What would be a good "upgrade"

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Hey guys,
My brother is tired of his current (and ancient) rig.

MSI 7145 mobo
2 Gb DDR RAM
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2.4 Ghz (I bumped the HT link up to 1000Mhz)
80Gb HDD
Winders XP SP3
My old MSI N550GTX (550 Ti)
Keeping PSU, EVGA 500B

He play minecraft with me, that's all it really does, but it now gets a measly 9 FPS and is unplayable. (We loaded it up with mods just like mine) So the goal for this new rig is to be able to play and record Minecraft.

I was considering building a new one for him, but since he has no free money (just a high school kid LOL) and I don't have the funds for it, I figured I would find him a better rig until I can build on for him.

I'm, open to build suggestions for the future. Cheap as possible, (Maybe around $200 CAD max?) so Intel is not gonna happen.


But for now, here are the 2 rigs I was considering to tide him over until he gets money for a build:

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-comp...hdd/593353818?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-comp...0mt/590739093?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true <-- I asked about what CPU and the other specs, so not sure in this one

And a Dell Dimension 2100.

Thanks guys ^_^

 

[Daleon]

Yea, modern games, even minecraft, will be pretty crippled with that old of a cpu. That HD is also probably pretty slow and beat at this point. When was the last time he did a OS wipe?

I'd recommend finding some good deals in the classifieds here and other forums for parts. I've seen some old cpu\mb combos for really cheap that would be much faster but you'd have to find ram to.

As for the systems you listed... the ones you don't know specs on no telling. The P4 is clean atleast... should be little faster than what he has.

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Yea, modern games, even minecraft, will be pretty crippled with that old of a cpu. That HD is also probably pretty slow and beat at this point. When was the last time he did a OS wipe?

I'd recommend finding some good deals in the classifieds here and other forums for parts. I've seen some old cpu\mb combos for really cheap that would be much faster but you'd have to find ram to.

As for the systems you listed... the ones you don't know specs on no telling. The P4 is clean atleast... should be little faster than what he has.

OS wipe? When I gave it to him 3-4 years ago.
Although, it has been on no more than 20 days over those 4 years.

I was thinking the P4 as well. Might push 20 FPS or so..
The HP rig there, might have a C2D @ 2.66, which would be great and probably last him a while as well, but... I still need to hear back from the seller first.

 

[pcgamer4life]

Newegg had this machine for $150 after rebate/promo code a few days ago, probably would have been perfect given your budget. Celeron isn't exactly top notch, but it would blow what he's got out of the water. Obviously this doesn't do you any good now that the price is back up to $230 after rebates, but I would say that a refurbished prebuilt PC is your best option for that budget. You'll be hard pressed to build another machine for that price range if you plan on purchasing Windows for it.

 

[Theocnoob]

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=7_158&item_id=062393

Something like this would be ok also. Still gonna suck though. You're going from one POS to another POS.

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Newegg had this machine for $150 after rebate/promo code a few days ago, probably would have been perfect given your budget. Celeron isn't exactly top notch, but it would blow what he's got out of the water. Obviously this doesn't do you any good now that the price is back up to $230 after rebates, but I would say that a refurbished prebuilt PC is your best option for that budget. You'll be hard pressed to build another machine for that price range if you plan on purchasing Windows for it.

Thanks, yeah that would have been great, if only the rebates were still on

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=7_158&item_id=062393

Something like this would be ok also. Still gonna suck though. You're going from one POS to another POS.

I'll have a look at CC up here in Barrie on Tuesday, see what they might have...

I have a Dell Optiplex GX 280, a P4 with Hyper Threading. I would use that, but it has this wonky weird Pci "Express" sorta port.

If there is some adapter for it to make a Pcie port out of it It would probably be better than the rig he has....
Otherwise it needs a beefy low profile AGP card LOL!

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

What about a Pentium G620?

Better than the Athlon x64 3200+?

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

I would use that, but it has this wonky weird Pci "Express" sorta port.

Sounds like it's an AMR slot. AMR was an early 2000s fad. (Which was a joke to the PC enthusiast communities.)

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Sounds like it's an AMR slot. AMR was an early 2000s fad. (Which was a joke to the PC enthusiast communities.)

Any adapter for it?
I have the Dell adapter that turns it into 2 Pci slots. (The old ones eh?)

EDIT: Hold on, it's not an AMR slot. Lemme gets pics

Here we go:

It's some large white pci type slot.
If I can turn that into a pcie slot, I can put the 550ti or my 6850 in there.

At the same time, is a GX 280 any better than his current rig?

