Upgrading my Build

TomBissto

TomBissto

TomBissto

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Joined
22 Jul 2009
Posts
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Hey there new poster here so please be gentle :)

I built my computer in 2004 with all parts purchased from Overclockers and intend to upgrade with all Overclockers purchased parts..

Anyway my 5 years old system is having trouble playing a lot of games like Warhammer Online/LOTR Online and Age of Conan and Ive tried to stretch this system as far as it can go but I think ive gone as far as I can with it..

But I need some advice im a bit confused about, Im not a computer builder at all I just know how to read instructions and put things together...

I have: Asus A8N-Sli Premium Motherboard and It says it can support AMD Athlon 64 and of course I already have a AMD 64 already installed which is a 3500 version at 2.21 ghz which really isn't stepping up to the mark where gaming is concerned anyway Ive been looking around the internet trying to find this out but can I use Dual Core with this motherboard? Something like : http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-246-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=803

And also am I restricted to what Graphics card I can use in said motherboard?
for example can I use this : http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-176-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1009

The Motherboard manual says it suports Sli but im not sure if it would support any kind of graphics card it doesn't say that in there..

Anyway sorry if these questions seem totally dumb to you I just wanted some pro advise before I can and spend the money, Thanks for all replys in advance.

++ Here are my Motherboards full specs, I didnt want to copy paste because its a bit much : http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=articles&go=read&arc_id=34
 
Hi and welcome
Chances are the mobo would hold back any new components, so youre going to be best buying a new one of them too, whats your actual budget for your upgrade? then we can give you some advise on what level of things to look at, also if you post your full specs, in case theres anything that can be salvaged from your old build
 
Im not in work at the moment and on Job Seekers so don't have huge budget, but I could stretch to maybe £250, I just want to be able to play some decent games without it freezing every 2 seconds and a better FPS than 10 hehe
 
OK, well if you keep your case/psu/optical drive/HDD and just go for the main components you can still get a nice upgrade, as I said that mobo will hold back things like RAM etc, though if you can scrape together a little more you'd prob benefit from a new SATAII HDD too, a Samsung Spinpoint 320gig would be good and only another £33

HIS ATI Radeon HD 4850 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card - OEM £79.99 (£69.56)
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) - Retail £77.99 (£67.82)
Asus M4A78 AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £59.98 (£52.16)
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-6400C5C) £33.99 (£29.56)
Sub Total : £219.10
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £34.29
Total : £262.89 Incl Delivery
 
Last edited:
Hi mate, welcome to the forums..

I would say your best bet would be to upgrade your mobo, CPU, GPU and RAM and you should have a decent little rig to work with...

Here I just did a quick spec for you...

303qrf.jpg


That upgrade will give you a nice little performace boost, and should run most games with decent FPS...

Your current mobo will hold you back when it comes to upgrading, as it uses the old Socket 939, and I don't see any processors around for that socket anymore, there used to be some dual cores available for 939, but if you go for the upgrade above, that will move you onto the latest AM3 socket, and DDR3 RAM, so you have the option of dropping a Phenom II Quad Core CPU at a later date when you plan your next upgrade, and again you will be onto DDR3 RAM now instead of your current DDR setup....

And the GTS250 is a better card than the 9800GT that you posted, the GTS250 is basically a rebranded 9800GTX+, it is quite a bit faster than the 9800 that you posted also...

For £303 the above upgrade would be a wise move for you IMO...

Hope this helps you out man... Good luck with the upgrade ;)


::edit::
Or you could go for thrifles upgrade to socket AM2 and DDR2 RAM...
 
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