upgrade help????

[xanderjobizzle]

hears the deal i have an AMD athelon 2200+ with 512 ddr ram a western digital 80 gig hd a GFFX 5200 and a 350watt power suply (im not shure about the mobo but if u want to know ill get it later) i have rughly $400 to spend and i want to buy an new full tower case, some better cooling and a system upgrade does anyone have any sugestions on what to get and where to get it from?



thanks alot
Xander

 

[mage_x]

i suggest a new video card maybe 9600 pro or 9800 non pro, and depending on the motherboard a new cpu, either xp1700 or barton 2500

 

[Steve978]

your CPU seems plenty fast to me I think you would see a bigger difference in performance with a video card upgrade like mage stated, and the fact that you dont know what your motherboard is probably means that would also be a good thing to upgrade. The case is a matter of taste so cant really help there, directron.com and newegg.com have some good cases. If you mean cooling for your case make sure you get a case with a good amount of fan mounts, if you mean CPU cooling and want to stick with air go with a thermalright, www.heatsinkfactory.com or www.svc.com

 

[johnny5c]

I agree with what Steve978 said. If I had your current rig I would get a NF7-S ($105) and a 9600pro ($170). That leaves around $125 for a good HSF and a case. In the future you could add a better PSU, faster ram, and a barton CPU to make one overclocked speed freak, but what you have now should be fine for most things.

 

[Chris]

To be honest though theres not much point shelling out for a NF7-S if he is not planning on overclockig the Chip. The processor you have is of a respectable speed, good enough to most things, Personally the only thing I would change is the Graphics Card and Possibly a little extra RAM, and a case if you feel like it. Extra cooling is not needed unless you plan on overclocking.

But if you are a heavy gamer who likes his graphics to run silky smooth then there may be a point in the NF7-S and a new chip and RAM, do you game a lot? Do you plan on overclocking?

-Chris

 

[attack]

I'm with chris on this one, no need to upgrade the mobo. If you don't mind buying stuff used, or from people on forums, you can get really good deals at anandtech.com FS/FT forums.
A 9600pro is around 130-140 bucks
otherwise newegg, and excaliberpc.com have em for around 150-160.

Then buy a SLK800A or SLK900A....www.bestbyte.net has the 900A for 34 bucks.
*WARNING* those heatsinks i mentioned above are big and may not fit on you mobo, see if you have clearance around the socket for them!

Then case is all up to you..steve listed some good places to look

But put the rest of the cash away for when you really need to upgrade honestly. a 2200+ is a fast CPU, your not gonna notice a huge gain by going to faster RAM (assuming your at DDR right now). Only thing I would do is just get a video card and new case if yours isn't what you want.

 

[xanderjobizzle]

im not planing on overcolcking my system but i plan on gaming alot! the reason that i need a better cooling system in b/c im only running with 2 fans and the side pannel off! so thats y i need the cooling.

Xander
Ps thanks for the sigestions about what to get

 

[BalliN]

In that case, seems like you should only need new vc and maybe ram (depending on what kind you have now) OH and a shinny new case

Peace,

BalliN

 

[xanderjobizzle]

This is his friend, Zerileous. He has a decent chaintech NF2 mobo and the proc is fine. The case is from ibuypower (where he got the system) and, well, its a POS. There is like a 1 inch by 3 inch slot on the bottom of the front bezel to allow for air intake, then 2 side fans which are just aobut the only intake (which have broken) and the PSU fan as a rear exhaust. Even when he first got it it ran hot so we are thinking a new case would be good. I am going to reccomend that he save some money and not get more ram unless he really gets into overclocking at a later time.
Basically im going to have him get a new GFX card and a new case(along with some fanz) and a new HSF because he wants to experiment with overclocking and the one it has sux anyhow.

 

[attack]

I agree, I think that would be the best course of action.

 

[Steve978]

definately if he already has a nf2 motherboard theres really no point in upgrading that, check out the cyber deal section to find a good deal on a video card.