It's beyond time to upgrade from my P3 system. Looks like I need motherboard, CPU, 1-2 gigs memory, video card, (SATA hard drive in the future) and PSU. Would like a motherboard with nForce 550 or 570 chipset but not SLI. Also a motherboard that's not too picky about what memory it uses. My needs? I watch alot of videos, DVD encoding and moderate gaming. I'm on a tight budget and won't be overclocking this rig.
DailyTech - Intel Unveils Core 2 Duo E6750 Performance << New Intel CPU's coming out at super low prices.
If you live near a Fry's, last Friday they had a Core 2 Duo E6400, and a ECS PT890T-A combo for 159.99, and a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ and a ECS GeForce6100SM-M for 129.99. Don't know if that will help.
If you go intel I'm not sure $400 will get you Motherboard, CPU, RAM, Video card, and PSU. Look for motherboard + CPU combo deals and you may get lucky though. Sadly, an AMD setup won't perform as good as an Intel these days, but you can get an X2 4200+ with a motherboard for about $100. Cheaper than just an Intel CPU.
I'd definetly go core 2, 2 gigs ram. Core 2 even at the low end is very fast and you'll have upgrade ability. I just got a gigabyte 965QM-DS2 ($140)for an 840 Extreme that will run the quadcores, Q6600 and Q6700. I'm pissed cause the board has NO overclocking and it was DOA. I'm sure it was a fluke so I would look in this direction. My kid is using another Gigabyte with the other 840E I have and it is a sweet little board. When I get the board back if it works I'll sell the board and cpu together, cost of board plus shipping. If your interested send a PM. I've got too many pcs in my house! Currently memory is real cheap for ddr2 and everything I've seen runs best w/ dual channel, 2 gig minimum, I wouldn't buy one stick, 1g at at time and hope they match. If you get 2x 512 you limit your upgrade path. This for example, there are many more quality kits around , this being the first lowest price first that I would buy. Watch the rebates and hot deals threads here and at anantech.
Well, the good news is that whatever you buy it'll be a hell of an upgrade! $400 is a slim budget for nearly a full system upgrade. You're going to have to make some major compromises. You should be able to squeeze in some DX10 action though: Newegg.com - XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N541-T2 GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail Newegg.com - FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, RoHS, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, 20+ 4 pin, PCI Express, 400W Power Supply - Retail Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail ~$350 (w/ S&H) Indeed, major sacrifices are necessary when you're constrained by your budget....
ATM I've decided to pick this up for now since both comps need to be upgraded. It has the nforce4 chipset and onboard video which I can use until I get a decent video card. Thanks for all of the suggestions now I have a reference point for my next build. I haven't been keeping up with comps so when did Intels performance outpace AMD's? Now quad-cores are next? What else am I missing?
Intel has been on top for a year now. AMD has not shown one thing can has caught up, and it doesnt look like they will have anything out any time soon sadly.
Umm... you DO know that motherboard has a PCIe x16 slot which runs at x8, right? It's based on the GeForce 6100S chip. Here are the specs.
Yeah I know but like I said it won't be for my main rig. This is only temporary and this comp won't be a gaming rig so it's kool. If they want to game will upgrade the motherboard so they'll be happy.
heavy is like me.. needs some updating on hardware and the times, lol.. i haven't been keeping track of nothing but i am hearing about these new penryns coming out soon and everyones got high expectancies for them. you might wanna WAIT, HAHAHAHAHHAhahahahha
Even with the cheap ECS board with the PCIe capped @ X8 it's still better than the P3 933 w/384 megs of ram. The family will get this while I upgrade to something better. That Gigabyte motherboard looks sweet.
Ivanolo posted a nice little package but I don't see an upgrade path. The gigabye is not bad at all but I made the mistake of thinking it would overclock. Sloppy research. I sent it out almost a month ago so I expect it back soon. It didn't power up at all, no post no fans no errors, nada. 3 days I tried everything, I've got spare parts enough to build 2 pcs and I have 4 running so when I had support on the phone I tore it down to brass tacks on a piece of cardboard and got the RMA approved. I'll yell when I get the board back and I've tested it. If you want the board and 840E are yours for the $140 plus shipping. I'd rather sell them to a friend on this board and take a small loss than to risk ebay. Someone here got burned not too long ago selling there and I've been taken once myself.
Huh? Care to explain what you mean by "no upgrade path?" AM2+ CPUs will be compatible with AM2 mobos....
Asus p5n-e w/ nf650i chipset. tiger direct $139.00, pushing an E6700 at the moment....also at TD http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...58-1172 D&CMP=EMC-TIGEREMAIL&SRCCODE=WEM1397C if you can stomach a p4 640.
Currently intel has the Quads w/ a new "hot rod' coming out that are compatible with many current boards. What does amd have to compare? they promised Q2, now Q3, they haven't done much but cut prices. I haven't built an amd yet and would like to but I won't buy a dead end. Amd promises this new chip and delays 2-3 times ya gotta wonder.
I think if you're on a budget, you go for whatever has the most bang for the buck. At sub-$100 prices, I'd get an Athlon 64 X2 3600+ for ~$60 rather than a Pentium D 805 for the same price. There's no question Intel is king right now, but if you're looking for dirt cheap, decent, and reliable, AMD can't be beat!
