What's my bottleneck: best value upgrades for low-mid budget gaming machine

[Ned_19]

Budget now changed to $400, tops

Currently running:

CPU XP 2200+
RAM 512 DDR 333 PC2700 (Samsung)
MB SL-75DRV5 (Soltek)
VC BFG 6600 GT OC
HD WD 40 and 160 gb drives
PS ATX 300W

Never OC'd anything before, but considering looking into it - at least in a mild and not-so-dangerous way that a noob should be able to handle anyway...

[willy]

"Doesn't quite cut it" ... What do you usually use your system for ?

[CARLiTO_]

Scrap the mobo and pick up an nfs-7 v2, get some dual channel ram and a good heatsink and your current processor should allow you to overclock to 2400+ speeds.

[cjpark]

:arrowu: What he said.

[Cafe_333]

To get the most out of your budget to perform as well as a modern system, you can get a 64bit AMD Sempron 3100+ (s754) - $122, paired with an Asus K8N (NVIDIA nForce3 Pro 250) - $85, and another stick of 512MB DDR400 ram - $60. Prices are from CanadaComputers.

This setup will run you up $267 - $307.05 including taxes.
I am sure you can haggle it down to $300 though.

I'm not sure how much you can overclock with an Asus board, but you should check out this review to see when this processor overclocked it can perform on par with a P4 3.2 GHz and an Athlon64 3000+.

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20050202/index.html

Anyway, fork out the extra money for a better PSU and you'll make up for the cost when you sell your old cpu/mobo setup in the BST forum. Good Luck!

EDIT: if you were looking to spend closer to $200, down the cpu spec to as low as the 2500+ ($63). As for the mobo, stick with this chipset and stay away from the others - they suck and can slow your system down.

[George W. Bush]

I too am interesting in updating:

I have the following:

chip - AMD XP 1800+
motherboard - Via Soltek 75ERV
ram - 512 DDR 266/333
videocard - ATI Radeon 8500 64MB

I have no idea whether by upgdaring the chip and mobo, I would need to get new memory and a new videocard...

I was thinking something in the $300 price range...

I am thinking of updating to the following:

Chip - Sempron 3100+ (Socket 754)
Motherboard - DFI LANParty NF3 250 Gb
Main Memory - XMS DImms From Corsair (approved up to DDR550)
Graphics Card - GeForce 6800GT AGP (VC BFG 6600 GT)

[windwaker]

VC BFG 6600 GT OC is prolly the best 6600gt out there.

What Cafe_333 said. Except I would pick up sempron 2600+/2800+ which are the best value/performance s754 cpu's. A new brand name PSU. Enermax or Antec. 350W or more.

[George W. Bush]

What is a PSU?

I am thinking of going for ATI vide cards - want to play Age of Empires III.

[George W. Bush]

Also is there a big difference between the AMD XP 1800+ and Sempron 2600+ - they both roughly run at 1.5 GHz.

Should I go for the 256KB L2 Cache or the 128KB?

I was looking at the following Sempron choices at CanadaComputers, and have no idea which is better: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProdList&cmd=pl&id=CPU.183

[Nubee]

What is a PSU?

I am thinking of going for ATI vide cards - want to play Age of Empires III.

PSU is power supply :)

[sleepyguy]

what do you do with your PC? email/school/work... you're burning $$$ for no reason. gaming/video/photoshop... get a nice 64bit processor + fast HD + fast videocard.

[George W. Bush]

Well - I do photoshop, and yes, videogaming. I intend to have a pretty good gaming machine - want to play Age of Empires III.

My current machine resets from time to time for no apparent reason. I updated the MOBO bios to the latest, and the reset seems less frequent.

With this update, I may also get a new case with a fan...

[Ned_19]

Thanks for the input so far guys

I forgot to mention, HSF is thermaltake a1365 volcano 9 1300-4800 rpm

I was potentially thinking of going with a bottom end S939 setup, or is it not really worth it since I have an AGP gfx card?

[Emancipated]

To get the most out of your budget to perform as well as a modern system, you can get a 64bit AMD Sempron 3100+ (s754) - $122, paired with an Asus K8N (NVIDIA nForce3 Pro 250) - $85, and another stick of 512MB DDR400 ram - $60. Prices are from CanadaComputers.

This setup will run you up $267 - $307.05 including taxes.
I am sure you can haggle it down to $300 though.

