Spare rig - Not sure what upgrade path to take.

BogEyes

BogEyes

BogEyes

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Hey, this might bore most of you because its not a shiny new rig, but basically I'm abit stuck on what upgrade path to take on the cheap for my spare rig. I say spare, its my old one and I've got the girlfriend using it for some L4D2 co-op action and to play other games like COD4, BF2 etc.

Anyway, this spec is this;

E2140 @ 1.6ghz
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H P965i
2GB (2x1GB) OCZ Platinum DDR2
Ati X1900XT 256mb
180GB IDE HDD
Coolermaster case (room for front & rear fans)
Coolermaster 460W PSU
Windows XP
17" TFT @ 1280 x 1024

I'm basically going in circles as to how best upgrade it, well the peformance of it, for the least amount of cash. The only thing I'm certain on, and what I've already sorted is got a Ati 4850 on the way. Hopefully this should be a decent upgrade over my trusty X1900XT. I've got a couple of ideas about what else to do, but want to know what some of you think.

The Foxconn mobo has been great, but its not a great clocker and so I've only managed to get the E2140 to 2ghz. I'm aware that they can maybe clock to 3ghz? So my first idea is this;

1. Find a 2nd hand socket 775 ddr2 mobo that is a known clocker. Clock the E2140 to 3ghz, assuming this is doable on the stock cooler? If not, upgrade the cooler. Chuck the 4850 in aswell and hopefully enjoy a nice peformance increase?
Now, if I were to do this does anyone know of a good clocking mobo that would suit my needs? What sort of price would I be looking at?

Second idea;

2. Sell the E2140. Find a different LGA775 dual core with a better standard clock, something around 3ghz, that doesn't need to be overclocked much. Again, chuck the 4850 in too and hopefully enjoy the peformance boost.
Any CPU's fit the bill? Again, what sort of price would I be looking at?

Third idea;

3. Sell the current Intel mobo/cpu and go for something AMD. Maybe an AM2+ board with ddr2, and maybe try to pick up something like Athlon II X2 cheaply?
How cheap can those CPU's be picked up for, aswell as a suitable mobo?

Anyway, thats what I've pretty much been thinking so far. Its driving me nuts because theres so many different things I could do/change, just need to decide on something. When I consider it might be an idea to sell the ddr2 and go ddr3 I'm just like ARGH!! :rolleyes: Haha.

If anyones got any suggestions its much appreciated.

Cheers, borgia.
 
Option 3. That rig is from too far back to be worth upgrading. I had a E2140 that could clock to 3.6Ghz but it was let down by the lack of cache and was left way behind other cpu's in tests i carried out. AM2+ mobo and X2 cpu can be had for less than £100.
 
Yeah, I'm starting to lean towards going down the AMD route. Couple of quick questions though. Saw this board in the b-grade section of the site.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-196-GI&groupid=595&catid=689&subcat=

Couple of questions.

Will a mATX mobo fit in my ATX case?

If I could sell the 2GB of ddr2, I should be able to pick up say 2GB of ddr3 for about the same price 2nd hand?

Having a Phenom II 550 myself that unlocks to a X4 B50 it would be great to get something like an Athlon X2 that unlocks to a X3 or X4. What I was wondering though is, if a CPU unlocks, take mine for example, does that mean it will unlock on any board then (providing it has ACC). Or is it a case of the CPU will unlock with certain boards, and not others.

borgia.
 
No probs with a m-ATX board in a ATX case. You may have to move the standoffs around but that's easy enough.

DDR2 is fetching a decent price at the moment but what you get will depend on the make and speed.

I think you need a certain chipset to do some unlocking and it's not a dead cert that it will work either.
 
If you dont mind second hand parts sell off the CPU/MB and take a look around the members market for suitable chip and board normally a fair few deals to be had.
 
A classic situation for use of the Asrock N68C-S UCC.
See - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-028-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=

You can even use your existing ram. The Asrock has core unlocking and a full spec oc'ing bios.

Pair it with an Athlon II X3 445 and for little more than £100 all in you are ready to trot as far as that tri-core is capable of oc'ing, usually 3.6-3.7Ghz. Plus a good chance of unlocking the extra core. All the 445's appear to be Deneb lock-downs so you may even get some extra cache as well as or instead of the extra core.
 
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Yeah I was planning on going the 2nd hand route to be honest StephenLawUK, I'd noticed the Gigabyte board and thought it was a good price mind.

VFM Addict, I hadn't noticed that board. Only thought that the Amd 700 series chipset boards supported core unlocking for some reason! Its also a good price, shame its out of stock at OcUK. Defintley worth considering as it would mean I could keep the ddr2. Although I was thinking I could sell my 2GB of ddr2 and buy 2GB of ddr3 for about the same price on the MM. May just do that?

Was also thinking I could pick up an Athlon X2/X3 for £40~ 2nd hand hopefully.

I'm liking the look of this now, shouldn't cost me the earth either. And if it unlocks, overclocks well it would just be a bonus!

Cheers for the help guys!
 
You can get athlon II x3 for just over 50gbp from elsewhere brand new.
Regarding mobo, 2nd hand mobos go for anything from 25 to 50 for very good ones.
I've bought the 785G asus for just over 40quid and that was around year ago.
 
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