• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Finally upgrading to dual core

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

blackersabbath

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Location
Norwich, NY
Hi everyone, after a ton of research and coming up with a little more money I have made the choice to upgrade to AMD. AMD is a more economical decision and I have experience overclocking these things (mobile barton days). Since I am on an extreme budget, I will be reusing my emachines microATX case and maybe the 250w psu if I absolutely have to.

These are my choices so far:
Motherboard: BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138074

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103774

RAM: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $65.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098


This comes pretty close to my $255 budget ($212.30 shipped) and I would have to get a 20-24pin power adapter. I won't be overclocking until I can get a better heatsink and fan. I am also undecided if I will be reusing my FX5200 (will have to see how these onboard graphics do in comparison). I will be getting a new graphics card after the new ones come out so that I can catch a good deal on them. I really don't want to reuse the emachines PSU and was wondering if anyone knew if this system will run on 250 watts or if there is a cheap ($20-30) PSU that will tie me over for a while.


Open to suggestions, I will be ordering hardware tonight.
 
here are two psu's for 30ish from trusted brands. they probably won't hold up if loaded with a power hungry graphics card. they're decent quality in your price range though and you won't need a 20->24 pin adapter.

FSP 300W

sparkle 350W

the onboard graphics will probably perform about as well as your fx5200. onboard uses your ram though so it might be better to use the fx.
 
The FX5200 is PCI, I wouldn't even think about using it in that setup if it were AGP as there is no slot for it.

As far as the Ballistix go, I'm trying to get the build on the cheap and don't have the extra $100 bucks to spend while waiting for the MIR

Oh, and I forgot to add that with a new PSU: I need something that will fit in an mATX case (worst case scenario I could put it on top I guess)
 
in the ballistix's defense, there's only a $37 difference (including shipping) between them and the gskill before rebate. i figured you didn't want to wait on rebates though so didn't suggest them.
 
I know that the ballistix are kickass and would get them if I could find my other parts with those for 255 shipped which I highly doubt will happen
 
i'm probably going to commit a mortal sin right here....

the mobo, cpu, and ballistix shipped to 13202 are $245.80 before $48 worth of rebates. if you want to take a gamble and reuse the emachines psu :)eek::eek::eek:) for a few months till you get rebate money back, you can buy a better one later. there's even still $9.20 left in your budget for the adapter cable.

totally a gamble that's up to you.
 
Well, if I tried the old PSU... worst case scenario I would have to RMA everything or?

I am thinking of maybe getting some cheaper stuff and throw in a PSU/PCI-E graphics card, I mainly just play HL2 and Farcry. I may try out Doom3. Would I need a dual core and 2gb memory for those games? They are playable on my current system but barely
 
hehe, maybe I will be a PITA and ask for you guys to help me build a dx9 gaming rig (cpu,mobo,ram,psu,case,vga) for 255 bucks shipped lol

i have a dvd burner and a hard drive or two to put in the box
 
Here is a crazy idea. If you are seriously under a budget, why not buy some gently used hardware? You could source a pretty nice rig for your money from ebay. Obviously the trade-off is you have to trust people/vendors on there.. but it is a viable option. It also might get you into a better case, more reliable PSU, and even get you some bundled software. Here is ONE small example, it took me 15 seconds to locate this: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Dell-Inspir...yZ140070QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
I am going to get mobo, cpu and ram from my original post along with the thermaltake 430w psu. They all are good quality and fit into my budget nicely. Let's just hope that the psu fits into my emachines case.
 
Should be no problem. Just keep an eye on the rails, but I'm sure OCing without a video card you won't be stressing the PSU much.
 
Back