Hardware Upgrade

monkeysmith · 3 Dec 2007 at 17:59

Hi,

I'm thinking about upgrading my cpu and gfx card.

Current Setup:

Asus 939 Deluxe Mobo
AMD 4000+ San Diego CPU
Ati X800 Pro 256mb (AGP)
Geil Dual channel 2gb ram

I don't really want to spend hundreds on a new setup. I want a performance increase in CoD4 and other new games.

What I'm thinking of is getting a 939 X2 chip, second hand I guess. Or should I try and get a 939 mobo with Pci Express and send the pennies on a new gfx card?

I can see Intel are the way to go at the moment, but that would mean a completely new system.

Any advise appreciated.

Thanks

semi-pro waster · 3 Dec 2007 at 18:28

What is your budget here? ASRock do a motherboard that supports AGP and PCI-E and DDR or DDR2 which would allow you to upgrade to Core2Duo in stages.

monkeysmith · 3 Dec 2007 at 18:37

Interesting option, to be honest haven't looked at ASRock after an old board I had years ago was a bit pants.

Budget, minimal at the moment, £50 to £100, but a bit more in the new year, £400 maybe, but I don't really want to spend everything on the computer, house needs new carpet so bit of a fight between that! In the MM there is a mobo - Abit AN8 Ultra, thinking about that and a Pci Express graphics card.

I don't spend all day on the PC, only a little bit to play games, prepare lessons, little bit of photo editing.

Thanks

semi-pro waster · 3 Dec 2007 at 18:55

I don't know whether COD4 is biased towards CPU power or GPU power but if you did want to go down the Intel route in stages this would allow you to use your existing graphics card and Ram before upgrading later. It won't be a great overclocker though, 280-290mhz is about where the FSB tops out normally so with the CPU you might make it to approx 2.8ghz.

Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 (Socket 775) PCI-Express/AGP DDR2 Motherboard £36.99
(£43.46) £36.99
(£43.46)
Sub Total : £83.98
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.25
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £16.14
Total : £108.37

If it is mainly down to graphics card power then perhaps that motherboard plus an X1950pro would be your best option for the moment.

monkeysmith · 3 Dec 2007 at 19:14

Excellent, thanks mate, appreciate it.