Partial upgrade suggestions

Paul_Canning

Paul_Canning

Paul_Canning

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453
Hi folks.

I am looking to partially upgrade my system, as recently my motherboard died and I thought why not upgrade some other parts at the same time :)

I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 (Socket AM2) so will need the corresponding motherboard. There is also 2gb of DDR2 RAM that still works fine, but I would like some more umph. Lastly, whilst my current ATI HD3650 should work, I was drooling over the HD4870 1gb cards.

So, can you please spec me a motherboard, 4gb RAM (preferably in 2 modules) and a PCI-E graphics card (see above for preference)

Thankyou!

EDIT - forgot to add, budget is about £200.
 
Paul_Canning said:
Hi folks.

I am looking to partially upgrade my system, as recently my motherboard died and I thought why not upgrade some other parts at the same time :)

I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 (Socket AM2) so will need the corresponding motherboard. There is also 2gb of DDR2 RAM that still works fine, but I would like some more umph. Lastly, whilst my current ATI HD3650 should work, I was drooling over the HD4870 1gb cards.

So, can you please spec me a motherboard, 4gb RAM (preferably in 2 modules) and a PCI-E graphics card (see above for preference)

Thankyou!

EDIT - forgot to add, budget is about £200.
Click to expand...

If you have to change your mobo anyway i'd look to go AM3 and getting a better cpu. The AM3 mobos are very nicely priced compared to intels x58 range and a dual 550 or tri-core 720 will hold you in good stead. I don't think an x2 4200 has the processing to fully utilise the power of a 4870 (correct me if im wrong, but i've seen an x2 4400 bottlenecking the card in quite a few games). If you can sell your AM2 cpu and DDR2 for a good price it would seem like the thing to do for me. Also you'd be going DDR3 4GB which will probably give you that extra umph you were talking about ;)
 
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I agree with nocky there for around £350 you could sort yourself out a nice system, if you can sell all your existing stuff and then make up the money (which wouldn't be a lot ) then you would ahve a good system, what psu do you have ?
 
I currently have a pretty generic 400W PSU.

This is starting to sound like a whole new system, which was not the initial plan. However, if the price looks good enough, I will consider getting a new AM3 mobo, CPU and DDR3 RAM.

If the PSU can stay as is, that would be preferable, as its another cost.

Can anyone do me a quick spec?
 
If you got an AM2+ motherboard, you could use your current CPU and RAM, add 2 more GB RAM, get the new Graphics card and leave the option of upgrading to all the AM3 processors anyway.
 
once again if you upgrade your system your likely to need a psu as the spec you suggested gpu etc will likely need more power.
If you want to keep it cheaps then get an am2 mobo plus 2x2 gb sticks of ram and overclock your cpu and a 4850 gpu and hope your psu is alright
 
So an AM2+ can accept an AM3 CPU?

Could someone explain the pros/cons of using an AM2+ mobo over an AM3 version or vice versa? (ignoring the fact that the AM2+ can accept both AM2 and AM3 CPUs)
 
OK, here's how it breaks down :

AM2+ motherboards use DDR2 Ram. They can take AM2 CPU's, AM2+ CPU's and AM3 CPU's.

AM3 motherboards use DDR3 RAM. They can only take AM3 CPU's.
This is because AM2/AM2+ CPU's do not support DDR3 and AM3 Motherboards ONLY support DDR3.

I would echo concerns about using a generic 400w. A replacement need not be expensive. This :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

is very high quality for about £40.
 
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Thank you for the round up :)

The AM2+ mobo route sounds very promising. Although the previous mention that my Athlon 64 X2 4200 will bottleneck the HD4870 is worrying me. Can anyone shed some light on this? I would hope that it would not be a huge impact, but if it is, I may have to get a new CPU too! (AM2/AM2+ of course)
 
Bottlenecking it means simply that the 4870 wont offer it's maximum performance. It will vary from game to game. Some titles need little CPU power and will not bottleneck, others may do quite a bit.
So you could look at upgrading the CPU in the near future if you can't afford it staright away. And, as per my last post, with an AM2+ motherboard you can choose from the AM3 CPU's as well, not just AM2/AM2+.
If you did go for a CPU upgrade, even this :
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-251-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=803
round the £50 mark is a good step up.
 
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Ah yes! Please excuse me, the brain is a bit foggy today.

A near future CPU upgrade sounds like a good idea.

I think I may have to get the PSU upgrade with the new mobo, RAM and GFX card. I presume the linked Corsair PSU will have enough relevant connectors like SATA power and what-not?

Lastly, any suggestions on an AM2+ mobo? :)
 
Quixote said:
OK, here's how it breaks down :

AM2+ motherboards use DDR2 Ram. They can take AM2 CPU's, AM2+ CPU's and AM3 CPU's.

AM3 motherboards use DDR3 RAM. They can only take AM3 CPU's.
This is because AM2/AM2+ CPU's do not support DDR3 and AM3 Motherboards ONLY support DDR3.

I would echo concerns about using a generic 400w. A replacement need not be expensive. This :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

is very high quality for about £40.
Click to expand...

That's not strictly true.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-357-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1484

And there are many others besides. I don't get what's different about AM2+ boards and AM3 boards with DDR2 memory slots.
 
It is strictly true. Thats an AM2+ board with support for AM3 processors. OCUK just have it mis-labelled. Many retailers routinely mis-label the various AM boards. Not that it matters too much, so long as people notice what type of RAM they should be buying.
An AM3 board with DDR2 support IS an AM2+ board.

Paul :

As for an AM2+ board, I've got this one :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-180-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1482

on the way for me, after using it in a friend's build recently. It's got pretty much everything most people could want I reckon.

If you don't mind Micro ATX size this one :
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-357-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1484
could be a nice alternative and comes with onboard graphics which could be useful to keep your machine running if your graphics card ever developed a fault and had to be returned.
 
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Paul_Canning said:
I presume the linked Corsair PSU will have enough relevant connectors like SATA power and what-not?)
Click to expand...

It will have enough Sata etc connectors but I just checked and it only has 1 pci-express connector. The 4870 requires 2. You could use the convertor supplied with the card but perhaps it night be safer to go for this :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-010-SS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1099

which has a little more headroom and 2 PCI-express connectors. Used one in a freinds build with a dual power connector card and it's nice and stable and quiet.
 
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I am using a 19inch, new monitor may be an idea later in the year though.

How many PCI power connectors does the 4850 need?

Seeing as my current card is a HD3650, the 4850 is still a massive upgrade.

For the motherboard, I looked at the Gigabyte GA-M720-UD3 (on a different website). Will that meet my needs/allow me to easily upgrade to an AM3 CPU/add more RAM/upgrade GFX again in the future?

EDIT - just looking at prices, and its not much more to go for the 4870 and I found a suitable PSU to power it.
 
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Paul_Canning said:
I am using a 19inch, new monitor may be an idea later in the year though.

How many PCI power connectors does the 4850 need?

Seeing as my current card is a HD3650, the 4850 is still a massive upgrade.

For the motherboard, I looked at the Gigabyte GA-M720-UD3 (on a different website). Will that meet my needs/allow me to easily upgrade to an AM3 CPU/add more RAM/upgrade GFX again in the future?

EDIT - just looking at prices, and its not much more to go for the 4870 and I found a suitable PSU to power it.
Click to expand...


cool just thinking of money and using one 6 pin slot you are looking realistically at about £40 difference though :)
 
Yea, it was a nice consideration, but I think if i get a good PSU for the HD4870, with 2 connectors, it will also ensure it can provide power later down the line for further upgrades etc.

Just pricing stuff up atm, trying to find the best combination :)
 
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