Author Topic: How does this sound (new system) (Read 279 times)

Krusty · « **on:** March 22, 2006, 06:29:33 PM »

Setting up a "bid" if you will for my sister. She's on an old PC that cannot be upgraded.

This is not supposed to be top of the line, but her old one is a Pentium or Celeron 1.4 GHz with 256MB RDRAM, and an obsolete mobo and chip type.

Note: I'm just browsing NewEgg to get ideas.

Gigabyte GA-K8NS Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250 ATX AMD Motherboard

Why: I believe this is one of the more common AMD socket types. The 939, from what I recall, is the newest, so I figure there will be cheaper prices for second-newest. It has other good features, and I'd like to recycle her current AGP vid card. It has built in audio, as I think her current one does.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Newcastle 800MHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket 754 Processor

Why: Lowest Athlon 64 that Newegg had listed. Fairly nice deal too. I read one review where this motherboard was paired with a 2800, but could not find that on newegg. Motherboard also accepts Sempron, but I don't know what the difference is between Athlon 64s and Semprons. Semp's seem cheaper so I'm guessing they are the "Celeron" of the AMD world?

stick of 512MB DDR PC3200

Why: duuuuh...

What do you think? I'd like to hear AMD suggestions because I have never done this before (and its good to get experience in both AMD and Intel), and because the motherboards were cheaper than the lowest Intel-based motherboards on newegg.

Open to suggestions and ideas. Again looking for "decent" but also looking for "economy build". Her case is ATX form factor, she has a AGP vid card and a PSU that's probably on the low end (225W? I will have to check).

buzkill · « **Reply #1 on:** March 22, 2006, 07:49:13 PM »

I HAVE THAT CPU...VERY SATISFIED. BUT I'D GO WITH A SOCKET 939...AND GO WITH A GIG OF RAM, I'VE SEEN ACES HIGH USE OVER 450M BEFORE. IT'LL HELP IT RUN BETTER AT EVERYTHING, NOT JUST ACES HIGH. AND IF YOU SEE TEMPS OF LESS THAN 100 DEG F ON THAT CPU, IT'S NOT A BAD SENSOR, MINE IDLES AT 92.
AND BUMP THE PSU UP TO 350-450, YOU'LL STILL FIND GOOD PRICES ON THE MID-ROAD PSU'S:aok

Krusty · « **Reply #2 on:** March 22, 2006, 08:04:13 PM »

I checked and she's got a Lite-On PSU that's 250W.

She doesn't play games as intensive as AH. Since this is a budget setup I've just accounted for 1 stick of ram. If she wants more later she can upgrade.

Is there much of a price difference between 939 and 754?

EDIT: She's got some type of Sound Blaster as well (Live, is my guess) so onboard audio is not a requirement.

EDIT2: Never mind, I looked up some prices. They're not too different. CPUs cost a bit more, but mobos are comparable. If you think 939 is better I'll go with that.

Ghosth · « **Reply #3 on:** March 22, 2006, 09:44:48 PM »

First off check the prices at Mwave.com as well.

When I bought my system newegg was 2 dollars cheaper on the ram and more expensive on all the rest. Also more expensive on shipping, came out to about 15 $ total. (which isn't huge but its 15$)

Also the 754 board is fine if you don't want to upgrade video card.

If you go with a 939 your most likely going to have to have a new PCI-E to go in it. Exception being the Asrock dual SATA which has both. (nice board and reasonable btw)

Last, I'd go up one notch on the cpu and get a 3200 venice core.
Heard lots of good things about them, and so far they've been spot on.

Krusty · « **Reply #4 on:** March 22, 2006, 10:12:19 PM »

Actually the Gigabyte mobo has an AGP slot instead of PCIe, that way I avoid needing a new card. Regardless if she wants to upgrade it's about $40 for a GeForce FX5000 series. Not the best but better than the Ge2 she has now.

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 22, 2006, 10:25:13 PM »

Might as well get her the 939 board Krusty, that way if a future upgrade is needed, you can upgrade the board and video card and reuse the CPU. I'm betting the 939 stuff will be around awhile.

As to your question on the Semprons vs the Athlons, go with the Athlon if you can afford it. There's nothing wrong with the Sempron64s if you want budget, I'm using one. If you want a stable, cool and quiet CPU and dont have any performance demands, the Sempron works beautiful and is alot cheaper than the Athlon. Mine runs about 35C under load, 31-29C at idle (depending on room temps). Rarely I see it up in the low 40's under a heavy load. The only real difference is the Sempron runs at a lower voltage and has smaller caches. Still, if you can afford the performance difference of the Athlon, why not use it?

Krusty · « **Reply #6 on:** March 22, 2006, 11:08:04 PM »

3200 is about $25 more (not too bad, considering mobo/cpu/ram are still under $250 total)

I think I'll suggest that, see what she thinks.

68DevilM · « **Reply #7 on:** March 28, 2006, 12:28:30 PM »

i see they have the amd 3700 in 939 pin now, im running the 754 version, on a dfi lanparty ut nforce 3 with a gig of ram, purrs like a kitten still......