hmmm what should i...

[bl1tzk1213g]

finally im getting my $300 bucks back...
im thinking about upgrading my computer.
what do u think is the best combo. im leaning towards AMD, preferrably about 3200+...

i was thinking about AMD XP 3200+ and an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe or MSI K7N2 Delta2-LSR or MSI KT6V-LSR

i dont really kno much... btw, im a gamer.

thanks

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: hmmm what should i...

Well the Athlon XP 3200+ is fairly expencive and you could probably get a sempron 2800 or so and overclock it far past that of what you are trying to do...

For price comparisons:
Athlon XP 3200+
Athlon Sempron 2800
Athlon Sempron 2600
Athlon Sempron 2400

Also you may want to consider saving that money and get a system worth your money.... a Gaming machine can not be built on a $300 budget..

~100 for motherboard, ~100-300 for processor, ~20-100 for case, ~100-500 for good video card, so as you can see unless you already have a good video card and all the rest of that stuff you can't realy make a good gaming machine...

A list of what you already have and/or what you can aquire for next to nothing would be nice... such as your current configuration...

[bl1tzk1213g]

Re: hmmm what should i...

well right what i have...

Athlon XP 2000+
geForce FX 5200 128mb
ECS A7k8... sorry i forgot but i kno its an ECS
512 pc 2100 ram
330 power supply i believe

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: hmmm what should i...

Well that motherboard will support up to 333FSB I believe though I coulden't find anything on it. So any of the sempron CPU's I posted above will work with that motherboard untill you can afford to get a real good one... Again I would suggest saving you rmoney and getting mabey a socket 754 system and a sempron... If you realy want to stay with the socket A stuff get a sempron and a new motherboard Mabey somthing like this... or this if you want dual channel... It's just a coincidence that they are both the same brand...

You are going to need new ram with this upgrade as well if you get a sempron DDR 333 should do fine... If you choose to go with the 3200 get DDR400

[bl1tzk1213g]

Re: hmmm what should i...

hmmm i came to a conclusion, with an advice from someone...
i get an athlon 2500+ then an abit NF7-S then overclock it to 3200+
that will save me about 100 bucks then use it for a DDR 400
mobo $80.00 + CPU $85.50 + a thermaltake silent boost Heastsink around $30 = about $200 with tax... what do u think?

[wayout44]

Re: hmmm what should i...

You will still need to get new memory as that PC2100 will bottleneck that upgrade severly.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: hmmm what should i...

If it's just gaming/mostly you want to improve, the best thing for you to do would be to get a new video card, probably a new power supply (what brand PSU is it?), and maybe a new processor. Wether or not it's worth it is arguable, because this machine could really use an entire system rebuild, which will cost a hell of a lot more than $300 U.S. (assuming this is U.S. dollars here).

I'd suggest this 9800 Pro if it comes back into stock. Otherwise, I'd suggest a 6600GT. Hopefully it will reduce in price when you order parts. You might also consider this 9800 Pro if it comes back into stock. A 6800LE might also be worth considering, though I'd rather have a 6600GT.

For a power supply, which you'll most likely need, a 420W Thermaltake will do. It's overkill, but it's the cheapest thing that will be enough anyway.
For a processor, if you can manage to fit one in your budget, a Mobile 2400 or Mobile 2500. The Mobiles are just 266MHz FSB versions of the other processor that will overclock better, if overclocking is possible with that board. The regular versions cost the same anyway, and you can just use your existing heatsink/fan (though you'll need some Arctic Silver 5 or a similar thermal compound).

Edit: You'd want some PC3200 RAM if oyu want to overclock the FSB, as Wayout said, though just multiplier increasing will allow you to overclock with your current RAM as Mobile Bartons only run at 266MHz FSB. But that's irrelevant as that will do very little to improve most gaming. Your current video card is a larger bottleneck than that processor in any graphical game, which is generally what would benefit from a faster processor. First-person shooters, role-playing games, even strategy games will make use of a new video card more than a new processor.

[bl1tzk1213g]

Re: hmmm what should i...

in my opinion, its my mobotherboard that limits my gaming.
my vid card supports 8x but my mobo can only handle 8x, and yes btw, imma get a ddr 400... is it hard to OC the 2500 to 3200? cause a guy told me that he oc'ed his to 3200 with changing the voltage. to me, the video card can wait, my comp is really slow compare to most computer these days so i just want to upgrade it. so i thought of OCing a 2500 will be the best deal.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: hmmm what should i...

