Maximum PC

Hello All,

I have a budget of approximately 600-700 dollars and would like to upgrade my computer in the most effective way. I have the following:

450Watt PS in FULL ATX Tower
Abit KT7A-RAID mobo
1200Mhz Athlon Tbird CPU w. stock HSF
2X128mb PC133 SDRAM
40 Gig 7200 Maxtor HD (no raid here)
8x HP-Writer CDRW
10X Pioneer DVD-ROM
Floppy
Soundblaster Live! X-Gamer (I blieve it is the pre-5.1 edition)
SHOHOWare 10/100 Ethernet Card
56K Modem (which I will probably pull as I now have broadband)
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro AGP Vid card
19" KDS Monitor - CRT

These parts (except the Video card) are all on 3 yrs or older, but they are all still functioning. I have a license for Windows XP Pro, which I plan to use after upgrades as well. I have no problem keeping the video card and sound card as my gaming is light and my audio mainly CDs and mp3 files on 2.1 speakers. The DVD and CDRW are also keepable.

What do you think about the rest? Could I get a newer AMD or Pentium chip with the approproate mobo, RAM and PS (possibly new hard disk(s)) under budget? I don't need the latest, greatest stuff.

Thanks
-Chris

new mobo, CPU, RAM.

a new hard drive wouldnt kill the budget either.

you could get all that for like 500$

I think you could easily add a new motherboard, processor, RAM and hard drive for that price.

ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe $99
2x 512 3200 Crucial $156 for dual channel
Athlon XP 3200+ Retail $187
36.7gig Raptor HDD $116

$558 with shipping

Use the rest of your stuff, including hard drive for storage. I might get a new hard drive to replace the 40, another $100 and you could get a 120 or something. But this is the way I would go if it was me. Also, you could ditch the sound card cuz the ASUS has kick ass Dolby Digital built in.

I can get a 74 GB Raptor, 1x512Mb PC3200 RAM and a windows XP install from NewEgg for $340 before a $20 rebate. Then, I can add to this a Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Pentium 4 & P4/ 3.0E GHz 800MHz FSB for an inclusive total of ~$747....

OR, I can get an XP3200+ and A7N8X-E as mentioned above for a total of ~$647.

1) Is the PC3200 an appropriate type of RAM? The best?
2) Is it worth the extra $100 for the difference in performance in the listed parts?
3) will my current power supply have the correct connector for either board? (it has ample power- 450W, but is 3 yrs old)

Thanks again,
-Chris

I would go with this:

Abit NF7-S ~$75
AMD Barton 2500+ mobile oc'ed to 3200+ ~$83
1x or 2x 512mb Mushkin Enhanced DDR400 at ~$75 a stick
Lite-On 8x DVD+/-RW ~$73
80gb Seagate SATA HDD with 8mb cashe $75.50

Total cost: ~$381-$476 depending on how much ram you get.

Also note, the mobo will have equal or better sound and networking capabilites than your current setup, so you can ditch those in favor of increased airflow, along with your modem.

Mine is running right now with only one PCI card, a SCSI card.

Dan O.

Yes, your current PSU will handle it just fine. I recommended the 36gig raptor so you could get the performance out of it, for storage, you dont need performance. The 36gig will be good enough to run the OS and your programs, saving you from spending the money on the bigger raptor. I am an AMD guy, so Ill stick with them. I cant tell you the performance difference between the 2,i think it matters more how your going to use it. As for going with mobile procs, if your not into overclocking, then i wouldnt get what the other guy suggested. If you want a 3200+ proc, then buy one, dont buy something slower and waste your time OCing, youll just end up buying a new proc sooner then if you didnt OC. It sounds like you have the extra cash to pay for the good stuff, so do it right the first time. Those are just my opinions on it all. I think what i recommended will do you plenty good, as well as saving you a little cash for something else you might want.

The 3200 RAM will be good for that setup, since it only needs 2700 RAM to run, your adding something better.

dont get the P4E, just get a Northwood 800FSB.

1) yes, that is DDR400
2) look at some benches.... www.tomshardware.com has a large list of CPU benches
3) if it is a devent brand it should.

Just another tidbit of info for you...
I have my setup in a generic tower with a generic PSU. Forgot what brand it is, something cheap from newegg. I think i paid like $40 total with shippinng. Mine has been running stable for the last month or so since I upgraded, and it only has a 300w. That should make you feel better about your PSU, lol.

Thank you all for the suggestions, in the end, I went with:

-74Gb WD Raptor Hard Drive (my current 40 giger is almost maxed out, and I plan on donating that to my parents system, along with most of the other parts I swap out of mine, to give them a little bump up)

-2x256MB Kingston valueRAM PC3200 to do dual channel

-Win XP Pro

-AMD XP 3200+

-A7N8X-E Delux

Total inclusive ~$650

Should be setting it up by Thursday.
-Chris

Good luck with the setup, glad we could help! You'll like that board, best investment ive ever made.

What is your main goal from upgrading to these parts? I know you already bought them, but I was just curious. Was it for just being flat out faster than what you had? You might want to look into a well-known branded PSU sometime soon (especially if you run into some problems), seeing that your current one is a 3 year old generic psu.

Anyways, let us know how your new setup goes

Well, really the driving force is that my parents' machine is so doggedly slow these days, and in fact recently hit the point of being so frustrating for them as to not be really usable. It's still running on a socket 7 system, didnt even load Windows XP. So I'm buying new parts as a cascading upgrade. I bought parts within my budget to make my system noticably quicker (I do programming, design, some gaming, a little of everything, but nothing where major money is on the line), and will give them my still quite usable pulls to upgrade their system to workable XP so that they can do their research and the like.