Its been a while... Upgrading

[wildheart]

So im looking to upgrade a computer which is/will be used mainly to play games. There are just a few question im not 100% sure on though. First of all what do you think to this spec:

Gigabyte K8NF-9 nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-032-GI) £57.95

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM) £126.95

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL) £89.95

Antec NeoHE 430W Modular ATX2.0 PSU (CA-044-AN) £54.95

Leadtek GeForce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-069-LT) £164.95

Subtotal £494.75
VAT £86.59
Total £581.34

I think thats about all he will need to upgrade. Besides your opinions on what i have spec'ed i have a few question. Normally in the past i will build a computer from scratch and use what i know to be compatable parts. However when it comes to upgrading from a manafacturer standard pc these are the questions i have:

1) How do i know the PSU will fit the case? (p.s the old computer is about 2 yrs old) and is 430W PSU enough power or should i go for the next one up (500W i think it was)

2) Im normally a ATI man myself but i fancied going for a NVIDIA graphics card so Leadtek a good manufacturer?

3) RAM is a bit of a mystery to me, in terms on the manufacturers. Are Geil as good as any other? I had this RAM in my computer about 8months ago and it seems to be good for me

4) It doesnt say on the OC website but i presume the Gigabyte K8NF-9 is the revision 2 version?

If someone can shead some light on this it would be great!

Thanks all

 

[wildheart]

Thanks for the response Havana_UK

Yeah i selected a gigabyte board and a Antec PSU as they are what i have im my own computer and have been great i will have a look at the alternatives PSU's you suggested.

I would consider a different motherboard if anyone recommend something different. My gigabyte board has been ace for me and i really love the duel bios? (not sure if it is on this board as it doesnt say but its only a luxury)

 

[wildheart]

1) I personally think 500W should be a minimum nowadays so, yes, go for the next model up.

4) I think you should go with the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum motherboard, because it has newer features such as SATA II over Gigabytes SATA I, a slightly higher FSB for better overclocking and a faster onboard LAN (10/100/1000 over Gigabytes 10/100).

Thanks for the advice fenderbass86. I think i will go for the 500W just incase. As for the motherboard the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum looks good but the system will (probably) be running from IDE HDD's so i dont think the SATA2 will be required but i will definatly consider it if it offers higher FSB. hmm... but actually having the SATA2 there for any future upgrades would be a wise idea

 

[wildheart]

thanks for the replys guys, yeah if i go for the SLI mobo then the 500w psu would be required i think. But as im on a bit of a budget im not sure i will need to go for the SLI but thanks for your suggestions and help

 

[wildheart]

ok so i spoke to the person im building the computer for and he would prefer it to be under the £500 mark and after a lot of playing it seems the ~£100 makes a big difference in the spec.... best i could come up with is:

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-046-MS) £64.95

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL) £89.95

Enermax Noisetaker 485W EG495AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-007-EN) £49.95

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM) £91.95

Leadtek GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-080-LT) £119.95

Subtotal £416.75
VAT £72.94
Total £489.69

Would you say this is a good £500 build?