Should i upgrade my PC ?

[marius82]

First of all i would like to start by saying Hello to everyone on this forum .

Last year i upgraded my PC . The old one was just too old . I was on a budget and i did not really spend too much time gathering info before i upgraded ... and now 1 year later i am thinking to upgrade it again .

I know some things about PC's .. how to install a GPU / CPU / memory etc but when it comes to motherboard and what it can support i am just a noob .

So i will list what my PC's spec is at the moment and if you guys think i should upgrade any please give me a link to one site also .

I would like to add that when i purchased my PC last year i used PRICEWATCH .com and i took from there whatever i thought was a bargain ..except the motherboard .. that i had no idea about .. i just .. bought it .

For this upgrade i do not intend to spend a lot since i am on a budget ... but if needed i will just buy the parts one by one and ill hopefully put them all together by Christmas or so . My planned budget for this upgrade would be around 350 $ ... i will spend more if it is a upgrade that is crucial and a decent investment .

Ill start with listing my motherboard and i really really hope i did not messed up a lot when i bought mine ...because it would be really hard to install a motherboard .. so keeping fingers crossed for this one :

-Asus M2V-MX Socket AM2 VIA K8M890 DDR2-800 PCI.e Motherboard

GPU : - ASUS GeForce 7600GS 512MB PCI-e Dual DVI

RAM : 2GB PC6400 800Mhz DDR2 Certified SPD Dual Channel Kit Memory (1GB X 2 Sticks) (Super Talent)

- CPU : AMD Athlon64 3800+ Socket AM2 Processor .

- Case : MicroX LA-CSBW3284HLW-BK MidTower W/450 W P.S. Case (Black) +80mm Case Fan (Recommended for case cooling)

Spire SP754/939/AM2 (SP708S3-1) AMD Approved Heatsink & Fan (Recommended) ( i think it's the CPU cooling ? ) .


Anyway what i would like to know is ...can i keep my motherboard and just upgrade my CPU ( do i need to upgrade it ? ) my ram and my GPU card ?

How bad did i messed up when i selected that GPU card ? and can my motherboard support a decent one ?

I also saw one really nice offer of 4GB DDR2 (2x2GB sticks ) with dual SLI something ... does my motherboard support that ?

What should i keep and what should i exchage ?

Also i am thinking to get a rather cheap soundcard with a subwoofer + 5 satelites combo because .... headset is not doing it for me anymore . Suggestions ?

I played Byoshock / Mass Effect / World of Warcraft / Assasins Creed without problems on this setup altho not with high details and such ... but i do not know if a upgrade that can do that is available in my price range so i am not having high hopes .

Thank you all in advance for any answers and thank you all again for this nice forum .

PS : please no " lol noob computer " posts i know my PC is not TOP or whatever and i am fine with what i can afford .. just wanna upgrade it - if necessary .

[marius82]

This is the ram i saw and i was wondering if i should buy it : OCZ SLI-Ready Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2x2048MB) OCZ2N800SR4GK at TigerDirect.com

And also i forgot to mention ... this PC will be used for gaming mostly .. i do not expect a system upgrade to run everything at max details with crazy fps ... just something better and money worthy compared to what i have now .

Or maybe i should wait and upgrade in 6 months .. i do not know . If you guys know something that it would be wise for me to buy now please do not hesitate to tell me .

Thank you all once again .

PS : i am using Windows XP Professional Service pack 2 as OS .

[marius82]

[TimeDeatH]

better deals at newegg.com and with what were lookin at here you could upgrade your gpu to a 9800 gt and still be within budget and this might bounce a lil over your budget but your cpu could be upgraded to an intel core 2 duo e8400

edit: no you dont have to upgrade the mother board and i figured out if you go to newegg its within budget
this would make for a great gaming laptop

[JPMiller]

If $350 is your budget then I say start over...
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom 8450 Toliman 2.1GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Triple-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - Open Box: MSI K9A2 Neo-F AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - Open Box: ASUS EN9600GT silent/HTDI/512M GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE ST350 350W ATX12V 2.2 Power Supply - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
with shipping this is still under $350

Your Via chipset is pretty weak and limiting, and you should be able to sell the old components on Craigslist if you want something a little higher end
Triple core CPUs have been recently pricecut, and youll want a better poer supply if your getting a decent VGA card
I would go with at least 1066 speed memory to match the CPU, whether it be 2 or 4 gigs

[marius82]

Thank you for the answers guys ! i think the Craigslist idea is really worth trying and if by 30th of this month ill get some more $ ( my B day then ^ ^) i might get something really decent .

Anyone know ..if i get all the components from newegg.com will they install them for me also ? ( like send me the package with the case components installed /tested ) .

[ShyguyXPC]

not unless you buy one of their prebuilt systems (ABS & other brands they sell), even if they did, you'd be looking at quite a bit more to the price just for the labor, which is the whole point to ordering the parts seperately & building it yourself, not only do you actually learn how the computer & its components work together, what goes where, what parts to pick & why... etc etc, but you also save a bundle in labor costs by doing the work yourself...

otherwise if your looking for a prebuilt system, then best bet is to go through Dell, or shop at the local Walmart or Best Buy for a budget system.

but for either of those options, you won't get the better components & performance your looking for...

so that leaves two or three choices, one, first & foremost, by the parts/build it yourself, two, know someone that can do it for you, or three, save more & buy pre-built for more with the components you want.


personally, & I'm willing to bet more than 90% of the active people on these boards will agree, building it yourself, saving in labor costs, is the best way, saves money, & you learn about your PC, which is good, so down the road should you have issues with it & need help, you can better communicate the problems, symptoms etc etc, so others can help you. (unlike some of the posts we get like "My Computer keeps freezing up & I get Errors, can anyone help me fix it?" )

[zulquar]

[pullmyfoot]

You have 2 gigs of ram already, thats plenty, especially if you dont have a rippin system to make use of more. Why dont you just spend more on the CPU and motherboard and get a E7200. Start from a good base so its easier to upgrade in the future.

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
mobo: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
PSU ($35 after rebates, and its a pretty decent unit): Newegg.com - Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply - Power Supplies
GPU: Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N975-AR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

total is within the budget if you include rebates

[pullmyfoot]

You know if you are going to buy the parts one by one, then I suggest getting everything but the video card first. You might even consider getting an E8500 then.. Get the video card last because the same card will probably be $20 or $30 cheaper in two months. The 9800GTX might even hit but $150 by then if a couple of new faster cards come out with more value (from the way things have been going that might happen). Then you can even grab one of those