 

[Daleon]

Looks like a 5v 64 bit PCI slot. Not going to be able to turn that into PCIe. I wouldn't bother trying to find a decent AGP card either. I would consider that machine useless for gaming at this point.

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Looks like a 5v 64 bit PCI slot. Not going to be able to turn that into PCIe. I wouldn't bother trying to find a decent AGP card either. I would consider that machine useless for gaming at this point.

And that's why my parents use it!

So what do you guys think?
C2D era would be the way to go?

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Got word back from the seller on that HP rig on Kijiji.

Comes with RAM hard drive etc.
the CPU is actually a Celeron

Found the specs on it. http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/e...2132884-12133128-12133140-71646223.html?dnr=2

Not a dual core according to ARK pages at Intel.....
So that's out of the question I suppose

EDIT: Sorry for the 2x post

 

[Theocnoob]

Anything pre- core 2 duo/8800 GT is going to be epic fail for you. I can guarantee that much.

I would look into a 1st gen i3/i5 and get a used 7770 on Ebay for $50ish.

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Anything pre- core 2 duo/8800 GT is going to be epic fail for you. I can guarantee that much.

I would look into a 1st gen i3/i5 and get a used 7770 on Ebay for $50ish.

There we go.

My old 6850 should suffice for his gaming needs I think. Ran Minecraft nicely when I was using it.

Hmmm...
With some luck, I can try to revive my old mobo that I killed. Then I'd need a an HDD, RAM and a cheap i3 or something like you suggested.
That'd keeps costs down for him at least.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Any adapter for it?
I have the Dell adapter that turns it into 2 Pci slots. (The old ones eh?)

EDIT: Hold on, it's not an AMR slot. Lemme gets pics

Here we go:

It's some large white pci type slot.
If I can turn that into a pcie slot, I can put the 550ti or my 6850 in there.

At the same time, is a GX 280 any better than his current rig?

View attachment 145033

View attachment 145034

That's PCI-X. Looks like PCI-X came out before PCI-E and it's only found on server motherboards and possibly some workstation motherboards.

That was how to bypass the legacy PCI bandwidth limit with SCSI cards back in the day. Appeared to be common in the pre-PCI-E days.

The Adaptec 29160 SCSI card supports and requires PCI-X to max out the SCSI interface bandwidth. With regular PCI, it's the same as PATA IDE.

 

[Bobnova]

You need something newer than a P4. The AMD xxxx+ ratings are in relation to a P4, that 3200+ is somewhat better than a P4 3.2GHz.

I would aim for a c2d if you can.

EDIT:
An AM1 system might be ideal, cheap ($100 for CPU+mobo. You'll need RAM), and better than what he has.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Just throwing this out there:
The 550Ti will be fine for Minecraft, you're definitely CPU/RAM limited.

I'd put the whole budget into main components and leave the GPU alone.

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

You need something newer than a P4. The AMD xxxx+ ratings are in relation to a P4, that 3200+ is somewhat better than a P4 3.2GHz.

I would aim for a c2d if you can.

EDIT:
An AM1 system might be ideal, cheap ($100 for CPU+mobo. You'll need RAM), and better than what he has.

I was thinking AMD for him yes. Cheap and gets the job done.
Overclocking would be a nice bonus if I can fit that in (Not essential

Just throwing this out there:
The 550Ti will be fine for Minecraft, you're definitely CPU/RAM limited.

I'd put the whole budget into main components and leave the GPU alone.

Very true.
I upgraded him from 1Gb to 2 Gb of RAM, huge FPS boost. From 10 to around 25 to 30. Before we loaded it up with mods and he threw some texture packs on there anyway

I'm going to keep my eyes peeled as well. Haven't checked craigs list or fleabay yet.

 

[Theocnoob]

Have you thought about just buying the kid a PS4? Just throwing it out there.

-Affordable
-Guaranteed wide range and high number of software titles
-Guaranteed compatibility and guaranteed high performance for the next 5-10 years
-Sony Exclusives

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Have you thought about just buying the kid a PS4? Just throwing it out there.

-Affordable
-Guaranteed wide range and high number of software titles
-Guaranteed compatibility and guaranteed high performance for the next 5-10 years
-Sony Exclusives

And have my mother hid it and loose it?
Not a chance.

Lost my Wii, PS2 and for a while there, my 3DS, GBA, DS Lite.....
Still can't find my Wii or PS2
Over 80+ hours and 100% Complete Metroid Prime 1 & 2......

PS4 would be nice yes, but I'm not sure if you can record the screen directly ?