 64bit OS. a Corsair 550vx should be plenty for the build.
 
@ Markyip1: I use VS 2005, and make C#, flash, and java apps.

@HardwareGuru: Actually....I'm from Chicago and now at Purdue (hence Boiler), so don't worry about that. I had looked on newegg before, but I couldn't get the numbers to work out that low. I guess I was just picking the over-priced stuff.

Thanks EVERYONE for pointing me at some specific hardware that can meet my needs.
 
Please tell us which power supply (brand and model) you have, as well as how long you've had it for. A cheap or old power supply may not be able to handle your upgrades.
 
Looks like he has a "500W PS forgot brand" . Hehe. I just read his SIG it made me giggle.
 
I went with the replace path xD My old mobo couldn't handle any of the new upgrades anyways, and I thought "if I spent a few more $, I could get a brand new comp!" Turns out to be a lot more than a few $$, but I'll just sell my old one xD
 
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