Budget upgrade recommendation?

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onebelo

Weaksauce
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Jan 13, 2006
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My future brother-in-law PC recently died on him. It was some HP machine that he got for free (P4, 512mb) .. so hes looking to just upgrade the 3 major parts for a new build (cpu, mobo, memory). the only thing he really does on the PC is play WoW and since it seems like hes able to play WoW ok on the HP (as well as an old P4 sony laptop he used to play), he doesnt need something really fast. Looking to spend around $200 and probably $350 at most. but cheaper the better...

heres a couple of things I came up with.

Intel Build:
E4400 $139
Crucial Ballistic 2x1gb DDR800 .. $114 (minus $45rebate)
Biostar TForceP965 $99 (minus $15rebate)
...Total: About $290

AMD Build:
AM2 X2 3600+ Brisbane $63
Asus M2A-VM $68
Crucial Ballistic $114 (minus $45rebate)
...Total: About $200

I have a case, power supply, and dvd drive that he could use and he already has a video card. The only other thing he might need is SATA HD since motherboard only comes with one IDE mostly and he only has an IDE HD. So probably add $50 to both totals above.

In any case, from the above .. which would be a better buy? amd or intel build? or if theres anything that should be change? thanks :)
 
LiteOn 20X SATA DVDRW runs $33 if you have an SATA cable already (and the cables come with motherboards, usually)

They have Ballistics for $50-something after rebate now? I just found a way to spend more money... I hope it'll play nice with my OCZ stuff.

A 650i board would probably let you cut a few dollars off the Intel build. XFX and EVGA are good options there.

You could also look at the E2xxx series CPUs, as they start in the $75 range or thereabout, though I understand they're difficult to find right now, not being 'official' just yet.

Either of those builds will do what he wants just fine, but if you get a P35 board and an Intel build he could swap out for a newer CPU in a year or so (45nm chips). With the 650i or 965 board that's not an option.
 
I was thinking about the P35 boards since ive seen a couple that was pretty cheap. Plus if i go the intel route for him, might well for the supposedly price drop near the end of the month so processors should be cheaper. but we'll see ...

ive built mostly intel systems so wasnt too sure about amd builds and which would be a good value.
 
The way to go right now seems to be "absolute budget, build AMD. Mid-level budget, or wanting potential for a partial upgrade later on, build Intel."
 
RoBo said:
What power supply is in the HP?
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Great point as most 478 PS used a 20 pin main power and low twelve volt rail amperage capabilities. You should read this for a budget PS. Go with the inexpensive AMD build as it is a perfect fit.

Is the video card you possess PCIe?
 
I would go for the e4300 and the Gigabyte DS3. You could also consider adding a aftermarket cooler like the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro.
 
hmm damn .. i just realized the video card he got for the HP was a AGP .. lol

Sooo whats a good budget video card out there nowadays that will run WoW okay? Should I get him a DX10 capable card or just go with a nice cheap one for now like a X1600 or something?

Also, I have a Antec P150 case that I'll let him use along with an Antec Neo 450W PS .. which I guess I should stay away from Asus motherboard lol. I remember having problems with that power supply on a previous asus board but it worked fine on my gigabye DS3 board. Whats another decent budget board out there for an AMD?
 
Unless you are getting a high end DX10 card like the 8800gts/x then you should go for DX9 as the mid range DX10 ones a crap for gaming.
 
Go with the 7600GT for WoW. Its a great performer and around $80 or so after rebate. If you want to reuse the AGP card, you could get the AsRock board:

$62 - ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA LGA 775 VIA PT880 Ultra

What is the old AGP card?
 
^^^ that ASRock MB doesnt seem so bad. could be the cheapest since it has agp and 2xIDE controller so he could still use his IDE HD (which he bought not so long ago). as for video card, i believe he has a X1600pro or something like that which should be good enough for him.

and since the board only takes ddr2400/533, i have some memory laying around that should work for that.

good find. thanks :D
 
onebelo said:
and since the board only takes ddr2400/533, i have some memory laying around that should work for that.
Click to expand...

I've used some DDR2-800 in that board before, for testing. What's this about Asus and your PSU not playing well together?
 
I just bought the AM2A-VM mb and an AMD 3800x2, 2gb crucial ram and couldn't be happier. I don't OC or game so this onboard video is ideal for my needs.

Super fast compared to my old system, and absolutely no problems building. I'm on a very tight budget and this system fulfilled that requirement. I guess it depends on what he does, but I haven't even remotely reached the potential of this system.

I would go with the AMD choice, but remember, you may need to upgrade the BIOS for the Asus M2A-VM board to recognize the Brisbane. Windsor is no problem
 
enginurd said:
I've used some DDR2-800 in that board before, for testing. What's this about Asus and your PSU not playing well together?
Click to expand...

awhile back when i was putting together a pent D system with a asus pw5d (or something like that), it didnt play nicely with the antec neo-pe power supplies. i bought a different antec (smart power) and it worked fine. and there was a pretty long thread during that time regarding some issues witht he power supply and motherboard.

so when i was putting together my core2duo, i was using the antec neo-pe with gigabyte ds3 motherboard and it worked fine. but i ahd to upgrade cuz i needed more power :D
 
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