PC Upgrade

[Nerwin]

Alright, Well its time to get out of the Single Core cpu world.

I don't want to spend much, maybe 300 bucks. Just want to upgrade my CPU, Ram and Mobo.

I prefer Dual core, and Possible 4gb of ram.

This is just to get me by until I can afford to build a whole new system.

I'm not going to do this right off, But I am thinking about to just upgrade that stuff just to get me by for a while and then when I get a good job I can build a whole new system. And these parts will be used for a File Server.

What do you think? Should I just wait till I get a good job and then build a new system?

Now, my other question. I do have a AMD Dual Core 2.2ghz CPU, is that faster than a P4 3.2ghz? if so, maybe I could just get a new mobo and use that cpu and my current ram? Which is PC3200.

And the Mobo must have PCIE.

What do you think I should do?

[Zxian]

Do you have the specs on the rest of your system?

[Nerwin]

Nothing Special:

Intel P4 3.2ghz HT

2gb of DDR PC3200

250gig Sata-150

Nvida 7600GT Ko

Windows Vista.

What else is there to know?

[CoffeeFiend]

AMD Dual Core 2.2ghz CPU, is that faster than a P4 3.2ghz?

2.2GHz? Then that would either be a Athlon64 X2 4200+ (most likely) or 4400+.

It is somewhat faster overall, but not so much in single threaded performance. A passmark bench says the 4200+ is 3% faster, but overall it's more like 10% faster. The main benefits here are that it's dual core, the x64 support and the hypertransport bus -- not so much the speed gains as there isn't a very big one.

Would I personally spend $100 on a motherboard to use something 10% faster (especially when you got old pre-DDR2 RAM and such) Definitely not. That's if it's even possible (almost all X2's are AM2, and all AM2 boards I've seen used DDR2 -- there may be exceptions though)

You'd get a LOT more bang for your buck with a complete update.

-there's lots of cheap core 2 duos -- my E2160 was like $75 a year ago, and once OC'ed to 3.4 (on stock cooler no less) it benches 3x faster than my old P4 3GHz (a "real" upgrade -- 300%, not 10%)

-DDR2 is dirt cheap (like $30 for 2GB of PC6400 CL4)

-There's tons of decent boards for cheap. It doesn't have to be a cutting-edge P45-based board. You can still get a P35-DS3L or such for like $75 (takes modern DDR2 RAM, lots of SATA & USB ports, high def audio, solid caps, etc)

You could get something like a E2180, 2GB of DDR2, and a decent motherboard for like $200 total and that can still be upgraded later (throw in 8GB of RAM in a year or 2 for under $100 likely, and quad cores will keep getting cheaper). If you got $ to spare, then 4GB is nicer for sure, and/or a little better CPU (although it's still a LOT better than an old P4).

Edited October 27, 2008 by crahak

[Zxian]

I think Crahak's got the right idea. Find a basic Gigabyte P35 based motherboard, pair that with an E2160, and 2GB of DDR2-800. You'll stay within budget and get a major performance boost.

[cluberti]

Without really trying I can get an Asus P5Q SE/R mobo, E2200 Allendale (2.2GHz) dual-core, 4GB of OCZ DDR2 1066 (5-5-5-18), and a HIS Radeon 4650 512MB DDR3 video card for $320 USD shipped.

I'm sure if you look closely, you can get a better video card than that 7200 in the bundle as well, and still come in around or under $300, assuming your PSU can handle a beefier system . Good luck, what you want shouldn't be too hard.

[Nerwin]

Thanks guys, This has giving me some ideas 300 bucks wouldent be bad to spend to a decent system that will turn into a File Server After I get my job (soon) I can blow like a $1000 dollars on a new system.

I might just end up waiting and build a new system. not 100 percent sure yet.

Good things will come with time

But yes, You guys have giving me some good ideas to what I might do. I do wanna build a new server. Mines just too slow. Takes for ever sometimes.

I also plan on upgrading to all Gigabit network cards as well.

[Zxian]

Using a basic Gigabyte or ASUS motherboard as your base will give you plenty of upgrade paths later. Look at this post by crahak. If my memory serves me well, he's running a total of twelve (yes, 12) 1TB drives. With a solid foundation, you'll easily be able to upgrade to storage like that once the new job arrives.

[puntoMX]

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L / 87USD (the GA-EP45-UD3 still isn´t in the shops )

Transcend 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 / 48USD for 2 of them

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor / 84USD

MSI R4670-2D512 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 / 80 USD

Total of just under 300 .