I was hoping for some input regarding the upgrade I'm considering
doing to my setup. Here's what I got now
3200+ Athlon XP (Barton core) on socket A
2g of DDR400 "pc3200" ram (two 1 gig sticks)
160g 7200 Ultra DMS harddrive
XFX 6600 gt agp graphics card
Way-to-small 250w power supply
I'm interested in upgrading to AMD 64 x2 (on Manchester so
3800/4200/4600) processor on a 939 socket mother board so I can keep my
pc3200 ram.
The unknown is if I should get an AGP slot and keep my 6600GT or
shell out for a PCI express x 16 slot. I am not a hardcore gamer but do
enjoy HL2, Age 3, Warhammer Dawn of War, jonesing over SPRE. I'm also
just as likely to play my Nintendo DS or PS2. So I don't need anything
cutting edge but I'm hoping this MB/CPU combo will work for the next
18-24 months. So here's my questions
1 My budget for a new graphics card is around $100 maybe $150. Can I
get a decent PCI Express? should I go cheaper as a tide me over
until something better is reduced in a few months? will moving my
6600GT over (ie commiting to an AGP MB) be better?
1a Another option would be to get a MB w/ integrated graphix and wait
a few months for a great PCI express card to be available at $150.00.
has my 6600gt spoiled me to even think going that route
2 I'd rather use same $150.00 towards a larger harddrive or more ram.
Which reminds me is there a vital stat when picking a MB and it's
compatability w/ PC3200? I have Corzair 1g stick paxk of two.
3 RE a harddrive is SATA the way to go for a 300gb or bigger drive ?
4 What will be a large-enough dependable power unit? I do keep my cpu
in my bedroom (on up to 72 hours at a time) so I want something quiet
as well. It's for this reason I'm looking at the AMD Manchester core
b/c it stays cooler and requires less watts than Toledo.
Thanks for you help!
Shawn

sbprouty@hotmail.com wrote:
I was hoping for some input regarding the upgrade I'm considering
doing to my setup. Here's what I got now

3200+ Athlon XP (Barton core) on socket A
2g of DDR400 "pc3200" ram (two 1 gig sticks)
160g 7200 Ultra DMS harddrive
XFX 6600 gt agp graphics card
Way-to-small 250w power supply

I'm interested in upgrading to AMD 64 x2 (on Manchester so
3800/4200/4600) processor on a 939 socket mother board so I can keep my
pc3200 ram.

The unknown is if I should get an AGP slot and keep my 6600GT or
shell out for a PCI express x 16 slot.

Get this motherboard so that you can use your existing AGP card and
still use PCI-E later.

ASRock 939DUAL-VSTA ATX S939 ULI M1695 DDR AGP PCI-E16 3PCI SATA RAID
Sound LAN Motherboard

For Power Supply I would get this 500w model or even the 600w model. I
use the 600w one. Very quiet and reliable.

%20Electronics
Seasonic S12-500HT 500W ATX12V 20/24 Pin V2.0 Active PFC Power Supply
Retail Box

Great MB recomendation. PSU are tough to judge. Until you here it's
fan it's hard to know

Another thought I had was to go PC-e and get a Nvidia 7600gt in it
and sell my 6600gt while it still has some value.

Circuit City has the EVGA 7600 GT K for $130 after rebates. That's a
card that could bridge the gap for a long time until DirectX 10 cards
are finally out and supported Would that be a big improvement?

sbprouty@hotmail.com wrote:
Great MB recomendation. PSU are tough to judge. Until you here it's
fan it's hard to know

Another thought I had was to go PC-e and get a Nvidia 7600gt in it
and sell my 6600gt while it still has some value.

Circuit City has the EVGA 7600 GT K for $130 after rebates. That's a
card that could bridge the gap for a long time until DirectX 10 cards
are finally out and supported Would that be a big improvement?

Not sure about that vid card, better look up some reviews. I expect it
would be an improvement though. I use 7900GT K which would be a big
improvement for you.

Not sure about that vid card, better look up some reviews. I expect it
would be an improvement though. I use 7900GT K which would be a big
improvement for you.

That's a nice card. I consider myself a mid range gamer. I've been
running many apps at once of late which is why I wanted Dual
processors. I know it won't help with gaming (for now) other than being
able to switch in and out of one very fast.

