Spec me a cheap solution!

Fantom · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:08

Hi all

Ive got a desktop here at the moment and its getting a bit slow... its an athlon 64 (old type, no dual channel) skt764? with a gig of corsair ram pc3200, a 200gb sata hdd and an AGP nvidia 7600GT

I was just wondering what would be the best thing to do with it in your opinion? do i get a new mobo+cpu and keep the graphics card?

Ideally the product would be geared towards gaming more than anything else, to power a 32 inch HD tv

Thanks in advance

semi-pro waster · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:12

What is your budget here and does the graphics card do what you currently ask of it? Bearing in mind that AGP limits you to one ASRock motherboard in socket 775 form.

You were close with the socket number - it would be a socket 754 CPU.

Buffman · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:12

If you upgrade to new parts you can't keep the graphics card as it's AGP and I think (all?) core 2 duo motherboards do PCI express

Fantom · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:18

semi-pro waster said:
What is your budget here and does the graphics card do what you currently ask of it? Bearing in mind that AGP limits you to one ASRock motherboard in socket 775 form.

You were close with the socket number - it would be a socket 754 CPU.

the budget is quite low... around 400? but i have most components in place, is this asrock mobo any good? the 7600gt has been a good graphics card tbh but upgrading it is a possibility

semi-pro waster · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:24

I've kept it pretty well under the budget here, it includes a new graphics card and you should be able to overclock a bit as well.

NEC AD7170S Serial ATA 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail £67.99
(£79.89) £67.99
(£79.89)
Antec NSK6500 Super Midi Tower Case - 430W PSU £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
OcUK ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £64.99
(£76.36) £64.99
(£76.36)
Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit (CT2KIT12864AA667) £44.99
(£52.86) £44.99
(£52.86)
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Sub Total : £314.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £56.86
Total : £381.75

artaxerxes · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:27

the ASROCK 4CORE VSTA (£40 but not from overlcockers alas).

It has DDR and DDR2 support
It has AGP and PCI-E support (only 4x but that loses 15% of a 16x 8800GTX)

You can use your old DDR, and old AGP. And then upgrade slowly to DDR2 and PCI-E Graphics

Get the high multiplier E2160 (x10?), and a good cooler (about £70). I went for the E4300 and the stock cooler (2nd hand, £70). Overclocked to 2.7GHz.

Total cost... £110, though I would add a new PSU too.

Raikiri · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:35

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74)
DFI Infinity P965-S Dark (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £44.99
(£52.86)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £57.99
(£68.14)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £151.99
(£178.59)
Sub Total : £304.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £54.93
Total : £368.84

Keep your old bits, this leaves enough for a decent 400w PSU or another HD if you need it.

Alex UK · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:38

I'd go with the above spec, but change the motherboard to a P35 board.

Fantom · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:42

semi-pro waster said:
I've kept it pretty well under the budget here, it includes a new graphics card and you should be able to overclock a bit as well.

NEC AD7170S Serial ATA 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail £67.99
(£79.89) £67.99
(£79.89)
Antec NSK6500 Super Midi Tower Case - 430W PSU £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
OcUK ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £64.99
(£76.36) £64.99
(£76.36)
Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit (CT2KIT12864AA667) £44.99
(£52.86) £44.99
(£52.86)
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Sub Total : £314.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £56.86
Total : £381.75

Cheers semi-pro waster, sorry I forgot to mention that I already have a case. 500w psu, dvdrw and dvdrom.

Also im a bit of an nVidia fanboy, i just like the way their software works but i am of course open to ATI if the performance is right

The machine like i say would be games mainly but I also have a lot of music and films so a 500gb hdd would be good (along with the 200gb i have)

Fantom · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:45

Raikiri said:
Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74)
DFI Infinity P965-S Dark (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £44.99
(£52.86)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £57.99
(£68.14)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £151.99
(£178.59)
Sub Total : £304.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £54.93
Total : £368.84

Keep your old bits, this leaves enough for a decent 400w PSU or another HD if you need it.

Im liking this spec, especially the gfx... but is the 1.8 cpu up to the job?

semi-pro waster · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:50

L337 LooX said:
Im liking this spec, especially the gfx... but is the 1.8 cpu up to the job?

It is a good specification and the CPU can be overclocked pretty easily, DFI motherboards are noted for their overclocking abilities in general. The Ram supposedly uses the same chips as the PC8500 Ballistix so offers potential to go further than the rated speeds.

Only one question I'd be asking is what is the PSU you currently have? 500w sounds promising but if it isn't a good brand then it might mean nothing.

artaxerxes · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:50

The 1.8 is a demon overclocker. 3GHz is entirely possible with a mid range cooler, if not on the stock HSF. It is the Celeron 300A of the modern age!

Fantom · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:56

semi-pro waster said:
It is a good specification and the CPU can be overclocked pretty easily, DFI motherboards are noted for their overclocking abilities in general. The Ram supposedly uses the same chips as the PC8500 Ballistix so offers potential to go further than the rated speeds.

Only one question I'd be asking is what is the PSU you currently have? 500w sounds promising but if it isn't a good brand then it might mean nothing.

Cool, yeah the only thing about the psu is its not a good brand (competitor)

however it has been reliable for the year or so ive had it, although that doesnt necessarily make it ok for overclocking does it

Fantom · 5 Aug 2007 at 13:58

artaxerxes said:
The 1.8 is a demon overclocker. 3GHz is entirely possible with a mid range cooler, if not on the stock HSF. It is the Celeron 300A of the modern age!

Ideal! what sort of money would I have to spend to get a cooler good enough for a reliable 3ghz?

I was just a bit weary as i have a 2.66ghz at work and for some reason it doesnt feel fast... probably due to the machine being junked right up

Raikiri · 5 Aug 2007 at 14:01

I would invest a few quid in a decent brand PSU, the Antec Smartpower II 500w can be had for £30 and the stock cooler should be good for 2.8ghz (a freezer 7 pro might be worth it though).

L337 LooX said:
I was just a bit weary as i have a 2.66ghz at work and for some reason it doesnt feel fast... probably due to the machine being junked right up

Core 2 Duo or a Pentium D?

As above they don't use much power so you won't need a hugely expensive cooler, the freezer 7 pro should be good for 3.2ghz+.

Fantom · 5 Aug 2007 at 14:08

Raikiri said:
I would invest a few quid in a decent brand PSU, the Antec Smartpower II 500w can be had for £30 and the stock cooler should be good for 2.8ghz (a freezer 7 pro might be worth it though).

Core 2 Duo or a Pentium D?

As above they don't use much power so you won't need a hugely expensive cooler, the freezer 7 pro should be good for 3.2ghz+.

Core 2 Duo, i have a 2ghz in this laptop but the lack of graphics annoys me...

3.2 sounds awesome!

I imagine it would play nearly all games on full settings with no juddering? (with the 8800 GTS)