Upgrade/Build help.

M

Magnin

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 14, 2001
Messages
191
Wow, my last post was 2004...

I've been out of the scene for a while and finally reached a point where I need some more juice on my system, but don't know what to buy.

Current Specs (Yes, it's old):
Athlon64 X2 processor
Asus A8N-E Motherboard
1GB RAM
ATI 9600XT
Power supply is a Name-brand ~550watt ( I think it may be ThermalTake... sorry, I'm on the road for business and don't remember exactly)
2-3 SATA HDD.
IDE DVD Burner
Dell 24inch Monitor (1920x1200)

Reason for upgrading:
99% of what I do on it, it's fine. Just gotten into WoW after avoiding it for so long, and while most of the time it's fine, I have problems sometimes (especially in cities when there are lots of people on screen) and wouldn't mind being able to crank up the visual settings more (full-res 1920x1200 with good detail)

Budget:
Flexible, but would like to spend <$500 total.

Region:
Wisconsin, USA. Planning to make most purchases online.

Overclock:
No.

Timeline:
2-3 weeks.

OS:
Currently, Dual-Boot Ubuntu 64bit & Windows XP 32bit. May consider an upgrade to Win7 in the future. Only time I use WinXP is for WoW & some older games.

Options:
First thing I thought of was to add more RAM. I can add 2GB of memory for <$60. I'm not sure if that will get me the performance I want or not, and there is not really any other upgrade path.

Second Option is:
  • New Processor
  • New Motherboard
  • New Memory
  • New Graphics card.

Plan to keep Case/Drives/monitor/KB/Mouse & upgrade PS only if needed. Have a good Full-Tower ATX case with a 120mm fan in the rear, and multiple 80mm up front.

PROCESSOR:
Looking at an Athlon 2 X2 2.8GHZ 65w for $57 on Newegg, but would be open to recommendations.

MOTHERBOARD:
Not sure- prefer Asus, but flexible. Would rather spend a little more and have some processor/memory expandability in the future.
Would like 4 memory slots (2 for now, 2 for potential upgrade in future if needed)
I do NOT need SLI/Multiple Video cards.
I do not need Onboard RAID.
I do not need 802.11 or Bluetooth (Bluetooth would be a plus though)
Need at least 1 PATA, and would like several (min 4) SATA ports. I use USB headset when gaming, so do not need good onboard sound. Need 1 Ethernet port, preferably Gigabit.
ESATA would be nice. Newer interfaces like SATA 6Gbs & USB 3 would be a plus.

Looking at the following:
ASUS M4A785TD-V

MEMORY:
Planning to get 4GB of whatever I need. Not planning to overclock, so not planning to buy super-expensive RAM. Will probably spring for Unbuffered ECC if the board supports it just for the security.

GRAPHICS CARD:
Don't need a screamer, as I do mainly older games. Most of my time is in Linux, so being able to actually have decent Linux drivers is a big win.
DVI-D required, HDMI is a plus.

Was looking at the GeForce 9800XT.
One mainboard I'm looking at has a Radeon HD4200 integrated: How does this compare to my 9600XT? (I know, looking at integrated graphics... Blasphemy!) I'm thinking I may be better off going with a different board and getting a discrete card (tends to be the historical truth)

DRIVE:
Toying with the idea of buying an Intel X25 SSD just for kicks. (not in original budget above)

Thanks for reading this far,

Magnin
 
I don't agree with asus 770 board, few i have use. Where not up too standard.

Gigabyte 770T or ASUS 785G EVO are both at the same price and much better boards.
 
better how? He isn't asking for any advanced or premium features.
 
The Asus 770 Board and the Gigabyte 770T appear to be almost identical.

The only real differences I've noticed are:
  • Asus has a serial port/parallel port (I don't need either)
  • They have different Sound chips (Gigabyte = Realtek, Asus = Via)
  • They use different LAN chips (Both Realtek: Gigabyte = 8111C/D(L), Asus = 8112L)

None of these seem to be that important of difference, and it looks like both support Win XP.

Is there anything else I should consider when choosing between these boards?
 
For the same price as the Phenom 2 X2 550 I can get an Athlon 2 X3 440.

Benchmarks here seem to indicate that the 3 core outperforms the 2 core.

I've also heard that the 4th core can sometimes be unlocked, which would be a great value. It seems though that I'd need a Biostar/Gigabyte motherboard with a 790x chipset (which none of my target boards have)
 
Hoss build is pretty good. I'll adjust a few areas and post a build myself.

VIDEO CARD/CPU - HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB + AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz both for $278.98 w/free shipping ($10 MIR on Video Card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.312206

MOBO - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P for $74.99 ($10 MIR) w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

RAM - G. Skills Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 1600 for $84.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

PSU - Antec NEO ECO 520C for $59.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030

Total: $498.95 w/shipping
 
hmm $54 more for a quad when most of the x2 550 be's unlock. It is a gamble technically but I think its a great bet. :)
 
Ok, so the X2 550 is a 4 core part with 2 cores disabled? So if I get a good one without issues & the right board, I could potentially have an X4 for the price of an X2? Posts online indicate that the Gigabyte 770T board is one that can do unlocks.

That would be a good reason to go with the Phenom 2 550 X2 over the Athlon 2 X3.

The Bundle is also a 5770 vs the 5750 in the stand-alone quote. How big of performance difference is there between these 2 cards?
 
He is referring to the chance of the X2 550BE cpu of unlocking the 2 extra cores. Basically the X2 550BE Dual core is a quad core cpu but, AMD has disabled the extra 2 cores. However, you can unlock the 2 cores if the MOBO has at least the SB710 Southbridge chipset
 
The Radeon HD 5770 depending on the game and resolution, it's 5-10% faster than the Radeon HD 5750
 
1. Enter BIOS.
2. Set Automatic Clock Calibration (ACC) or Nvidia Core Calibration (NCC) to AUTO.
CRUCIAL step for Asus and Gigabyte owners : Enable "Unleashing" or change "EC Firmware" mode to "Hybrid"
3. Reboot
 
oops missed that your quadcore combo also included a 5770 HardwareGuru, when you put that into the mix its a decent deal. Provided the x2 550 unlocks to all 4 cores its only a $20 diff. But, keep in mind that with the unlocking of cores, you will lose all cpu temp monitoring software. You can check in bios but thats not really useful, as its uncheckable when you are stressing them. As long as you have a really good aftermarket cooler you will not have to worry. The cost for this is approx. $25+.
 
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