I'm not sure how much you can overclock with an Asus board, but you should check out this review to see when this processor overclocked it can perform on par with a P4 3.2 GHz and an Athlon64 3000+.

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20050202/index.html

Anyway, fork out the extra money for a better PSU and you'll make up for the cost when you sell your old cpu/mobo setup in the BST forum. Good Luck!

EDIT: if you were looking to spend closer to $200, down the cpu spec to as low as the 2500+ ($63). As for the mobo, stick with this chipset and stay away from the others - they suck and can slow your system down.


You can't haggle at Canada Computers, and their prices are pretty unbeatable as is.

It's such a waste. Your system isn't even that antiquated. I still game on a 2600XP.

Spoilage!

[ShadowVlican]

Thanks for the input so far guys

I forgot to mention, HSF is thermaltake a1365 volcano 9 1300-4800 rpm

I was potentially thinking of going with a bottom end S939 setup, or is it not really worth it since I have an AGP gfx card?
u can always stick with nForce3 which supports AGP
mobo+cpu would be around $300, BST would have some great deals

u still haven't told us why your system isn't "cutting it"

[Ziggy007]

Get another 512MB of RAM and maybe a new MoBo and you should be fine for now.

[Ned_19]

[QUOTE=u still haven't told us why your system isn't "cutting it"[/QUOTE]

I'm finding some higher end games lag a bit (CS:S and DoD:S) during online play, most particularly when there is a higher number of players, say 15+

Even multitasking simple desktop programs can sometimes bog down as well

[ShadowVlican]

I'm finding some higher end games lag a bit (CS:S and DoD:S) during online play, most particularly when there is a higher number of players, say 15+

Even multitasking simple desktop programs can sometimes bog down as well
ah.. that's because you only got a XP 2200+ and 512MB..... XP 2200+ is REALLY slow...

nothing wrong with your 6600GT :) it's not being fed enough data by your CPU

[Cafe_333]

You can't haggle at Canada Computers, and their prices are pretty unbeatable as is.I never said to haggle *at* CC ;) - i only mentioned my reference to those prices were from CC. You can easily haggle it to $300 even somewhere else.

[windwaker]

I am thinking of updating to the following:

Chip - Sempron 3100+ (Socket 754)
Motherboard - DFI LANParty NF3 250 Gb
Main Memory - XMS DImms From Corsair (approved up to DDR550)
Graphics Card - GeForce 6800GT AGP (VC BFG 6600 GT)

GWB, you really should replace 3100+ with 2800+ if you're overclocking. Since that board is good at it.

As for memory, most 754/939 boards support slower DDR SDRAM. You don't have to upgrade memory if you aren't going dual-channel (s754 doesn't support dual channel) or overclocking. DDR400 is good for o/c'ing.

I wonder why you're sticking with s754 if you're upgrading the video too. Might as well get PCI-E so your future upgrade path is open. And mid to high end PCI-E cards are slightly cheaper than their AGP counterparts.

[George W. Bush]

windwaker - so I assume that I can update the MOBO + chip to a 2500+ (best bang for the buck - ie. 22.2 Mhz per dollar) vs. 2800+ or 3100+ and still do with 512 DDR RAM 266/333 Mhz, and still use the Radeon 8500?

If so, I am planning perhaps for the 2500+ with the DFI LANParty NF3 250 Gb MOBO.

Is that right?

[Ned_19]

Well I can sell my cpu/mobo, PSU, and RAM for a guaranteed $200 now...

So I'm thinking go with a higher end barton like 2800+, and mobo, a gig of ddr400 ram and name brand ~450W PSU.

It's either that or just go with a new mobo capable of agp 8x, and add gig of ddr 400 too

thoughts?

[ProfessorChaos]

Well I can sell my cpu/mobo, PSU, and RAM for a guaranteed $200 now...

So I'm thinking go with a higher end barton like 2800+, and mobo, a gig of ddr400 ram and name brand ~450W PSU.

It's either that or just go with a new mobo capable of agp 8x, and add gig of ddr 400 too

thoughts?

who are u guarenteeing will buy it at 200? thats pretty high for what u've got...

[Ned_19]

My roommate is taking it as an upgrade.

I'm buying his old parts at a decent price to build my parents a budget PC for internet browsing and possibly light word processing, plus I gave him my old video card already.

