Outdated computer, think I should just get a new one?

[Sumtime19]

I'm thinking whether or to try and get new parts for my crappy outdated pc or if its just better to just get a new one.. heres my pc's specs according to cpu-z.

(Graphic card is 8800gt, not listed in there)

Processor(s)
Number of processors 1
Number of cores 2 per processor
Number of threads 2 per processor
Name Intel Pentium D 820
Code Name SmithField
Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz
Package Socket 775 LGA
Family/Model/Stepping F.4.4
Extended Family/Model F.4
Core Stepping A0
Technology 90 nm
Core Speed 2800.8 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 14.0 x 200.1 MHz
Rated Bus speed 800.2 MHz
Stock frequency 2800 MHz
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, EM64T
L1 Data cache (per processor) 2 x 16 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
Trace cache (per processor) 2 x 12 Kuops, 8-way set associative
L2 cache (per processor) 2 x 1024 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size


Chipset & Memory
Northbridge Intel i945G/GZ rev. A2
Southbridge Intel 82801GB (ICH7/R) rev. A1
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 3072 MBytes
Memory Frequency 200.1 MHz (1:1)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 4.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRCD) 4 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 4 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 9 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 13 clocks


System
System Manufacturer HP Pavilion 061
System Name PX721AA-ABA M7160N
System S/N MXK5290YMH NA570
Mainboard Vendor ASUSTek Computer INC.
Mainboard Model LIMESTONE
BIOS Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS Version 3.03
BIOS Date 05/19/2005


Memory SPD
Module 1 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Corsair
Module 2 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Corsair
Module 3 DDR2, PC2-3200 (200 MHz), 512 MBytes, Hyundai Electronics
Module 4 DDR2, PC2-3200 (200 MHz), 512 MBytes, Hyundai Electronics


Software
Windows Version Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX Version 9.0c


"tl;dr" I know I know but for those of you who are willing to help please tell me what I'd get for this rig or if it's not even worth it. My budget's around a thousand dollars.

 

[LmpPns]

Way outdated. Just look around the other existing threads for a build idea.

Most people go with this as a backbone:
Intel C2D E8400
4GB PC2-800/1000/1066
GeForce GTX 260 (192)/Radeon HD4850/4870 512MB
Decent 500-650W PSU.

 

[Sumtime19]

Way outdated. Just look around the other existing threads for a build idea.

Most people go with this as a backbone:
Intel C2D E8400
4GB PC2-800/1000/1066
GeForce GTX 260 (192)/Radeon HD4850/4870 512MB
Decent 500-650W PSU.

Alright I figured thanks. I know it's more smart to build a pc from scratch but aside from the main things like the mobo processor memory card ect ect I feel like I'm going to miss something in the process and everything will go wrong because of it..

Which part of the forums do people post a lot of their rigs?

 

[LmpPns]

This part.

By the way, you might want to hold on to the 8800 GT for a while longer. It suits & will suit most games just fine.

 

[Evilsizer]

what to go with depends on the amount you have to spend and what you do. there is no one size fits all.

 

[White_Pawn]

You could grab just a E8400 and a P5Q combo for now. Then you can use your 2 x 1 gig of corsair pc6400 (don't use the hyundai ram.) and your 8800GT. That would be the best price/performance upgrade. Getting more ram always helps though. Depends on the budget.

 

[Theocnoob]

You could grab just a E8400 and a P5Q combo for now. Then you can use your 2 x 1 gig of corsair pc6400 (don't use the hyundai ram.) and your 8800GT. That would be the best price/performance upgrade. Getting more ram always helps though. Depends on the budget.

The Price of RAM really isn't very high these days. You could buy another 2 identical sticks of PC 6400 and probably safely overclock your ram to near 1000Mhz if you loosened the timings slightly. (Assuming its the good corsair stuff with heat spreaders.)

IMO, given how cheap RAM is, it's better to just grab a few GB of PC-8500. Not a massive difference in performance or price either way you go if you set it all up properly.

CPU wise I agree the E8400 is a wicked CPU. Runs rediculously cool and is viciously fast and overclocks extremely high with no problems.

You could grab the CPU for about $175-200USD, a basic P5Q board for about $100 (Assuming you wanted to go with the P-45 chipset. Learn your chipsets and what the advantages/disadvantages are, then pick your chipset, manufacturer, layout/quality level that you want), and 4GB of really good 1066Mhz ram for $50-100 depending on the brand etc.

The 8800GT is still a quite respectable card and you can still get a very decent level of performance out of it- especially if you clocked the E8400 to around 4Ghz and had a really well setup system. Not to mention running on PCIEX16v2.0 makes a big difference over version 1. Double bandwidth.

Don't forget the case--

I'm guessing that HP pavilion case/mobo is a bastardized design (means its nonstandard) and you'd be best off getting yourself a nice new case with your system.

No need to necessarily replace your drives. If you are happy with your current optical drive and hard drive and they both work just fine and are reasonably fast (HD's are still average 7200RPM, 16-32MB Cache. Odds are with a slightly older drive you're running maybe 8MB but that's not a huge issue.

On the other hand, hard drives don't cost very much these days anyways so its up to you. Just remember they're not made as high quality as they used to be and hard drive failure rates have gone up. Optical drives on the other hand are still quite reliable.

