Upgrade Budget = 800

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shadowbreaker513

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 15, 2005
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For my birthday my parents gave me a budget of $800 to work with in upgrading my computer. This is definatly a major upgrade as I have to do my processor, video card, mobo, and PSU all at once, and since I've been out of the loop for a while, I could use some advice. Right now I've been thinking of these.

BFG 7900GT - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143048 - $329
AMD X2 3800+ - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562 - $297
Asus A8N-SLI - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131524 - $110
Ultra 550W X2 - http://xoxide.com/ultra-x-connect2-titanium.html - $100
(I read that these were far better than the old ultra x-connects and were actually good, reliable PSUs, can anyone confirm?)

It's a bit over, but it's not too much of a concern. One thing I was curious about was right now I have 2 mismatched sticks of RAM, but seeing as I can only run single channel, it's not a big deal. However, once I upgrade to s939, I'll have the option for dual channel, but I could not afford to get new RAM as well. Would I experience a big performance hit by running in single-channel? Thanks for the help.
 
depending on your monitor and what resolutions you will be playing at, you might not need a new video card.. other people would know more than me though..
actually, though that 6800 gt is probably AGP.. so ignore that comment..

also.. there might be a chance that a 1gb stick and a 512 would actually run in dual channel, at least until the 512 stick gets full.. maybe i don't understand it right.. but i think that is a possiblity.

for $100 i would get a different psu, even if that ultra is supposed to be good.. you can get something from sparkle, enermax, ocz, antec, silverstone, epower, etc...

you can work on selling off some of your old stuff to pay for the new memory too...

then of course i can also tell you to wait for am2/conroe to come out since your computer should be able to handle most stuff decently as it is... its way newer than what i got, except i don't play games so yeah..
 
Is the system you are upgrading in your sig? If so..are you getting a new case too? The A8N SLi is ATX not uATX (you probably know that..just making sure).

Your system could last you until AM2 and Conroe like scottatwittenberg mentionedm, but then again you could just sell your old parts and save the $ while its still worth something and then keep the upgraded system until prices on AM2/Conroe drop even more.

If you do decide to upgrade, you could get a video card by another brand like evga,xfx, etc. because they are usually cheaper (the BFG comes OC'd but you could easily do it yourself and save more money). And the you could probably get a similar PSU for the same price (500W Enermax Liberty maybe?), but I don't have any experiences with the Ultra so I will not criticize. The new one probably works fine. If you are overclocking you could get the DFI Ultra-D (probably the best non sli board out right now) and pencil mod it to SLI..if not overclocking the Asus should be stable. Check out for deals on the Opteron 165 in the hot deals section..from what I've heard it overclocks better and with the coupon codes it is probably cheaper. If the sales are gone then X2 3800+ sounds good.
 
Part of the deal with the upgrade was that I had to use the old parts to build my dad a computer to play his games on. Also it is the system in my sig, but I have not updated it since I got my Super LANboy and my 74GB Raptor drive. I don't plan to do much overclocking, mabye a small bit if I get some better ram. In a PSU I'm looking for something quiet, and modular if at all possible as I am horrible at dealing with extra PSU wires.
 
you're hurting for ram... in a bad way. I'd invest $80 in 1GB of ram. if you plan on waiting a long time until another upgrade, go ahead and get 2gb. only problem is ddr2 is looming.

*edit* frickin A... dude.. parents gave you $800 for your birthday? sheesh. some kids are spoiled. I'd be lucky to get anything.
 
It's not "here's 800 have fun." It's 400 which I have to work off all of it over the summer, and all old parts to to my dad. stfu

And I already have a gig and a half or ram, you'd recommend another gig on top of that?
 
whoops. i just skipped over reading about the crucial stick in your sig. still, $400 is a ton for a bday present
 
Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but I was hoping to order the stuff tonight. Hopefully no more comments about offtopic things and more about the parts themselves.

Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813188002
Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130015
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817103940
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103562

Will I notice a tremendous difference without being able to run 2 identical sticks in dual channel, and how's this for an overall selection?
 
You may want to avoid that evga mother board. some of the users have had major issues with them. judging from the reviews on newegg.
 
If I was you, Id grab a pci-e 754 mobo, throw your current cpu in it. Keep your current ram, and get a X1900XT. Then get a 500 Watt Enermax PSU, and a nice Lian Li case. That should be a good upgrade, dont think you need a dual core cpu yet, save your money for conroe/AM2.
 
L1ght said:
If I was you, Id grab a pci-e 754 mobo, throw your current cpu in it. Keep your current ram, and get a X1900XT. Then get a 500 Watt Enermax PSU, and a nice Lian Li case. That should be a good upgrade, dont think you need a dual core cpu yet, save your money for conroe/AM2.
Click to expand...
Single core and my current processor are far below what I need.
 
I liked the eVGA because it fit my budget well, seemed to be of fairly good quality, and down the road if I wanted to buy a second card I could do SLI without buying a new mobo. Any suggestions for a different one or experiences with the eVGA?
 
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