Going from amd xp system to ??? on a budget.

[s1lversurfer]

Hello all

Haven't upgraded in yonks (except for a recent 22" monitor) and I mean I am still running my oc'd 2500 xp mobile cpu in an a7v880 mobo with 1gig ddr ram plus 7600gt gfx and soundblaster sound.

I know, I know it's pitiful but that's why I am here.

My plan was to go the Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0 (agp and ddr ram) route paired with the E6300 and just toss in my current ram plus gfx card for a cheap and cheerful interim upgrade for about £115. However my gfx with that mobo seems to be a bad combo for crashing also net searches show issues with Windows 7

Realizing that using my pretty capable 'till now' 7600gt agp gfx card to move forwards is a dead plan. I have set myself a budget of ~£250 (could stretch a little more if slight monetary increment nets better performance) so I realize my options may be limited.

Performance, 'game-wise' (Looking forward to Modern Warfare 2) together with multitasking and oc potential with as much future proofing (cpu, gfx, ram and hdd upgrading) as is possible on a budget is what I am looking for. If it is indeed possible.

Ok! I already have a tower, psu and (IDE) HDD what next?

 

[95thrifles]

Alright mate, cheers for post in other thread
For your needs Id look at something like this (all in stock )

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4850 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £91.99 (£79.99)
Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £60.98 (£53.03)
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 240 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £45.99 (£39.99)
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel (KHX6400D2LLK2/4G) £44.99 (£39.12)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322HJ) £34.99 (£30.43)
Total : £278.94

Its worth getting a new SATA HDD imo, not too much money on that (though if you cant stretch the IDE will do), also you have to be sure that your older PSU will cope, enough PCI-E connections and watts/amps, if youre unsure post make/specs for advice

 

[s1lversurfer]

Hi

Thanks for the input.

Just a few questions...

1.Is the Asus M4A78 AMD 770 the better option compared to the Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 because I could get it from somewhere else since OC'ers don't have any stock?

2.I was settled on the idea of getting an ATI Radeon HD 4850 1024MB GDDR3 card but have noticed that they are pretty scarce anywhere online right now. Are they being discontinued for something better that I should hold off for?

3.I think I'll heed your advice about the psu. I've always purchased cheap as chips loud ass 20 £'ers that have worked fine for me. However that 400W corsair seems like a good'n for only a bit more. I only have 2 Rom drives, 1x80mm fan, 2x120mm Papst fans, nexus fan controller with 2xcathode tubes. Hopefully this combined with your suggested components with some oc'ing should be fine?

 

[95thrifles]

- both asus and gigabyte are v similar, some people have a preference for working with one bios over the other but theyre both quality makes, either will do

- the 4000 series has been superceeded by the 5000 series but as theyre new theyre still a bit more expensiive atm, you could go for a 5770, easier to source bout same performance and a very efficient card in terms of power usage

- yeah the corsair will power that lot fine