Upgrade Scenerio: What Would You Do With A Limit Of $600??

[HOGWILD_F4I]

I'm really not the enthusiast I used to be when it comes to the latest and greatest hardware. I do like to get the most bang for my buck though. I play a few of the latest games, but I dont run out and buy every new game on the market. I do a little MP3 encoding, and plan on doing a little Divx/Dvd2Avi as well with my rig. I know for a fact I am buying a DVD burner.... most likely an 8X/4X dual format.. most likely the NEC drive. I also acquired a Sound Blaster Live 5.1, so my sound card needs are covered. So based on all that.. I do a little bit of everything with my pc. Now for my current system:

Antec Overture Desktop ATX Case with 380 Watt PS
Intel D865PERLK Mainboard
PIV 2.0A Ghz Processor, 400 Mhz FSB
(2) Two 256MB Corsair XMS PC2700 DDR dimms
Original GeForce 3 (Core: 200 Mhz, Memory: 510 Mhz)
Maxtor 120 GB , UDMA133, 8 MB Cache, EIDE hard drive
Teach 24X/10X/40X CD-RW drive
Onboard SoundMax Audio
Some cheap Cyber Acoustic 2.1 speakers
Onboard Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Lan

Based on this system, if you were in my shoes, and had $600 to buy upgrades, what would you do?

I was thinking to get the fastest 533 Mhz FSB processor (3.06 Ghz), and finding myself a 9800SE (hopefully with L- Shaped memory layout). Newegg has two different Saphire 9800SE's. If the photos are any indication of what you will get, then one of the models does have the L- shaped layout of the memory.

I know if I was to buy an 800 Mhz FSB processor, I'd have to get some PC3200, which could possibly push my limit. I could run an 800 Mhz FSB processor with my current memory, but Intel states the board will run the memory a little slower, for latency issues.

Here is what I was deciding on. Please leave comments on these upgrades! Thanks

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800SE Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "ATLANTIS RADEON 9800SE" -OEM
$147.00

Intel Pentium 4/ 3.06 GHz 533MHz FSB, 512K Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail
$224.00

Pioneer Black 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DVR-107, OEM
$150.00

Creative Inspire 2.1 2500 Speaker (Black) Retail
$47.00

Total: $ 568.00

(Update)
They dropped the price on the Pioneer 8X drive, so I'm getting that one

 

[Rich25]

don't buy the SE especially not the 9800SE probably be better off going with a 9600 pro but if you can swing the 215 or so it is for the 9800 pro go for it. Also since you just got the 5.1 card, go out and grab some 5.1 speakers maybe the logitech Z640. You have a quality HDD, you might just go for the PIV 2.8 and OC it a bit. If you still have stock cooling you can probably upgrade that some. Other then that you seem to have a pretty good setup.

Rich

 

[ashenfang]

man intel stuff is so expensive, at any rate, I would upgrade graphics to 9800 pro, best bang for the buck in my opinion.

 

[Robbie]

A new video card, DVD burner and a better Power supply for starters.
$.02
Rob

 

[HOGWILD_F4I]

I could get a 2.8 or so, and overclock it, but I prefer stability, and got my hands on an Intel branded board.. so I only have the option of the FSB + 4% for "burn in" as Intel calls it.

How does the 9700 Pro compare to the 9800 Pro?
Mwave still has the 9700 Pro in stock; seems to perform very well, for a card under $200.


What is wrong with the Antec True Power 380 power supply that came with this case?

 

[JigPu]

I play a few of the latest games, but I dont run out and buy every new game on the market. I do a little MP3 encoding, and plan on doing a little Divx/Dvd2Avi as well with my rig. I know for a fact I am buying a DVD burner.... most likely an 8X/4X dual format.. most likely the NEC drive. I also acquired a Sound Blaster Live 5.1, so my sound card needs are covered. So based on all that.. I do a little bit of everything with my pc. Now for my current system:

1) A 9600 or 9500 model ATI card should serve you well for their price. Don't buy SE if you can (I don't follow nVidia, so I don't know what would be good from them). If you really want more horsepower, the 9800 is still a good choice.

2) CPU speed will help out with video encoding times. However, if you don't think you're going to encode much, don't bother upgrading the CPU much. If you're going to encode a lot, upgrade it more. The 2.0 is probably enough if you don't encode that often, 3.06 if you encode a LOT.

3) You know you're getting a DVD burner

4) Sound should be covered as you said.

5) Check out also getting a new powersupply, cuz you may end up pushing your current one to the limit. If you have any money left over, you might be able to pick up another hard drive as well.

JigPu

 

[Toaster Oven]

With that much money, there is positively no way in hell I'd spend a single cent of it on an outdated processor like the one you're planning on. Since you want an all around system and gaming seems somewhat important to you, here's what I'd do:

Athlon 64 3000+ Retail - 227
Shuttle AN50R Nforce 3 Mobo - 136
Sapphire Radeon 9600XT - 155
Lite-on LDW-451S Dudal Format DVD burner - 93

Total - $611 shipped (All Newegg prices)

This will beat the pants off the system you proposed. Athlon 64 currently spanks the fastest Northwood and Prescott P4s in gaming without even overclocking. The 9600XT is a very good card considering you're looking at a 9800SE and it doesn't require an external power connector, making life easier on your PSU. An A64 and 9600XT will destroy that 3.06GHz 533FSB P4, even if you overclocked the P4 on phase change and gave it a 9800XT to boot. The Shuttle AN50R is a good mobo and will allow you to overclock which is just icing on the cake. The Lite-On LDW-451S is mechanically identical to the LDW-851S and can be firmware modded to an 851S, giving 8X burning speeds. More importantly, the drive supports booktype bitsetting so the DVDs you burn will appear as DVD-ROMs and will be playable in just about any standalone player. The drive also allows firmware mod to make it region free. I know all this since I have the LDW-451S and have done all of the above. Makes it a very sweet deal.

There's nothing worth keeping from your old setup except the case, power supply, HD, and maybe the RAM. You can keep the RAM and use dividers. Or I recommend you sell it off and spend the money to buy a decent set of 2 x 256 memory that will do PC3200 speeds.

That should set you up for everything you need right now as well as the 64 bit transition in the future.