Looking for recommendations: Hardware upgrades

The AMD Athlonx2 4600+ (dual core) is a good CPU and is relatively inexpensive...however, don't go for the 939 socket as it is being phased out and Mobos might be hard to get should you ever have a breakdown. The AM2 socket is the way to go with AMD

The Asus A8N VM is a good Mobo that's reliable and relatively inexpensive....it has dual channel RAM and allows for up to 4ghz (4slots) and has the newer PCI express slot for your graphics card....and Kingston RAM is good so you'd be O.K. sticking with that.

I would still go with an Antec power supply though, just up it to 550 or 600 watts to accommodate higher end graphics cards (like the nVidia 8800 series) for when you upgrade to Vista.

My machine has this CPU, Mobo and RAM and it runs Vista very nicely, so I don't think you'd have any hardware issues when you do upgrade...and hopefully by then, nVidia and ATI have updated their drivers to be more in line with Vista's requirements.

Ok I found the CPU [link] (added it to my wishlist) but I had a hard time finding the mobo. Only found and open box one and some that were out of stock (results). Is that the one you were talking about?

All this NVIDIA stuff mentioned in the mobo specs is confusing to me. What does that mean exactly? Will it mean anything in that I want an ATI card? @_@

Also, will the heatsink and fan that comes with the CPU be adequate? It tends to get real hot here and I don't want the thing to overheat.

Email me a $ amount you want to spend and I'll spec out a rig for you....

Ermm I'm not really sure how much I want to spend, I've never done a full upgrade like this before so I'm not sure what's reasonable. Definitely looking for any and all recommendations though (I like links).

I have used MSI boards for years and haven't had one fail me yet. As starkers said.. The AM2 socket is the way to go with AMD Processors .

Here is what I have in my computer

RAM 2 Gigs of DDR 2

MSI K9NBPM2-FID nVidia Quadro NVS 210S Athlon 64/Sempron Socket AM2 DDR2 Micro-ATX Motherboard
http://www.intolan.com/MSI_K9NBPM2_FID_AM2_Motherboard_p/mb-msi-k9nbpm2.htm

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 2000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor
http://www.intolan.com/Athlon_64_6000_X2_Dual_Core_AM2_CPU_p/cpu-ath64x2-6000am2.htm

BFG 8600 GeForce GT OC. PCI Express Graphics card I found this on sale at Comp USA About 3 weeks ago...

ULTRA XVS Modular 600W ATX PCI-Express SLI 120MM Power Supply
http://www.intolan.com/ULTRA_XVS_Modular_600W_ATX_Power_Supply_p/ps-ult600w-xvs.htm

This is a great power supply set up if you like to keep the inside of your computer neat as you use only the wires that you need.

The links I gave are to a supplier near me. I like to buy from some one near me in case I have to replace something. I am a must have now type of guy. Most likely you can find it cheaper at New Egg. Or Tiger.com

I am using Vista Ultimate and am not having any problems running it . Aero and dreams run fine.

I am not saying that what I use is any better then other products. It's just the fact that MSI boards and AMD processors have performed well for me. I really love the live Bios Update that msi has Just download the file and It flashes the Bios no hassle no mess.



Most of the Boards made to day Have on board Graphics and Sound. NVIDIA is the maker of the chip used in many graphic cards and the onboard graphics
I hope this may be of some help to you.

Ok I have a question about this AMD Athlon 64 stuff...I run 32bit XP and whenever I go Vista, I'll likely stick with 32bit. What does the 64 mean, that it's only for 64bit?

This is how it was explained to me. Think of it as an information highway. With 32 bit you have 32 lanes that information can travel on and 64 lanes with 64 bit.
The AMD 64 CPU's are backward compatible with 32 bit. You can run either XP,Vista 32 bit or XP,Vista 64 bit on your system. One big draw back to the 64 bit operating system is the Lack of programs and drivers to take advantage of the 64 bit processors.

More information on the difference between 32 and 64 bit.


WWW Link

WWW Link

You'll be able to run Vista 32 bit with any AMD 64 processor....the 64 part means that it is 64 bit ready



Several Mobo brands have nVidia chips on them, but you can still run an ATI graphics card on them without issue.

As for the Asus board I have, it seems they are no longer available, but Asus would still have something suitable, as would MSI or Gigabyte, etc.

Hope this helps clarify things some for you.

