Upgrade parts

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mgw24

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 12, 2001
Messages
333
I'm looking to update my old athlonXP/radeon 9700pro system so I can run Vista Ultimate. I don't need much HD space, since most of my data is on a seperate PC. Also, I already have a 24 pin PS. I want to do some gaming/Photoshot stuff. What do you guys think about this gear? Could I do any better for the money?

Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD740ADFD
Item #: N82E16822136033
$159

Update MSI RX1600PRO-TD256E Radeon X1600PRO 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card With Full Version Game Colin Mcrae Rally - Retail
Model #: RX1600PRO-TD256E
Item #: N82E16814127201
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
96.99

Update CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X1024A-6400 - Retail
Model #: TWIN2X1024A-6400
Item #: N82E16820145566
$124

Update ABIT KN9 ULTRA Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: KN9 ULTRA
Item #: N82E16813127008
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Orleans 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA3800CWBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3800CWBOX
$177 combo price
 
Go for the 7600GT instead of that X1600Pro. I don't think the raptor is worth its price premium. Just go for a 320GB Seagate 7200.10 model instead. My WD1500ADFD does about 78MB/s and my Seagate does about 65MB/s. Not bad for something half the price and double the space. Put the money you save on that towards 2gb of ram. I think the seagate and 2gb of ram would be a better choice.

For your budget, you could actually build a core2duo system, which would outperform that am2 setup:

$180 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$100 - Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express (review)
$110 - G.Skill 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-1GBNQ
$110 - eVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB ($130 - $20MIR)
$80 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250620AS 250GB 7200RPM SATA300 16MB Cache
========
$581 + tax and shipping (after rebates)
 
I totaly agree .....go for the Intels now I would do exactly the same. AMD will be having great trouble catching up and it only is getting worse for AMD now.
 
Really? I've been out of the loop for awhile, but when I built my current PC (5 years ago) AMD was the way to go.

Are the intel CPU's and chipsets really that much better nowadays?

Also, does Asus or Abit make a better mobo than the one listed above? I'm looking at about $700 for a budget.

I was looking at the Raptor because I heard they are very reliable too. I really don't need any more than 80GB storage on this PC, since everything pretty much sits on a server that I have.
 
The Asus boards are overpriced, imo. The P5B deluxe is only good if you want crossfire/sli (with hacked drivers) and need 500+ FSB; in the latter case the Gigabyte DS3 would be a better choice since it could reach such FSB speeds and costs much less. I havent really looked into the Abit AB9 Pro yet, so I'll leave that up to you.
 
I am very intersted in any alternative for the Asus mobo's. I only used Asus untill today so don't know anything about the other Mobo's.

I will follow your findings closely and will do some major research myself. First on this forum, later on other and the Internet to rule out "the sheep factor" = People tend to choose the same just because others do. Something which drove me mad on other forums.
 
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