The 7600gt according to Wikkepedia and newegg reviews will be a good
improvement . Many reviewers noted they went from 6600gt to this. A
much better choice than 7600gs on AGP due to it's guts are built on a
6600gt.

Your 7600GT is in reach for me (sorta) What do you think of this
concept

I'm thinking of doing your MB suggestion. You've helped me with
my thinking. The only reason I'd do that MB would be to keep my 6600
GT and make the leap to a Directx10 midrange card sometime next year
(or a proper 7800GT when price is right)

sbprouty@hotmail.com wrote:

I was hoping for some input regarding the upgrade I'm considering
>doing to my setup. Here's what I got now
>
>3200+ Athlon XP (Barton core) on socket A
>2g of DDR400 "pc3200" ram (two 1 gig sticks)
>160g 7200 Ultra DMS harddrive
>XFX 6600 gt agp graphics card
>Way-to-small 250w power supply
>
I'm interested in upgrading to AMD 64 x2 (on Manchester so
>3800/4200/4600) processor on a 939 socket mother board so I can keep my
>pc3200 ram.
>
The unknown is if I should get an AGP slot and keep my 6600GT or
>shell out for a PCI express x 16 slot. I am not a hardcore gamer but do
>enjoy HL2, Age 3, Warhammer Dawn of War, jonesing over SPRE. I'm also
>just as likely to play my Nintendo DS or PS2. So I don't need anything
>cutting edge but I'm hoping this MB/CPU combo will work for the next
>18-24 months. So here's my questions

Why do you even want to upgrade? With only a $150 budget for the
video card, you won't get significantly better performance in games,
and the 3200+ is fine for most tasks.

My advice is to save your money until hardware that is affordable to
you will give you a *significant* upgrade. Personally, I don't think
going from the 6600GT to the 7600GT is going to make your life much
better.

sbprouty@hotmail.com wrote:

Your 7600GT is in reach for me (sorta) What do you think of this
concept

Yea, that would be good. I think recertified means they lowered the ram
clock slightly as before recertification it was probably clocked too
high to be 100% stable. thing is they say out of stock.

chrisv wrote:

My advice is to save your money until hardware that is affordable to
you will give you a *significant* upgrade. Personally, I don't think
going from the 6600GT to the 7600GT is going to make your life much
better.

Sure it will. I went from X800XL (which runs about the same as a 6800GT)
to a 7900GT and I could immediately tell the difference in games.

Garrot wrote:
sbprouty@hotmail.com wrote:

Your 7600GT is in reach for me (sorta) What do you think of this
concept

Yea, that would be good. I think recertified means they lowered the ram
clock slightly as before recertification it was probably clocked too
high to be 100% stable. thing is they say out of stock.

No, as far as I can tell, recertified means that the parts are customer
returns that have been tested (and possibly repaired) by the
manufacturer.

That being said, I've had good luck with recertified/open box video
cards from newegg. I'm running two ATI 9800pros and an Nvidia 6800LE
for close to a year, and all work perfectly.

Dan (Woj)

dmaster wrote:

No, as far as I can tell, recertified means that the parts are customer
returns that have been tested (and possibly repaired) by the
manufacturer.

That's what I meant. These specific cards had a bad batch where the
memory couldn't handle the factory overclock so they probably lowered
the speed slightly. I have an EVGA 7900GT K with the same issue. But I
couldn't be bothered to fart around with an RMA so I fixed it myself by
editing the video card's bios to a lower memory clock. Runs rock solid now.

Here's what I have lined up so far

Thermaltake TR2 500w PSU from New Egg $ 50 after rebate
XFX GeForce 7900 GS 256MB DDR3 450Mhz $169 after rebate
AMD 64x2 4200+ (on Manchester) CPU $187

Unknown MB $?

Here's the new questions (though I welcome any insight regarding
earlier posts)

1 Which MB? I may do this one and drop the 7900 GS

But I feel like that board I feel like I'm wasting space on the AGP
board esp since I cannot imagine my next video card NT being PCI
Express.

So which MB makes sense? It needs to be socket 939 and good bang
for the buck as I'm nearing my budget

2 opportunity to save $$ is to do the 3800+ for $35.00 less. I'm
not an C-er so I figured I should get the best technology I can
afford. Is the jump not worth the extra $35.00?

Thanks everyone for your info so far. Keep it coming:)

more thing. I realised I don't use a sound card so a MB with
decent sound would be cool. Thanks.