Good upgrade?

Michael_10 · 18 Jul 2010 at 17:02

Hi everyone! I'm in the process of helping a friend upgrade their computer, it'll mainly be used for web browsing and a bit of gaming (FSX). Right now they have

An Athlon 64
2gb DDR
An oldish motherboard (lol don't know make)
9500gt

I don't need a case, hdd, optical drive or any of the other extras. Another thing is that the version of windows on it (windows xp) is an OEM copy. Is there any way to keep this copy? The computer came from MESH if that helps!

So my build right now is:

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 635 2.90GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
£77.54

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£70.49

Patriot Signature 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 6400C5 (800MHz) Dual-Channel Kit (PSD22G8002H)
£63.79

Gigabyte GA-MA78LM-S2 AMD 760G (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2 microATX Motherboard
£48.99

Total £262.47

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Ryan-3 · 18 Jul 2010 at 17:09

Usually OEM OS's are locked to the MoBo i think, so you'd need a Retail Copy, but it does look a nice upgrade

Michael_10 · 18 Jul 2010 at 17:11

They also have a 500w PSU, but it isn't branded, would this still be ok?

Michael_10 · 18 Jul 2010 at 17:12

Ryan-3 said:
Usually OEM OS's are locked to the MoBo i think, so you'd need a Retail Copy, but it does look a nice upgrade

Thanks! So say phoning up Microsoft wouldn't help?

Redmint · 18 Jul 2010 at 17:13

Swap it for AM3/DDR3:

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 635 2.90GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £77.54
(£65.99) £77.54
(£65.99)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £70.49
(£59.99) £70.49
(£59.99)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-10666 1333MHz Dual Channel (PVS34G1333ELK) £70.49
(£59.99) £70.49
(£59.99)
Asus M4A78LT-M LE AMD 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £51.99
(£44.25) £51.99
(£44.25)
Sub Total : £230.22
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £41.95
Total : £281.67

(270.51 with free shipping)

Phoning up Microsoft probably won't help as you're not supposed to be able to switch OEM copies to another PC.

edit2: Add a Corsair CX 400w to the order, unbranded PSUs are always too much of a risk.

Michael_10 · 18 Jul 2010 at 17:38

Thanks for the new spec! That looks better and is only £10 more! i was trying to keep it under £300, but adding a £40 PSU only takes it £10 over, so that'll be ok!

Michael_10 · 20 Jul 2010 at 08:40

Was just wondering, would a phenom II x2 555 be better? I can get it for the same price as the quad athlon