Upgrading a 5 Year Old Build - Any Suggestions, Recommendations, Advice?

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kuyamiko

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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
SIMS 3
ESRI ArcInfo
AutoCAD
MicroStation
Photoshop
Blu-ray playback
maybe video editing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$250 w/o shipping, or cheapest possible that can do all of the above...
3) Where do you live?
Orlando, FL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, RAM, Mobo, Video card
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
[CASE] Thermaltake Xaser V Damier V5420AU Black Aluminum | [PSU] Rosewill RP550-2 550W
6) Will you be overclocking?
no
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
have [MAIN] 22" Westinghouse LCM-22w3 | [SECONDARY] 17" eMachines VGA
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
within 6 months
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
just as long as its ASUS if possible...
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 Pro x64


This is the build im upgrading:
[CASE] Thermaltake Xaser V Damier V5420AU Black Aluminum | [MB] Asus A8V Deluxe | [CPU] AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (Manchester) | [RAM] (x4) Corsair CMX512-3200XL | [VIDEO] BFG Nvidia 6800 Ultra OC | [PSU] Rosewill RP550-2 | [BURNER] Sony DRU-710A | [HDD] (x1) WDC WD2000JB, (x1) WDC WD1600JB, (x1) Maxtor 6Y160P0, (x1) Seagate TS530023A0, (x1) Seagate TS13053014SA [OS] Windows XP Pro x32, Vista Ultimate x32, 7 RC x32

I built my current system back in 2005 not really knowing what i was doing.. and now have been pushed even further back because of new technology that have come out since then...
450 and edifyingkarma in the AGP Club thread suggested that upgrading rather than getting a new AGP was a better alternative... a couple of guys at work have also been suggesting this to me, and i have been contemplating on this for a year now.

So im here, asking for advice, suggestions, and recommendations.

Thanks in advance!!
 
Before I give you a recommendation on parts, where will this system be used? At home or work? Is the system your primary work machine?
 
Upgrading your current system is not going to be that fruitful. Your best bet is to sell everything minus the case/ PS and dvd drive for $150 to $200 and buy a new bottom of the line AMD build. Even with that it will not be easy. But then you said you want blue ray playback. Not very possible with only $250 + your current system value. I guess you can keep one of your hard drives and substitute the cost of the cheap sata drive for the cheapest blue ray player you can get. That will lessen the value you can get out of your current rig though. However the small 200GB drives and less may not be worth selling. I mean you will get like $10 for them including shipping. You did not say you wanted to sell those, I know.
 
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450 said:
Before I give you a recommendation on parts, where will this system be used? At home or work? Is the system your primary work machine?
Click to expand...

this is my home system.
the GIS/CADD programs are when i do decide to bring work home which doesnt happen often..
 
In thinking about this again. It can work but you will most likely need to sell you MOBO, RAM, Video card, and CPU.

[EDIT]Can you live with motherboard video for now that is still a faster than your current rig but no way near high end?[/EDIT]
 
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Here's the thing, in the first thread you said stream blu-ray's better. Do you have a bluray drive already? Or were you talking about BD-rips from the net and such? (Do we need to fit in a bdrom in the budget?)

I think you should increase you budget a bit more for future proofing reasons or consider used parts.

I agree with drescherjm's build but I think I'd get the Regor 240 instead of the 250, I think it might be cheaper.
 
drescherjm said:
Can you live with motherboard video for now that is still a faster than your current rig but no way near high end?
Click to expand...

450 said:
Here's the thing, in the first thread you said stream blu-ray's better. Do you have a bluray drive already? Or were you talking about BD-rips from the net and such? (Do we need to fit in a bdrom in the budget?)

I think you should increase you budget a bit more for future proofing reasons or consider used parts.

I agree with drescherjm's build but I think I'd get the Regor 240 instead of the 250, I think it might be cheaper.
Click to expand...

drescherjm: yes i can definitely do with onboard video. i didnt even know they have MBs with two video ports plus HDMI now!
1. can it handle running those programs and blu-ray?
2. can the two ports run simultaneously?

450: the blu-ray drive was something i was going to purchase outside the budget. i had a coworker rip my collection since i didnt have a drive.

i was going to keep it outside the budget, but drescherjm's recommendations look nice with the blu-ray rom.

ok lets add the blu-ray rom in the budget, i think i can go $350....

i dont think a video card would fit within that $350 limit..
would the onboard video take care of all those programs, or should dig through my pockets a lil' deeper to get a video card?

thanks again!!!
 
kuyamiko said:
drescherjm: yes i can definitely do with onboard video. i didnt even know they have MBs with two video ports plus HDMI now!
1. can it handle running those programs and blu-ray?
2. can the two ports run simultaneously?
Click to expand...

