I'll apologise in advance; I really didn't want to lower myself to a "help me" sort of post but it appears that this is the only way. Unless you know what you're looking for, it's nigh on impossible to work out what goes where, when, why and how. Supposedly Bulldozers aren't too good and use power like it's going out of fashion whereas Sandybridges are the way forward, supposedly? Yes, I also made the mistake of reading some fanboy views on forums. Schoolboy error!
I'll get the details of my current (package bought) mess first and will then bore you with the details:
Key Bits:
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2 Dual Core Processor
- 3GB Cheap as Chips RAM (Crucial I think.)
- ECS nForce4M-A Motherboard (Box says KN9 on it - Not sure if you can identify it by that.)
- 400GB SATA Hard Drive 7200rpm ATA150 with 16MB Cache
- AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series
- Wireless LAN PCI Network Adapter 54Mbps (Not currently in the PC)
- Coolermaster Cavalier 3 Black ATX Case
- Coolermaster Real Power M520 PSU
- Windows 7 64 Bit
Other bits & bobs that I don't really need to improve/care about:
- Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music PCI Soundcard
- 16x DVDRW Double Layer Dual Format Drive
- 16x DVD Rom Drive
- 52 in 1 Flash Card Reader
- 19" AOC LM-928 LCD Monitor
- Philips MMS460 5.1 Speaker System
- Genius ErgoMedia 700 Ergonomic Multi-Media Keyboard
- Microsoft Mouse - Possibly the best thing about this PC!
The RAM is just cheapo stuff as the initial batch was faulty but it does the job, the PSU died so had to be replaced and I've had to replace the graphics card (twice) as the previous two died. Basically the only key original bits are the motherboard, CPU and HDD. Ever since I replaced my GPU it takes about 10 seconds to post (fails to post the first time, always.) It then takes about 5 minutes to boot from sleep. The motherboard and the CPU are the two oldest bits so I'm hoping replacing them will save the day!
So, yeah. This is where the problem starts. I had the below AMD combo going and I was going to go for it as from my point of view it looked ok, (until I read people's comments on the power consumption and general underperformance.) I then completely lost myself as to where to go...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-319-AM
I'm not asking for someone to do all the shopping for me, but could you point me in the direction of what is considered 'decent' at the moment? I was intending on spending about £150 but it doesn't look like that's possible with Intel pieces (supposedly a lot better at the moment?) so would £200ish sort me out? I'm mainly going to use the PC for general internets, plus finally playing Skyrim, (which won't work at the moment despite me buying it at full price!) I may also play Minecraft on fancy every now and then! I don't really want a bankbuster or something that's going to nail half of the grid when I turn it on too... if that's not too much to ask?
If you need any more info then let me know, and theres a big wet sloppy thankyou kiss in advance to anyone who helps! Thanks!
I'll get the details of my current (package bought) mess first and will then bore you with the details:
Key Bits:
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2 Dual Core Processor
- 3GB Cheap as Chips RAM (Crucial I think.)
- ECS nForce4M-A Motherboard (Box says KN9 on it - Not sure if you can identify it by that.)
- 400GB SATA Hard Drive 7200rpm ATA150 with 16MB Cache
- AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series
- Wireless LAN PCI Network Adapter 54Mbps (Not currently in the PC)
- Coolermaster Cavalier 3 Black ATX Case
- Coolermaster Real Power M520 PSU
- Windows 7 64 Bit
Other bits & bobs that I don't really need to improve/care about:
- Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music PCI Soundcard
- 16x DVDRW Double Layer Dual Format Drive
- 16x DVD Rom Drive
- 52 in 1 Flash Card Reader
- 19" AOC LM-928 LCD Monitor
- Philips MMS460 5.1 Speaker System
- Genius ErgoMedia 700 Ergonomic Multi-Media Keyboard
- Microsoft Mouse - Possibly the best thing about this PC!
The RAM is just cheapo stuff as the initial batch was faulty but it does the job, the PSU died so had to be replaced and I've had to replace the graphics card (twice) as the previous two died. Basically the only key original bits are the motherboard, CPU and HDD. Ever since I replaced my GPU it takes about 10 seconds to post (fails to post the first time, always.) It then takes about 5 minutes to boot from sleep. The motherboard and the CPU are the two oldest bits so I'm hoping replacing them will save the day!
So, yeah. This is where the problem starts. I had the below AMD combo going and I was going to go for it as from my point of view it looked ok, (until I read people's comments on the power consumption and general underperformance.) I then completely lost myself as to where to go...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-319-AM
I'm not asking for someone to do all the shopping for me, but could you point me in the direction of what is considered 'decent' at the moment? I was intending on spending about £150 but it doesn't look like that's possible with Intel pieces (supposedly a lot better at the moment?) so would £200ish sort me out? I'm mainly going to use the PC for general internets, plus finally playing Skyrim, (which won't work at the moment despite me buying it at full price!) I may also play Minecraft on fancy every now and then! I don't really want a bankbuster or something that's going to nail half of the grid when I turn it on too... if that's not too much to ask?
If you need any more info then let me know, and theres a big wet sloppy thankyou kiss in advance to anyone who helps! Thanks!
