Upgrade advice thread

[teckman]

You know the drill, looking for advice on the best bang for the buck upgrade available right now. Price maximum is $1300 would prefer to keep it around $1000.

Game of choice is Counter-Strike: Source which I will run on lower settings to maximize framerate. Currently looking at the following setup:
Gonna grab the processor from monarch for their increased selection and the rest from newegg because I <3 them.

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB (754)
Price: $329.00

DFI "LANPARTY UT nF3 250Gb" NVIDIA nForce3 250GB Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
$109

eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-bit, Dual DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "256-A8-N345-AX" -RETAIL
$449

CORSAIR XMS, Xtra-Low Latency 2-2-2-5, 184-Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 w/ Platinum Heat Spreader, Model CMX512-3200XLPT - Retail
X2 = $250

Antec P4 ATX12V 450 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans, Model "SL450" - Retail
$76


Total = 1276

This configuration is obviously a pricier than I anticipated but I think it's a good value. Biggest thing I would consider changing is probably the videocard down to a 6600gt since I will be running low settings. I was going to get a 6800GT but when I saw an ultra for only $30-50 more I had to grab it. Also the 2-2-2 memory might be a little much. How can I cut the price $100-200 and not lose a significant amount of performance loss for my needs?

Your advice and opinions are appreciated, thanks <3

 

[Phranq]

I would go with a socket 939 mobo/proc like


http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-498&depa=1

AMD 64 3500+
$295


Then the motherboard would be


http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-136-152&depa=1

If you wanted one similar to what you had for $145 or you could get several different ones I'd use ASUS, GIGABYTE, or SOLTEK all of which i know people have and like but if you want that one go for it. an asus/gig/sol will cost you from $100-140 on socket 939.


I'm not sure what you really need that RAM for but it's up to you, that's pretty expensive premium RAM for my taste but if you've got the $$$.



your graphics card...I don't see why you couldn't get this one
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-203&depa=1

for $390

 

[teckman]

any other advice??