Upgrade options on a budget

[gravitywell]

Hey everyone...my antiquated system hasn't been gaming the way I'd like it to...

Well, I have a budget of around $600 to upgrade (I know...not much)

I was thinking of going A64, but I've been out of the loop for a while.

Also, with my budget restraint, I dont think PCI-E is going to be an option...as I couldn't afford a good card, processor, mobo, and gpu... /sigh

Any suggestions?

 

[Bios24]

MB: $125 (DFI Lanparty Ultra-D)
CPU: $200 (Opteron 144/146)
Video:$150 (6600GT)
Ram: $75 (1gb, for now)
Misc: $50 (shipping, parts, tools)
Total: $600

I wouldn't skimp on the motherboard, it's the heart of the rig. CPU's and cards you can upgrade later, but motherboard's are different. I would plan to buy a PCI-e video card. None of the 'good' motherboard have AGP anymore, it's all PCI-e now. Soon you'll only be able to buy PCI-e cards anyway, so you may as well future-proof. Everything else in your rig you can re-use. Audigy's are still good, and I assume your HD is big enough.

 

[gravitywell]

Does the DFI Lanparty support IDE drives? Or would I also need to upgrade that to SATA? Also, why did you choose the Opteron over the X2's or the A64s? Better performance? Or just cheaper?

Oh, and my HD is 160gb Seagate 7200rpm


Searching around I found This 6600 at Monarch. What is "Retail Lite?" And why is the extreme edition so cheap?

 

[Mr. Roboto]

hmm, if you can afford the gt version, deffinatley get that. Clocks are much higher, and you get ddr3.

 

[AFG34]

if ur not overclokcing dont get that cpu

 

[gravitywell]

So which processor should I get if I'm overclocking?

I'll also need a PSU...I have a generic 400watt atm. Or will that suffice?

And can I still use IDE drives on the DFI board?