1) The onboard video of AMD 785G chipset can easily handle blu-ray playback as long as playback is set up correctly. As for photoshop, it should be ok. For the CAD and GIS programs, probably barely handle it. Sims 3 (assuming that you're talking about the game) will probably run at low to medium settings ish.
2) The max most onboard video can do these days is one VGA and one digital connection (HDMI and DVI) at the same time. You can't have two DVI or one DVI and one HDMI connected and running simulaneously.
 
If you're considering a new CPU/motherboard combination, I'd advise against reusing the Rosewill PSU, but getting a decent replacement will cost around $50-$60, if not more.

To meet your "cheapest possible" requirements, here is one possible combination:

$156 - AMD Athlon II X4 620 and Asus M4A785-M combo deal (free shipping on both)
$82 - Corsair 2x2GB DDR2 800 dual channel kit (free shipping)

To be honest, DDR2 RAM is a bad deal in the long run as it will only get more expensive and scarce over time. (Right now, a decent DDR2 1066 kit costs about as much as a decent DDR3 1333 kit.) If you're willing to spend a bit more, I recommend the following combination instead:

$184 - AMD Athlon II X4 620 and OCZ Obsidian 2x2GB DDR3 1600 combo deal (free shipping on both)
$86 - Asus ASUS M4A785T-M/CSM (plus $8 shipping)

The BD-ROM drive that you picked out earlier is fine, but if you want one that can write to Blu-ray discs, you'll end up spending around $100 for the drive. Plus, OEM drives don't come with the software that you'll need to play Blu-ray discs; that may be something extra that you'll have to pick up.

In addition to a new PSU, one long term option that you may want to consider is buying a new, larger capacity HDD (or two) and consolidating all of your data from your older drives onto it (or them). While I understand that you don't have the money for one right now -- besides, the PSU is the more important long-term "investment" at this point in time -- you can now get a decent 1TB hard drive for under $100.
 
The motherboard/cpu/ram setup I have right now in my sig I think would be about $210 if you found it here on the used forum..

I'ved used 4 of the 7 things you've listed, and it runs them without breaking a sweat. With the little money you have left over (probably be nice if you stretched about $20 more) you could get a gpu that can easily handle bluray play back + your extra monitor
 
tiraides said:
If you're considering a new CPU/motherboard combination, I'd advise against reusing the Rosewill PSU, but getting a decent replacement will cost around $50-$60, if not more.

To be honest, DDR2 RAM is a bad deal in the long run as it will only get more expensive and scarce over time. (Right now, a decent DDR2 1066 kit costs about as much as a decent DDR3 1333 kit.) If you're willing to spend a bit more, I recommend the following combination instead:

$184 - AMD Athlon II X4 620 and OCZ Obsidian 2x2GB DDR3 1600 combo deal (free shipping on both)
$86 - Asus ASUS M4A785T-M/CSM (plus $8 shipping)

The BD-ROM drive that you picked out earlier is fine, but if you want one that can write to Blu-ray discs, you'll end up spending around $100 for the drive. Plus, OEM drives don't come with the software that you'll need to play Blu-ray discs; that may be something extra that you'll have to pick up.

In addition to a new PSU, one long term option that you may want to consider is buying a new, larger capacity HDD (or two) and consolidating all of your data from your older drives onto it (or them). While I understand that you don't have the money for one right now -- besides, the PSU is the more important long-term "investment" at this point in time -- you can now get a decent 1TB hard drive for under $100.
Click to expand...

The PSU is not in the budget, but will be considered during/after i make the initial purchases.
What would be the Rosewell PSU's disadvantage with the new setup?
What features should i look for in a new PSU or are there any (brand/model) recommendations?

thanks!
 
The long story short is that the Rosewill PSU can't handle the full load that it's rated for. Plus, depending on its age, it may not have enough power in the 12V rail to power most of your stuff... especially if you decide to get a mid-range or high end video card later on.

PSU brands/models that we recommend are Antec (avoid the Basiq line), Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax, Silverstone, Cooler Master Real Power Pro series, and Thermaltake Toughpower RX series. Ideally, you want a PSU that is 80 Plus certified (though the higher the rating, the more energy efficient it is), has active PFC, and has at least 30A combined in the 12V rails (or at least 40A if you plan on buying a video card later on).
 
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