• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

what could i upgrade my athlon 64 x2 4800 to?

silverburn2000

silverburn2000

silverburn2000

Associate
Joined
22 Nov 2010
Posts
47
hi
are there any worthwhile cpu upgrades available for my system?
pc is a 5 year old Mesh and id like to update it, to play new and future games without a major overhall/new build?
it doesnt need to be at full detail settings etc, id be content with medium settings and just being able to play the game(s)

im not sure about a budget, it would depend on the possible improvement i could get??


pc spec:
asus a8n-sli, n force 4 mobo, 550w psu, 4gb ddr ram (pc 3200, 400mhz)
athlon 64 x2 4800+ dual core processor, (939 pin)
300gb hard drive, windows xp sp3
256mb nvidia geforce 7800gtx
(- i know i need a new graphics card also, its my first priority!)

thanks very much
 
The highest listed spec processor your mobo can support is the Athlon 64 FX-60 (see here) but they are no longer easily available new. You'd have to search auction sites, etc for used ones.

Maybe the best upgrade choice for now is GPU. Your choices will be down to budget & what games you want to play? But NVIDIA's GTX 460 series is considered the best all-rounder ATM. Then you can gradually upgrade the rest of the system (IMO start with the case because the MESH one might hinder your path)
 
Last edited:
thanks for the reply
i looked on ebay and there is a used Athlon 64 FX-60 going for £150!
i was hoping to find something cheaper than that. that seems very high for an old and used cpu, or am i wrong??

i was planing on spending £100-£140 on a graphics card and hoping to play call of duty black ops etc
i take it when you say gradually upgrade the rest of the system you mean build from a new motherboard up! (that might be a bit beyond me, was hoping i wouldnt have to, to improve the performance!!)

also i thought the case i had was ok, its the silver / aluminium praetorian 732 with three blue lit dials at the front etc, quite big and spacious
is there an issue with mesh cases im unaware of?
many thanks
 
Might be better off trying to source some second hand parts, and selling off your current system if it's worth anything.

You could get an Athlon II X2 CPU, mobo and 2GB DDR3 ram for not much more than £100 off ebay or something, and try and source a 2nd hand ATI 4850, or something similar to that power wise for around £40.
 
silverburn2000 said:
is there an issue with mesh cases im unaware of?
Click to expand...
As you say if it can accommodate a full-size ATX standard mobo unlike many other system manufacturer cases then it should be ok. Only concern would be maybe the cooling i.e. older cases tend to use smaller fans = less airflow & enough room for some long/large (2 slot) GFX cards. But if all good you could simply purchase the mobo, CPU & memory all at one go because your current spec wouldn't allow a gradual upgrade. IMO its something simple to carry out, straightforward & lots of fun (IMHO). Besides you have the power of OcUK Forums behind you if you get stuck & or need advise or assistance.

My suggested upgrade:



GFX is if funds permit. As mentioned you could auction off your current stuff. You might be surprised how much someone might be willing to pay for them.
 
Last edited:
You're prob looking at a full upgrade. I stuck with my socket 939 until the beginning of this year, but really the platform is as dead as a dodo.

Just spending £300-400 on the base components, mobo, cpu, ram and gpu, will give you a massive jump in performance, and should run games at high detail for several years to come.
 
I have a sk.939 fx60 setup. It plays everything I throw at it although I don't game much anymore, the current gen of games don't interest much but I don't think it would struggle to play anything at 1440x900 20".

If I was in your position I would just upgrade the graphics.
 
hp7090's cart is a pretty good deal frankly. I think you would be amazed at how much you could get for your old parts. Last year I sold my old sock 939 and a few older parts and got a fair bit of change to help buy some extras to add to the system.

Your first decision will be to decide on a budget you feel comfortable with and go from there. If you could list the make and model of your PSU and what monitor/res you play at.
 
Ice Rich said:
I have a sk.939 fx60 setup. It plays everything I throw at it although I don't game much anymore, the current gen of games don't interest much but I don't think it would struggle to play anything at 1440x900 20".

If I was in your position I would just upgrade the graphics.
Click to expand...

He'll be cpu limited in quite a few games if he does that. Stuff like Arma2, Gta4, bfbc2 and civ5 all pretty much require a quad core to run properly.

If he's desperate for an upgrade now, by all means get a gtx460.... but for playing new/future games like he mentioned in the OP, he's gonna have to bite the bullet eventually and do the big one.
 
i think im going to concentrate on just getting a new graphics card at the moment probably a 768mb gtx 460 and ill look at upgrading/ replacing the other components in the future.
itll hopefully last through this upgrade also as a useable card for a few years at least
(-and ill get saving in the mean time for the other items!)

im also going to look into overclocking the cpu, im guessing this would help overall performance but i dont know anything about this yet.

to answer an earlier question my psu details are:
HEC 550 TD-PTE
d/c output: +3.3v/ +5v/ +12v1/ +12v2/ -12v/ +5vsb
......max A: 30a / 38a / 18a / 17a / 0.3a/ 2a
+5v & +3.3v combined 185w
total output 550w
monitor is 19" viewsonic 924 at 1280x1024
cheers
 
will be bottleneck city.

get amd 640x4 for 75-80 quid cheap mobo for about 40 quid and 4gb drr3 which can be had as low as 40 quid if you look about.

minus what youd get for your parts it would be like night and day difference for peanuts. black ops wants a quad for it to play decent. 3 core or e6600 is minimum why have minimum and struggle.
 
~>Dg<~ said:
will be bottleneck city.

get amd 640x4 for 75-80 quid cheap mobo for about 40 quid and 4gb drr3 which can be had as low as 40 quid if you look about.

minus what youd get for your parts it would be like night and day difference for peanuts. black ops wants a quad for it to play decent. 3 core or e6600 is minimum why have minimum and struggle.
Click to expand...


Sorry folks... but agree with the above

Throwing a 460 in your present or slightly upgraded CPU system would be throwing dosh away.

Sadly you have reached a crossroads and it may be time to let the old setup go :(

Frankly sticking anything more than a cheap second hand 8*** or 9*** series card in your present rig would be wasted.

hp7909's suggested modest upgrade, with a modest outlay as well with perhaps a x4 640 in (on special this week) may be your best route to consider?
:)
 
I gave my old slightly clocked AMDx2 4400 system away over a year ago. In my opinion its not a good idea spending money on an old 939 system. I know costs add up for a full new system, but the dual core 4800 cpu + ram might still be worth something to sell 2nd hand.

Yeah, just checked. You might get as much as £70 after fees and postage.
Looks like about £10 after fees/postage per 1gb DDR1 stick.

That just paid the 2nd hand costs for an Intel 775 mobo, core 2 cpu and DDR2 memory. If you are wanting to upgrade from the AGP graphics to be quite frank, there is no excuse for not selling up your existing system as you wont lose money.
 
thanks for the input guys. i take your point(s) about my current system.
i guess its more sensible to just get something like a 9800 gt/ gtx for now.
hoping to find a very quiet card also, any ideas?

(-just to clear up a point, i dont currently have AGP graphics, its pci express)
 
Last edited:
Some games will benefit more from the L3 cache of a Phenom II, some will benefit more from a cheaper Athlon II X4 having more cores.

You could be lucky like me though, and get unlockable L3 on an Athlon X3/X4 CPU, although if you wanna take risks there's probably more chance of unlocking 2 cores of a Phenom II X2 than getting an unlockable older deneb based Athlon.

Either way an upgrade doesn't have to cost much, I think paid a total of £150 for my CPU, ram and motherboard and it's all new stuff. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom