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Looking for Low Cost Upgrade

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M

Mr. Fri

Member
​
Joined
Jul 5, 2003
Location
Deep in the Heart of Texas
My system is now 7 years old and runs very slow (especially with Skyrim and an upgrade to Win7).

I just got laid off yesterday (after 12 years at my company) so now I have time to upgrade but not a lot of extra money. I'd like to upgrade what I have to something affordable (i.e. "very low cost") by either getting (1) a better processor, or (2) a used MB and processor. Since my system is so old, upgrading to something that was hot stuff 3-4 years ago will be a great improvement over what I have now. Then, when I get a new job, I can do a proper upgrade.

So, I'm looking for suggestions. Anyone have old hardware they need to get rid of?

I have a Biostar TForce 550 MB with an AM2/HT2G socket. My processor is an AMD Athlon XP3600 (64x2). I have 4MB of DDR2 800.

Thanks
 
Do you have access to the classifieds here?

Also, PM a moderator for your decennial badge :)
 
I could look at the classifieds but my specs are so old that I don't know what's compatible. I thought I'd ask for some advice first and then look at what's for sale. Most likely someone who's selling will also but looking here.
 
I wouldn't waste time trying to find something compatible with your current motherboard.
The margin of gain compared to a new platform would be negligible.

I would look for something in the LGA 1155/1156 range.
Do you have a rough budget that we could work in?
 
If you get something within the last few years, you'll need DDR3. Though DDR2 still existed in some what newer AMD boards if not mistaken (help me on this one guys). At least then you might be able to re-use your memory. I say might because its slower memory and would depend on the Mobo/Processor for multipliers.

Video card upgrade would be ideal, question is what resolution are you running. And while not the cheapest thing in the world 100-150 Card can play a considerable amount of games at 1080p but might not have all the futures turned on.

If you can give a top dollar figure you might be shooting for, might be easier to gauge what type of equipment we might suggest.
 
I'd like to keep it under $100. Not sure I can get much improvements for that but it will be hard to convince my wife to spend more. :) Besides, I can go for a bigger upgrade later.
 
Oops, forgot to update my signature. I no longer have the EVGA 7600GT 256. I put in a
GeForce 8400GS 256 MB a few years ago. Not much of an upgrade, I just needed something to replace the dead video card.

Any suggestions on a new video card? Again, it's been so long since I built the rig that I don't know what would fit that MoBo or be an improvement.
 
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD-Athlon 64 X2 3600+ - ADO3600IAA5DD (ADO3600DDBOX).html
Go down to:
CPUs, related to AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (Socket AM2, rev. G1, 1MB, DD)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 family, Socket AM2

One of those 13 or so processors that are faster than your 3600+ would do more work and might be better for your upgrade.

BECAUSE BioNotAStar does not have a working 'supported' cpu page on that older mobo, I would suggest IF you look for one of those older cpus that you look for one of those shown as 65W aKa 65 watt so that you are not putting a more power hungry cpu in that older mobo.

Athlon 64 X2 5400+ (65W, BE) >> Nice if you could find one as it has unlocked multiplier, but any of the 65W cpus would be nearly 1,000Mhz faster than your current processor.

PCIe video card will fit that mobo. I would not get ridiculous though. Something rated as half again as powerful as what you have. You can g00gle benches of what you have against the next later series of video cards.
RGone...ster.
 
Mr. Fri,

What size case do you have? Mini tower, mid tower, full tower? What is the make, model and wattage of your PSU? A more potent video card may require a PSU upgrade as good video cards really suck the juice.
 
Thanks RGone for the useful info. The table of AM2 processors was helpful. Looks like I just need to stay with one that's 65W like my current 3600+. My TForce 550 is v 1.3 so I should be able to run a 5200+.

I've looked around and it seems that I can pickup a used 5200+ for less than $25. A quick ebay search on "AMD ATHLON 64 X2 5200+" gives about 80 hits. But, I'm not too sure if this is something I want to get off of ebay. Anyone have words of wisdom for using ebay for a used processor?

As for the video card, does someone have a good table/resource for showing the spectrum of video cards so I can find mine and what I should consider going to? I assume I can run anything that's a PCIe x16 as long as my PSU can handle it.

I have a full tower and a 500W PSU. (XCLIO Goodpower)
Specs can be found here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817189005R
 
I did a quick look at what was at NewEgg and would come in at your specified price point with a little money left over for the incidentals. It is the card shown on the right side of this link that was working for me. Of course you can spend a ton on a video card and chances are the cpu will hinder full video output. TBD as in too be determined.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=531&card2=625
RGone...ster.
 
Now it takes nothing for me to know that many...

...many video cards will way outperform that one you have currently. Anything with more VRAM and a faster core clock will just about win everytime. That I don't hve to do a bunch of searching about.

I told NewEgg to show ALL video cards $50.00 to $75.00 so that your (used) cpu and video card would be at or maybe below the $100.00 you mentioned. Filtered Highest price to Lowest price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICED&PageSize=20

$75.00 to $100.00 Any and All cards they had for sale in that price range and told them to filter Highest price to Lowest price. Filter high to low shows the $100.00 cards first on down to $75.00.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Id=1&name=$75 - $100&Order=PRICED&Pagesize=20

There are a number of $100.00 cards on down that page that have 2GB of Video ram and that surely will beat the everloving pee out of that 256MB card currently in your rig.

Freeken copying links just about drove me nuts. I have double-checked them 3 times now to each different location and filter and they "were" working. Who knows now?
RGone...ster.
 
Mr. Fri said:
Thanks RGone for the useful info. The table of AM2 processors was helpful. Looks like I just need to stay with one that's 65W like my current 3600+. My TForce 550 is v 1.3 so I should be able to run a 5200+.

I've looked around and it seems that I can pickup a used 5200+ for less than $25. A quick ebay search on "AMD ATHLON 64 X2 5200+" gives about 80 hits. But, I'm not too sure if this is something I want to get off of ebay. Anyone have words of wisdom for using ebay for a used processor?


I have a full tower and a 500W PSU. (XCLIO Goodpower)
Specs can be found here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817189005R
Click to expand...

eBay is great for those processors. Last week alone I bought a 7750 BE, a 64 X2 5000+, Phenom X3 8650, Opteron 1356 X4 and several Athon II's. All pretty cheap.
 
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