I would also suggest the MSI mobo... I'm using my first and am more then impressed. However, I'm running an Imtel/nVidia setup... not that that makes much of a difference really. My ultimate suggestion would be to get a mobo that will also eventually support a quad core processor as well.

As for the vid card, just make sure it will have directx 10, maybe even crossfire capability (I believe thats equivlant to SLI for ATI cards, the mobo will have to support that as well I think). Your prbably looking around the $100-200 rande on the mobo and the vid card will more then likly be your most expensive item. Even though your not a gamer the vid card is important in many more ways, especially with Vista and being able to use everything the Ulitamte version has to offer.

Good thing is you can probably go without a sound card as a good mobo usually has a decent one already. My MSI does and it supports up to 7.1 and has its own software for customizing it (the MSI mobos have excellent software for various functions/features).
More then likely as those are pretty universal and the companies don't want you to NOT be able to use it. General rule, if the mobo fits the card, it'll support the fans and the same for the heat sinks. As for adaquate, it should be but like a car engine the better your whole case 'breaths' the better it will be with heat and the better it will perform.

Ok, so basically this is what I'm looking at so far.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor
MSI K9AG Neo2-Digital AM2 AMD 690G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard <--is this one ok?
COOLER MASTER RS-550-ACLY ATX12V / EPS12V 550W Power Supply <---this one had far better reviews than any of the Antec ones, and I already have a CoolerMaster case....
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel

Still have no idea about the video card since I don't do any gaming or whatever (mostly watching media, surfing the net, customizing, etc).

Edit: How's this for a video card?

HIS Hightech H260XTQT512DDN-R Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

Grand total on the wishlist (everything listed above and also including my 500GB SATA) is at $705.45.

You should be very happy with what you have selected. BUT lol there is always a but. This motherboard does not support ATI Crossfire so if you are thinking of being able to use dual cards later on you will need to select a different Motherboard.

Check this out
WWW Link

If you don't plan on using crossfire what you have selected will work fine.

Well....I keep being told to plan to the future so these things will last so I won't have to keep upgrading, so maybe that one might be better in the long run. Thanks for the suggestion.

Err another question. I'm gonna be getting the SATA drive this week...it's a 3.0gb/s drive but my current mobo is only 1.5, however the new mobo will be 3.0. I want to get the SATA hooked up this weekend (don't want to wait the 2 months it'll take to get all my new parts) and since it's OEM I have a feeling I'm going to need a cable for it. But I see 2 SATA listings: SATA and SATA II. Which will I need? Will I need one for my 1.5 mobo and a different one for the new mobo?

I'm just gonna get the cable from newegg at the same time I get the harddrive...so need to know what to get so I can have everything I need to get it all hooked up.

SATAII is backward compatible with SATA. However some mainboard and host controllers chips will not support SATA II drives, If this is the case as in the Maxtor drives you will need to use the force 150 jumper. The best thing to do is read the documentation that comes with your drive. The cable should come with the Drive (both use the same cable) The 4- pin to 15- pin power adapter should also come with your drive. Again check to see if your drive comes with them.

I am assuming your old board supports SATA and your not using an SATA PCI card. If this is the case the card will have its own Bios and you will be able to change settings by accessing the bios of said card.

In either case a cable should have came with them.   

I just this week upgraded and finished building my own rig.

CPU Intel Q6600
MOBO Asus P5K Deluke
RAM 2 GB Crucial Ballistics PC2 DDR2 6400
PWRSUP OCZ 700 Watt
GPU Geforce 8600 GT PCI-E 16X
DVD RW SONY NEC
HD Western Digital 500 GB

I spent about $1000, and I got a new monitor too but it's not something I'd recommend.

Do you intend to just upgrade your current case or do you plan on starting fresh?

If anything I'd recommend the Q6600 and a motherboard to support it. Dual cores are the minimum I'd recommend for a new system but the Q6600 give you the most power for the money. I have yet to overload this CPU and I am doing things like video editing, supreme commander, Doom3 on 1600x1200.

This mother board kicks ass, it has a broadband input, another output for another computer and a wireless output right on the board, some sort of RAM acclerator, which gives a 75% speed boost, 4 ram slots, SLI ready for PCI E and it was like $220. Asus rules.

The GPU is an incredible deal for $100 but the 8800 GTS 320 MB is faster and probably better.

I am really happy with the CPU though, quads are great!

Nah I think I'm gonna stick with the stuff I've picked out. I'm not wanting to spend a fortune for some high-end gaming/graphics rig, this stuff should work out nicely for me.