Well despite your opinion, your motherboard is the least limting factor for your gaming. Assuming you meant it only suport 4x, that's still irrelevant since 8x is little more than a marketing scheme, meaning there's no performance difference. The Athlon XP 2000 is a decent CPU for gaming and general performance, but that video card just sucks. Upgrading both would be a good solution for overall performance and gaming performance, like I said, but "upgrading" to another socket A motherboard, especially one of those expensive ones, would be somewhat foolish IMO. However, there are valid options you haven't looked at if it's a new motherboard you want...

If you're going to spend $300 and not get a new video card (and obviously gaming is not your primary concern), you aren't even looking at the right platform:

Get a socket 754 system and a 3100 Sempron (which is a socket 754 processor, not socket A like the others). A $30 HSF such as the Venus 12 along with some Arctic Silver 5 will give that CPU speeds of 2.5 to 2.7GHz on a decent OCing motherboard, and that'll outperform even the most overclocked Bartons out there (they'd have to be pushing 3GHz to equal the performance). For a motherboard, either the Chaintech VNF3-250 or DFI Lanparty UT NF3 250GB, the former being ~$20 cheaper and the latter being slightly better for overclocking and more feature-rich.

All that plus a stick of this will get you great performance, overclocked or not (amazing performance when overclocked) and should be pretty close to your budget, though you'd need that $40 PSU, which does go over the budget a tad.

But like I said, that will won't do nearly as much as the options I described earlier for the vast majority of games. Your video card is a major bottleneck, because quite frankly it sucks. It's barely a low-end card these days. Within the next six to twelve months it'll pretty much be what I like to call a "legacy" card. That said, it will play any game, just not well.

[bl1tzk1213g]

Re: hmmm what should i...

yea i agree, but the thing is, the game i really play, the one and only game i really put my time on is "counter strike" it does not need a hell of a graphic card. and true, i dont want my system just for gaming, i want it fast too. im used having not my vid car settings to the max, my fps just drops down when i see a smoke on CS. my friend got a dell 2.4ghz he said he doens't lagg on smoke, and i think hes got a generic vid card.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: hmmm what should i...

Oh, well CS is an exception. CPU is much more important than GPU if you have even a half-decent card like yours. Hell, I saw little improvement going from my 64 onboard Intel to a Radeon 9800 on my P4 2.0A. Actually, I saw no improvement, other than the ability to force AA and AF in the control panel, which kind of helps the game aging appearance, which suprises me.

Generally, when you're talking about computer hardware and referring to people as gamers, it means someone who plays games that stress the major system components. I'm not trying to define "gamer" (that just starts a huge argument that can't be won, and I don't even have much of a position on it), but being a CS player is irrelevant when it comes to computer hardware, just for future reference.

I'd certainly go for that socket 754 Sempron system in your situation as it will outperform your friend's 2.4GHz Pentium 4 by far in any game, regardless of whether or not you overclock. I doubt you'll see anymore FPS drops from smoke grenades, unless it's a laggy connection, you have too many background apps running/too much RAM used, or your video card has some sort of issue.

[bl1tzk1213g]

Re: hmmm what should i...

yea... i think imma go s754... dunno, sempron or athlon64, someone told me about this

AMD Athlon 64 DTR3200 s754 - $190
DFI Lanparty UT 250GB s754 - $99.99

and i could save up for some 3200 or maybe 3400 if im lucky...

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: hmmm what should i...

Way to go... will be nice when your done... Just don't get a crap video card like I did... you'll regret it...

[Yawgm0th]

Re: hmmm what should i...

I wouldn't get a DTR CPU as it likely won't work with whatever motherboard you get, plus there's really no good reason to get one anyway.

If it's overclocking you want, the Sempron is the way to go, but Windows XP 64-bit will be out soon so it may be smarter to get the Athlon 64 since it will actually run 64-bit software, which will mean some very nice performance increases in certaint areas (likely not CS, but that's irrelevant...). The 2800 is a decent OCer anyway... I'd say you can expect 2.3-2.4GHz with decent cooling. If you were planning to get anything more expensive, you'd just want to switch to socket 939 or reconsider getting a new video card.

[bl1tzk1213g]

Re: hmmm what should i...

so u think an athlon 64 2800+ is a good choice? or were u talkin about sempron 2800? yea, 64s will become the mainstream sooner or later. so u think i should get the 64 2800? if so what kind? and what is a DTR anyways sorry i dont kno a lot