Hi all,
I'm looking to upgrade my computer. I build this machine (below) nearly four years ago ( !) and as such i'm a little out of date with the new fangled technology
MSI KT3 Ultra2
Athlon XP 2100+
1024mb PC2700
GeForce 4 Ti 4800
Well, now it's a little bit out of date, and i'm looking to upgrade it to see me through to the end of uni.
I want to spend around 350 on hardware, and I already have a case with power supply (Arctic Cooling Silentium). Basically I think I need: mobo, processor, graphics card, hard drive, cooler, memory.
I'd like to stick with an AMD processor and nvidia graphics, as they've served me fairly well before. However looking at prices today, i realised I can afford socket 939 and socket AM2 systems. What's the difference between the two? And for the money I'm looking to spend, what will offer the best performance?
The two specs i'd looked at are:
-- AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-164-AM) 70.44
-- MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-071-MS) 58.69
-- GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) 61.04
-- Leadtek GeForce 7600 GS SILENT 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-082-LT) 88.07
--Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA) 41.07
Total 319.25
or:
-- AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-119-AM) 64.57
--Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS) 64.57
-- GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (GE1GB3200BHDC) (MY-005-GL) 70.44
-- Leadtek GeForce 7600 GS SILENT 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-082-LT) 88.07
--Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA) 41.07
328.72
I need to use it for CAD work, Matlab and some gaming (GTR ).
Let me know what you think is best!
Cheers
Anthony
I'm looking to upgrade my computer. I build this machine (below) nearly four years ago ( !) and as such i'm a little out of date with the new fangled technology
MSI KT3 Ultra2
Athlon XP 2100+
1024mb PC2700
GeForce 4 Ti 4800
Well, now it's a little bit out of date, and i'm looking to upgrade it to see me through to the end of uni.
I want to spend around 350 on hardware, and I already have a case with power supply (Arctic Cooling Silentium). Basically I think I need: mobo, processor, graphics card, hard drive, cooler, memory.
I'd like to stick with an AMD processor and nvidia graphics, as they've served me fairly well before. However looking at prices today, i realised I can afford socket 939 and socket AM2 systems. What's the difference between the two? And for the money I'm looking to spend, what will offer the best performance?
The two specs i'd looked at are:
-- AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-164-AM) 70.44
-- MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-071-MS) 58.69
-- GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) 61.04
-- Leadtek GeForce 7600 GS SILENT 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-082-LT) 88.07
--Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA) 41.07
Total 319.25
or:
-- AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-119-AM) 64.57
--Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS) 64.57
-- GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (GE1GB3200BHDC) (MY-005-GL) 70.44
-- Leadtek GeForce 7600 GS SILENT 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-082-LT) 88.07
--Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA) 41.07
328.72
I need to use it for CAD work, Matlab and some gaming (GTR
).Let me know what you think is best!
Cheers
Anthony