Oh and another thing- consider going with an aftermarket cooler if you plan to overclock the CPU, which you really should because the 45nm CPU's produce so little heat that they really take the overclock well. the coolers they come with are very pathetic. They do the job fine since there's not much to do but when you start to push the chip hard and overclock you'll want more.

 

[Sumtime19]

The Price of RAM really isn't very high these days. You could buy another 2 identical sticks of PC 6400 and probably safely overclock your ram to near 1000Mhz if you loosened the timings slightly. (Assuming its the good corsair stuff with heat spreaders.)

IMO, given how cheap RAM is, it's better to just grab a few GB of PC-8500. Not a massive difference in performance or price either way you go if you set it all up properly.

CPU wise I agree the E8400 is a wicked CPU. Runs rediculously cool and is viciously fast and overclocks extremely high with no problems.

You could grab the CPU for about $175-200USD, a basic P5Q board for about $100 (Assuming you wanted to go with the P-45 chipset. Learn your chipsets and what the advantages/disadvantages are, then pick your chipset, manufacturer, layout/quality level that you want), and 4GB of really good 1066Mhz ram for $50-100 depending on the brand etc.

The 8800GT is still a quite respectable card and you can still get a very decent level of performance out of it- especially if you clocked the E8400 to around 4Ghz and had a really well setup system. Not to mention running on PCIEX16v2.0 makes a big difference over version 1. Double bandwidth.

Don't forget the case--

I'm guessing that HP pavilion case/mobo is a bastardized design (means its nonstandard) and you'd be best off getting yourself a nice new case with your system.

No need to necessarily replace your drives. If you are happy with your current optical drive and hard drive and they both work just fine and are reasonably fast (HD's are still average 7200RPM, 16-32MB Cache. Odds are with a slightly older drive you're running maybe 8MB but that's not a huge issue.

On the other hand, hard drives don't cost very much these days anyways so its up to you. Just remember they're not made as high quality as they used to be and hard drive failure rates have gone up. Optical drives on the other hand are still quite reliable.

Oh and another thing- consider going with an aftermarket cooler if you plan to overclock the CPU, which you really should because the 45nm CPU's produce so little heat that they really take the overclock well. the coolers they come with are very pathetic. They do the job fine since there's not much to do but when you start to push the chip hard and overclock you'll want more.

Okay I'm getting the Wolfdale E8400.. on the motherboard I'm debating between the normal, pro, and delux versions of the P5Q.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

^ Thinking about that case.. do I need a cooler even though that has a good amount of fans still if I plan to OC?

The ram to me is really confusing.. I searched up PC 8500 on newegg and it only mac ram came up.

As for the HD, is there a way I can have two HD's? I mean I know it's possible but under my circumstances?

My budget is $1,000, maybe a hundred or two more if need be, but this money is also going towards a 22 inch monitor.

Thanks so much for the feedback.


EDIT: Also my pc as it is now gets hot.. I don't know if it has to do with whats inside the case or where it's placed... its in an enclosed draw like thing. I can take a photo and upload it to photobucket if someone requests.

 

[dlavrenz]

if you plan to OC the cpu then you need an aftermarket cooler, the fans in the case keep the case cooler but not the cpu directly

look up PC2-6400 ram, maybe pickup a 2x1gb kit to replace your 512s

If you don't want to go through raid and all that hassle, you can easily attach another HD and use it for storage. It will show up as another drive letter in Windows (such as E: in addition to your C

 

[Sumtime19]

Here what I got so far... tell me what you think (suggestions and criticism please)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

^Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131326

^ASUS P5Q Premium LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

^Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
~This might go away, it's not needed but I was just struck by how cheap memory has gotten in the past years.~

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590

^CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
~Replacing stupid hyundai ram.~

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

^COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
~I kind of wanted a see-through case but this one is cheap and seems like the best bet.~

Total - $602.95 - (Keep in mind that I already have that 512 mb 8800gt video card)


I'm missing a power supply and some sort of cooling thing. Help would be appreciated with these two things.


So what do you guys think of this so far? Thanks again.

 

[BackBreaker]

how is this computer outdated when he has 2 cores running at 2.8 mghs?

 

[Evilsizer]

how is this computer outdated when he has 2 cores running at 2.8 mhz?

cause the name of the cpu he gave,Intel Pentium D 820. netburst arch is much more inefficient then core 2. a core 2 running at 2.4ghz equals a netburst cpu at roughly 4-4.2ghz clock speed.

 

[Trap05]

I would get a 2x4GB kit of 1066 and a 640GB WD hard drive. You could drop down to the P5Q Pro to save some money.

 

[Sumtime19]

I would get a 2x4GB kit of 1066 and a 640GB WD hard drive. You could drop down to the P5Q Pro to save some money.

I have xp 32 bit (even though I kind of want 64 bit vista <_<)..

I think I will probably go with Pro, how much better could a 16 phase be for an extra ~$100?

 

[Sumtime19]

Just a question, why not the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 when it's only like 25$ more expensive?

 

[Trap05]

Your OS won't matter really if/when you do get x64 the ram will already be there and since its so cheap its a good time to buy it.

If you want a Quad I'd get a 45nm one with the savings from the motherboard perhaps a Q9550

 

[Sumtime19]

Your OS won't matter really if/when you do get x64 the ram will already be there and since its so cheap its a good time to buy it.

If you want a Quad I'd get a 45nm one with the savings from the motherboard perhaps a Q9550

I'm not that computer tech, it was just really a question out of curiosity.