Cool,

Well you will defiantly want to up your power supply, if you are going dual core and want to run with Vista eventually. I would recommend a minimum 500 watt supply. Even if you aren't going to high end, and I didn't except with my cpu, you are going to need more power if you keep your hard drives in the unit.

ATI does make some really competitive graphics cards under $100 and around that level. As for AMD, their dual core processors are not very comparable to the power of the Intel Core 2 Duo's or Quads. I spent about 3 months researching CPU's for my rig, At one time I was looking at AMD's but even the low end Core 2 Duo's blow the same priced AMD stuff away. You say you are not a gamer but AMD almost exclusively markets to "the gamer" and Intel CPU's have a more broad based capability when it comes to processing power.

I was originally looking at the E6400 which is now like $150 but I settled on a quad because of the benchmarks and the ability of that processor to not be bogged down while I was working on something else.

I don't want to sound like a pessimist or like I didn't read your selection of parts, but I do have to recommend that you seriously consider either a quad core processor or a motherboard capable of supporting one. With Vista, and within perhaps a year or two, quads will be market center and dual cores will be harder pressed to run things when applications are written with a multi-core emphasis on processing.

There is really no more height to be accomplished in the processor speeds, now the performance gains are to be made by spreading the "processing" workload across a series of cores. Even in about 4 years quads will be behind the curve as hex core chips and oct chips make their debuts. The speeds of these chips won't even have to be nearly as fast or hot as the current ones, just mutiples of cores.

Good luck on your purchases thought, I'm sure you will be happy with your new rig when you get it all together.
I've used a hyper threading P4, single core P4, and seen a dual core in action, but never have I worked so hard to load the 4 cores on my quad. Earlier this week, I was running my virus scanner, encoding a bulk folder of MP3's, extracting a 5 GB wrar file, while reading a JU article, and listening to windows media player play an mp3, all simultaneously. There was no skipping in the song, and I was able to load and unload web pages instantly. I really am impressed. Even with the fastest single core cpu on the market there is no way all of that could have been accomplished simultaneously.

So far all I've gotten is the PSU (which I've linked in reply #10 along with the other stuff on my list).

When I was looking at the Intel stuff (for the hell of it) they seemed a lot more expensive than the AMD stuff.

$220 is about $100 more than I was looking to spend on the mobo. When I was looking at those I couldn't even see which ones were quad-core compatible (didn't even see quad-core cpu's either).

My case is new, so all I'm replacing is the guts inside.

It's been a while since my last post.

A couple of comments:

1 - The memory you listed will work fine (I have four of the same sticks in my board and it is rock solid - albeit not the over-clocking type of memory).

2 - I noticed that the MoBo you selected has onboard video. IMO - this may be extra baggage due to the fact that you will need to disable it (or it may self disable) when you install your video card. I normally recommend against onboard video unless you want the backup in case your card goes down (or you run a workstation).

3 - I used to run an ATI video card, but purchased an 'EVGA' 8800 GTS (640 MB) card and really like the performance and the fact that the drivers are just focused on delivering computer video. I have run both ATI and nVidia drivers on Vista and prefer the nVidia even though neither shine at this point. The card I mentioned is more than you want, but the nVidia 8600 GTS series is worth a look.

That being said, here are a couple of links you may be interested in (though a few bucks more):

ASUS M2N4-SLI AM2 NVIDIA nForce 500 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131068

EVGA GeForce 8600GTS 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130286

The motherboard link is more for reference than a suggestion to switch from MSI (both MSI and ASUS are solid).

4 - You are correct in that 'OEM' drives seldom (never?) come with cables, but the MoBo you linked to comes with one SATA cable, so you would have at least that one.

5 - For your purposes, the stock heat-sink/fan that is included with the CPU should be fine.

Have fun with whatever you decide to get.

 

This is the mobo I was looking at (the one Murex suggested) and has no onboard video: link

And yep, the harddrive came with no cables as I expected. But I do plan to hopefully put that in on sunday so I'll figure out what I need to get.

MoBo looks good!

Any decent SATA cable should do for the new drive (assuming it is an SATA).

You should not need to configure the drive, just carefully connect it > boot to the BIOS settings to verify that it is being seen by the MoBo > boot to Windows and load the computer management applet (right-click 'My Computer > Manage > Disk Management') and verify that Windows sees the drive and it's full size.

Format the drive as needed (NTFS recommended).

That should it.

Have fun.