Upgrade advice please

[addo106]

Hi guys its been over 3 years since I built my pc and my hard drive has just packed in so I am going to take this opportunity to upgrade. Heres the spec of my current PC:

Coolermaster Wavemaster Case
Antec True Blue 480W PSU
AMD Athlon XP2800+ Barton
2 x 512mb Corsair DDR CMX512-4000Pro 500mhz
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe Motherboard
Maxtor 160GB + 250GB hard drives
WD MyBook 320GB
Sony DVD Writer
ATI 9800Pro
LG 1915s TFT

I am looking to upgrade Mobo, CPU, Ram and if necessary PSU and keep all the other bits (case, dvd drive, monitor etc.). I will probably also get a new hard drive.

Can anyone suggest some specs. I'm not looking for a gaming setup so the graphics card isnt important however I would prefer a graphics card rather than an onboard one. Is it best to go for the AMD Dual core or go for an Intel quad core? I havent kept an eye on the new processors so dont know whats best and the most affordable. Looking for about 2gb of ram minimum and would ideally like to spend no more than £250. Any suggestions and comments welcome. ]

Thanks

Glenn

 

[ins0mn1ac]

Heres the cpu/mobo/ram, it'll clock on stock cooling but even further with aftermarkets, like the Tuniq Tower for 30ish quid.

Closeish to your budget, your PSU is fine and it'll handle that lot.

As for GFX, the 1950pro is a steal here atm @ 70quid.

Hope thats some help.

PS. Quads or more to the point the Q6600 is £170ish so you'll need to up the budget a little or buy a lesser mobo to maybe squeeze that in closer to your budget.

 

[mp260767]

Heres a starting point :

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £56.99 (£66.96)

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT SILENT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (11116-00-20R) £41.99 (£49.34)

EVGA nForce 650i Ultra (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (122-CK-NF66-T1) £54.99 (£64.61)

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £47.99 (£56.39)

Sub Total : £201.96
Shipping : £8.25
VAT : £36.79
Total : £247.00

 

[addo106]

thanks for the quick responses. Just had a quick look and seems i could get this for the same money.

Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) £66.99
(£78.71) £66.99
(£78.71)
Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £89.99
(£105.74) £89.99
(£105.74)

Total : £266.98

Obviously I could get the ballistix ram which would be cheaper and dont really know if the mobo is any good. Which is best to go for AMD or intel? I have always been an AMD fan in the past as they seem better value?

 

[ins0mn1ac]

thanks for the quick responses. Just had a quick look and seems i could get this for the same money.

Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) £66.99
(£78.71) £66.99
(£78.71)
Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £89.99
(£105.74) £89.99
(£105.74)

Total : £266.98

Obviously I could get the ballistix ram which would be cheaper and dont really know if the mobo is any good. Which is best to go for AMD or intel? I have always been an AMD fan in the past as they seem better value?

Intel>AMD.

 

[addo106]

any views on this? will my 480W PSU be ok? how much do you think i could get for my old bits that i'd be replacing?

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £47.99
(£56.39) £47.99
(£56.39)
Tuniq Tower 120 Blue LED CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £27.99
(£32.89) £27.99
(£32.89)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620A ATA-100 16MB Cache - OEM £40.99
(£48.16) £40.99
(£48.16)
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) £5.99
(£7.04) £5.99
(£7.04)
YS-TECH FD128025HD 80mm Fan - 4 Pin £3.99
(£4.69) £11.97
(£14.07)
YS-TECH FD128025LB SILENT 80mm fan - 3 Pin £3.99
(£4.69) £3.99
(£4.69)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £56.99
(£66.96) £56.99
(£66.96)
Sub Total : £327.89
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 : £58.95
Total : £395.79

can hopefully sell some of my old bits then and only have to spend £250 ish

 

[antikewl]

Just set a machine up with the M2N-Sli Deluxe and X2 6000+ myself and have been very impressed. A nice nippy PC, and still good value if you don't intend to overclock.

 

[mp260767]

why all those fans ?

psu should be ok as long as u have a decent 12v, recommended is something like 28A iirc, it can be a bit less without any issues.

 

[hp7909]

{snip}YS-TECH FD128025HD 80mm Fan - 4 Pin{snip}

When I say those fans are loud, I really mean they are LOUD! Rumor has it even the Silent aren't really silent.

Unless you have a fan controller, get the Akasa Ambers (here). Replaced my YS-TECHs with 2 (intake & outtake) & find them quiet & adequate. Best solution though is to invest in a case which can take 120mm fans

EDIT: The Tuniq Tower is also huge. Make sure it fits. PSU is fine

 

[addo106]

When I say those fans are loud, I really mean they are LOUD! Rumor has it even the Silent aren't really silent.

Unless you have a fan controller, get the Akasa Ambers (here). Replaced my YS-TECHs with 2 (intake & outtake) & find them quiet & adequate. Best solution though is to invest in a case which can take 120mm fans

EDIT: The Tuniq Tower is also huge. Make sure it fits. PSU is fine

I have a coolermaster aerogate 2 fan controller. I'm not convinced the standard ones have done much over the past few years so gonna replace them. I think i will just get some panaflo ones then if those are really loud.