Paying possibly a little more than market is worth it to him too I think, not really interested in taking a lot of time to find a screaming deal.

[windwaker]

windwaker - so I assume that I can update the MOBO + chip to a 2500+ (best bang for the buck - ie. 22.2 Mhz per dollar) vs. 2800+ or 3100+ and still do with 512 DDR RAM 266/333 Mhz, and still use the Radeon 8500?

Yep, minimal upgrade would be an s754 board and a cpu. Don't expect a lot of performance increase. The usual bottleneck is the cpu.

A number of s754 & a few s939 boards support AGP. nf3 boards do. If you overclock, get 2600+/2800+. If you don't, get the fastest you can afford.

If so, I am planning perhaps for the 2500+ with the DFI LANParty NF3 250 Gb MOBO.

DFI is mostly used for overclocking. For non-overclocking, ASUS & MSI would be what I get. If they're unavailable, Gigabyte would be ok.

[Ned_19]

Change in budget for me to $400, tops

Also looking at OC'ing whatever I get a bit, although nothing extreme as I've never done any of it before. Trying to keep future upgrades in mind as well, but likely used parts upgrades, I don't think I can justify buying a new PC at full price anytime soon, I'm just as happy to wait 8 months behind everyone else and buy used parts.

[hamhead]

DUDE, JUST DO THIS:

GET:

-Sempron S754 2600+ cpu (yes or no 64bit doesnt matter)
-Gigabyte GA-K8NS mobo w/ NF3 250.(this OCs the cpu well)
-Another stick of samsung 512 pc3200 ram
-get a 9600XT or 9800pro.

I have the same thing except a lower OC og 230 FSB instead of 300FSB(1.8ghz instead of 2.5ghz). Also, I have a Ti4200. I play NFSU with MAX Details and good resolution with NO LAG. yes.. NO LAG, even with all details up and using a ti4200!!!!!!!!!!

yea, so u wil have no lag guaranteed with the above setup, anything faster is a waste of money. also, Athlon XP is a waste of money now if u wanna game. a 2200+ to a 2800+ XP cpu upgrade is stupid..

[Ned_19]

sounds good, but why go to a 9x00 card when i have a 6600GT already...?

[w4x]

sounds good, but why go to a 9x00 card when i have a 6600GT already...?

do not get a 9x00 card, that would be a downgrade from your 6600gt in terms of speed and performance. aslo it supports pixel shader 3.0, ati card only support 2.0

[weedb0y]

To get the most out of your budget to perform as well as a modern system, you can get a 64bit AMD Sempron 3100+ (s754) - $122, paired with an Asus K8N (NVIDIA nForce3 Pro 250) - $85, and another stick of 512MB DDR400 ram - $60. Prices are from CanadaComputers.

This setup will run you up $267 - $307.05 including taxes.
I am sure you can haggle it down to $300 though.

I'm not sure how much you can overclock with an Asus board, but you should check out this review to see when this processor overclocked it can perform on par with a P4 3.2 GHz and an Athlon64 3000+.

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20050202/index.html

Anyway, fork out the extra money for a better PSU and you'll make up for the cost when you sell your old cpu/mobo setup in the BST forum. Good Luck!

EDIT: if you were looking to spend closer to $200, down the cpu spec to as low as the 2500+ ($63). As for the mobo, stick with this chipset and stay away from the others - they suck and can slow your system down.

hold up!! this mobo has onboard nvidia?

I need to make up a box as well. Around the same budget. $400 with maybe some low end gaming?

What should I be looking for?

[TenzoR]

i did a similar upgrade, just stick with some used part from BST and you'll find yourself a great deal locally and cheaper

[Ned_19]

Used is nice, yet seeing as I'm not in the GTA or GVR, where about 95% of people on RFD seem to be from (probably 70% of the country for that matter...) I might be waiting for months.

I have put together a RAM, CPU, mobo pckg. for about 330 total and shipped at this point, although some stuff is on sale...

Going to try and get some more opinions before I commit though, I always take forever before buying any pc parts, took me all summer to decide on a video card and new monitor (went with 6600GT and NEC 1970 GX, very happy with both, although my 6600 isn't fully utilized yet)

Poor Hamhead has been begging people for an nf3 mobo and hsf for a week so he can OC his sempron too...

*shrug* decisions...