Upgrade Advice

S

Szap

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 27, 2003
Messages
83
A couple days ago, my computer decided to break down on me. At first it was restarting randomly and then it wouldn't get past the boot screen. Finally, my power supply popped and died. I thought that was the only problem, so I bought a 650w Antec Truepower supply that was on sale at compusa. Unfortunately, it still doesn't go past the DFI boot logo. I'm pretty sure the problem is with the north bridge because I noticed that the fan on that wasn't spinning.

So, what it comes down to is I either spend money on an outdated motherboard, or I spend a little more so I have some room to upgrade in the near future. I was planning one, but not this soon.

I've been out of the loop for awhile now, so I'm not too sure of what's available. My current setup is:
DFI nf4 Ultra-D
512x2 OCZ pc3200 Plat Rev 2(just bought a couple months ago since my cheap ram
had stopped working)
Amd Athlon 64 3200+ (Venice)
ATI X800 GTO modded to X850XT
650W Antec Truepower PS

I'd like to spend around $300-$350 to get a Motherboard, CPU, and Ram. Obviously, I'm not looking for anything spectacular, but would like something that will be upgradeable. I don't necessarily care whether it's Intel or Amd. I just don't see a point to put any more money into old technology.

Sorry for such a long post. I appreciate any help you can give me.
 
DFI boards are picky with PSUs. If you can, try another PSU. Also, replace the chipset HSF with an HR-05 SLI + 80mm fan if you can. If it still doesnt work, you can use the HR-05 on a new setup, lol.

$26 - Thermalright HR-05-SLI Copper Heatsink for North/Southbridge - Retail

New setup suggestions:

AMD:
$130 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor 2.6GHz Socket AM2
$80 - Biostar TF560 A2+ AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 560 MCP
$75 - A-DATA 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 ADQVE1A16K ($15MIR)
=========
$285 + tax and shipping - $15MIR

Alternative AMD CPU:
$170 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2

Intel:
$126 - Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Allendale 2.0GHz
$89 - ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ($20 MIR)
$75 - A-DATA 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 ADQVE1A16K ($15MIR)
=========
$290 + tax and shipping - $35 MIRs

Alternative Intel CPU:
$189 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz
 
Thanks for the suggestion enginurd. I will look into those setups.

Abu Som3a, I will eventually upgrade my video card. Right now, I'm just trying to get the essentials together so I can get back up and running. I really don't want to spend more than $350 right now and I know I can't fit a video card within that budget along with everything else. I'll probably look into one around christmas time.
 
Ok, I decided to increase my budget a little in order to get the faster CPU and a new case. So, I'm going to purchase the following:

$89.99 - ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ($20 MIR)
$72.99 - A-DATA 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 ADQVE1A16K ($15MIR)
$189.99 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz
$39.99 - COOLER MASTER Elite 330 ($10 MIR)

Grand Total(With Shipping): $421.62 - $45 MIR = $376.62

Does that look good for the price?
 
I just placed the order. I really appreciate the help. In some ways, I like when my computer decides to randomly break on me. It makes the decision to upgrade much easier.
 
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