Would an upgrade be a good idea?

NightmareXX

NightmareXX

NightmareXX

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My current system is as follows:
AMD XP 2000+ @1.7~GHz CPU
1GB PC2700 Crucial DDR RAM
HIS Radeon X700 Pro 128MB GDDR3 IceQ AGP GFX
160GB Seagate 7200RPM & 60GB Seagate 7200RPM HDD's
ECS K7S5A mobo

This is probably a really stupid question, but is it about time I upgraded?

And I assume in doing so I should get a PCI-E mobo. Only that I bought my AGP X700 Pro and am rather pleased with it at the moment :) (Done wonders with FPS gaming :D )
 
If you're thinking of upgrading now this is what I would reccomend. You could bring it down to about £850ish by going for a cheaper gfx card & ram but IMO this is about the best VFM stuff about ATM.

CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£164.95 £164.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£14.50 £14.50
MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£79.95 £79.95
MY-057-OC OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3200 Dual Channel Platinum Series EL-DDR CAS2 (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K) (MY-057-OC)
£134.95 £134.95
GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
£229.95 £229.95
HD-046-WD Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD)
£60.95 £60.95
CD-026-NE NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-026-NE)
£27.95 £27.95
CA-026-TT Thermaltake VC2000BNS Mambo SuperMidi Tower - Black (CA-026-TT)
£27.95 £27.95
CA-025-EN Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-025-EN)
£63.95 £63.95
Subtotal £805.10
VAT £140.90
Total £946.00
 
Well idealy as little as possible.

I wouldn't need any HDD's (Got 220GB total) or CD drives (Got 2). Nor a case or RAM (Already got 1GB).

Just a CPU, GFX (If PCI-E), mobo and porbably a PSU.

Oh and would an opteron be good if I was going to overclock it? I've read that they can reach FX-57 speeds (Is that with air cooling?)
 
yes , and opteron would be great if you are overclocking. And yes, most people overclock them on air.. (im looking to get one soon)

you still have options here tho, single core or dual core.. again depending on your budget.

the new graphics cards will blow your old one to pieces, but again depends on how much you want to spend.

a nice motherboard/CPU/ Graphics and PSU combination would be ideal for you, but again you need to decide how much you want to spend...
 
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NightmareXX said:
Well idealy as little as possible.

I wouldn't need any HDD's (Got 220GB total) or CD drives (Got 2). Nor a case or RAM (Already got 1GB).

Just a CPU, GFX (If PCI-E), mobo and porbably a PSU.

Oh and would an opteron be good if I was going to overclock it? I've read that they can reach FX-57 speeds (Is that with air cooling?)
Click to expand...

Here you go then:

CP-151-AM AMD Opteron UP 165 Dual Core San Diego 1.8GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-151-AM)
£224.95 £224.95
MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£79.95 £79.95
MY-057-OC OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3200 Dual Channel Platinum Series EL-DDR CAS2 (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K) (MY-057-OC)
£139.95 £139.95
GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
£219.95 £219.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£12.95 £12.95
CA-008-TG Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-008-TG)
£59.95 £59.95
Subtotal £737.70
VAT £129.10
Total £866.80

You will need new ram cos yours is 333mhz and the current is PC3200 400mhz plus ideally you should get 2gb of ram to match that spec.
 
Monstermunch said:
Here you go then:

CP-151-AM AMD Opteron UP 165 Dual Core San Diego 1.8GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-151-AM)
£224.95 £224.95
MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£79.95 £79.95
MY-057-OC OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3200 Dual Channel Platinum Series EL-DDR CAS2 (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K) (MY-057-OC)
£139.95 £139.95
GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
£219.95 £219.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£12.95 £12.95
CA-008-TG Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-008-TG)
£59.95 £59.95
Subtotal £737.70
VAT £129.10
Total £866.80

You will need new ram cos yours is 333mhz and the current is PC3200 400mhz plus ideally you should get 2gb of ram to match that spec.
Click to expand...

Thats a very good spec, especially if overclocking.

You could save a bit by getting the 256MB X1800XT (its only slower at higher resolutions than the 512MB version)
 
CP-151-AM AMD Opteron UP 165 Dual Core San Diego 1.8GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-151-AM)
£224.95 £224.95
MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£79.95 £79.95
CA-006-HP Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Blue (CA-006-HP)
£52.95 £52.95
Subtotal £357.85
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £8.95
VAT £64.19
Total £430.99

Thats what I came up with when I did my version :p I decided to drop the RAM for the moment coz I can always buy it later which means I'll be able to get the system quicker.

One thing that did annoy me was that I HAVE to get a GFX card for it. Would it be better to wait for enough money to get the X1800 or buy a cheap PCI-E in the meantime until I've got enough money?

Oh and I changed the PSU as it was cheaper and does the same job (I think) and I don't need SLi compatibility.
 
NightmareXX said:
CP-151-AM AMD Opteron UP 165 Dual Core San Diego 1.8GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-151-AM)
£224.95 £224.95
MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£79.95 £79.95
CA-006-HP Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Blue (CA-006-HP)
£52.95 £52.95
Subtotal £357.85
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £8.95
VAT £64.19
Total £430.99

Thats what I came up with when I did my version :p I decided to drop the RAM for the moment coz I can always buy it later which means I'll be able to get the system quicker.

One thing that did annoy me was that I HAVE to get a GFX card for it. Would it be better to wait for enough money to get the X1800 or buy a cheap PCI-E in the meantime until I've got enough money?

Oh and I changed the PSU as it was cheaper and does the same job (I think) and I don't need SLi compatibility.
Click to expand...

Opteron UP 165 - great choice, they overclock really well too! :)
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D - good mobo, especially for overclockers.
Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - good PSU will run most any rig just fine.

As for graphics if your happy with the X700PRO in the old rig, you could get the PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO 128MB for only £82.19 Including VAT (faster than the X700Pro). And you will be up & running.

Othewrwise if after a great gaming card & can afford a bit more go for the X1800XL or faster X1800XT (256MB or 512MB) whichever is in your budget.
 
The X700 I've got at the moment does me fine for all my games including FEAR :D

Although I'd prefer to have 256MB GFX RAM and isn't the GTO slower then the GT? Or is it the other way around :confused:

I'll have to start saving then!

Ok, I added it all up with the "PowerColor ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-037-PC) £129.95" and it comes to £588 inc. VAT :eek:

Is that over-priced?
 
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