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Ok, make this desktop live again

post #1 of 17
8/16/04 at 7:15pm
Thread Starter 
I have a non-existant, dead desktop since I got my Sager 5690 And I would like to revive it, but before I do that, I want to get some opinions from you guys to see how I should upgrade it. I will give you the current specs and my budget.
Specs:
AMD Athlon XP2000
A7V333 Mobo
Fried Ram
Radeon 9600xt
Dual LCD display
TV Tuner
Audigy Gamer

Budget is $600, and I need this to run Half Life 2 smoothly, without sounding like a 747 taking off.
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post #2 of 17
8/16/04 at 7:23pm
Well, first off, new RAM . I would probably upgrade the processor to a 2500 (assuming your M/B supports that, which I think it does, and you want to) which you can O/C easily. I would get 512 mb of 2700 RAM (or a gig if you want). Also, get a nice HD with 8mb of cache. Personaly, I think this would probably do.
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post #3 of 17
8/16/04 at 7:29pm
Thread Starter 
Nice suggestions. I did forget to mention my HDDs though, I already have 2 7200rpms with 8mb cache ready, raid enable
So that will drop off some of the budget. I think what will kill my wallet the most is processor or video card.
Is the 9600xt worth keeping? This card just seems like a true POS to me
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post #4 of 17
8/16/04 at 7:58pm
This is what I would get:

MOBO - ASUS "K8V SE Deluxe" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3200+

Video - SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK

Memory - Geil Value Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200

Comes to $610 shipped.
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post #5 of 17
8/16/04 at 8:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drawmonster
This is what I would get:

MOBO - ASUS "K8V SE Deluxe" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3200+

Video - SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK

Memory - Geil Value Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200

Comes to $610 shipped.
Ok, you got me beat. Except I would drop the 3200 to 3000. I also would go with cheaper memory, but thats me.

I think a 9600 card would suffice pretty well (if you don't want it, heck it could replace me geforce2).
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post #6 of 17
8/16/04 at 8:09pm
If he has $600, he might as well get the best bang for the buck. With the setup I listed, he can have a badass gaming rig for $600 bucks.
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post #7 of 17
8/16/04 at 9:25pm
Well I feel that the 3000 offers quiet a bang. If I personaly were to buy a machine, I would go with a 3000 just because its cheaper and you sacrifice very little.
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post #8 of 17
8/16/04 at 9:43pm
Thread Starter 
Is the K8V SE mobo much superior? My A7V333 is DDR400/raid if i remember correctly, and definately supports the Athlon 3k
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post #9 of 17
8/16/04 at 9:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amir
Is the K8V SE mobo much superior? My A7V333 is DDR400/raid if i remember correctly, and definately supports the Athlon 3k
Well it accepts the new A64. Which of course is a big advantage. But as for features, I'm not really sure, my favorite boards are MSI. I've had such good luck with them (while I've talked to some who hate the guts out of them, but those people also like Intel... ).
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post #10 of 17
8/16/04 at 10:18pm
Amir, Does your board support socket 754?
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post #11 of 17
8/16/04 at 10:35pm
XP 3200+ and a radeon 9800se soft modded to pro or XT. Gig of RAM, definitely.
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post #12 of 17
8/16/04 at 10:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drawmonster
Does your board support socket 754?
Not mine personaly, its still a Nforce2. But if I was to build my own comp I would probably go with an MSI. Either a K8T or an NF3 (the new one).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Malone
XP 3200+ and a radeon 9800se soft modded to pro or XT. Gig of RAM, definitely.
Or an XP 2500 O/C'd to a 3200 if your going to overclock. Which I would do because it makes you feel all googly inside...
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post #13 of 17
8/16/04 at 11:02pm
googly... makes you feel like searching?
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post #14 of 17
8/16/04 at 11:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Malone
googly... makes you feel like searching?
LOL, yes. I have to find out everyone else who accomplished what I did! Its sorta because no one around my house wants to hear. "Hey, hey, look at this! Can you believe it? The FSB is 290 when it really should be 266!!! Do you understand the magnitude of that?" The reply: "Woof"
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post #15 of 17
8/25/04 at 11:49am
Amir make sure your A7V333 is above revision 1 or it will not take a 3200+. I have/had the same MB and I couldn't upgrade to a AMD 3200+. I went and bought a MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R and have been VERY pleased with it. Notice it has 5 stars out of 94 people. I was always an Asus man before this motherboard. I made my decision based on this article on Tom's Hardware.
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post #16 of 17
8/25/04 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Jimmy! I don't think it will take the 3200 then, I got the A7V333 back when it was popular I'll bookmark that MSI mobo, looks like it's on my list to buy.
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post #17 of 17
8/25/04 at 1:37pm
I just built a new rig in thailand with the MSI k8V neo FSR mobo. Together with an AMD64 3200+ and an MSI starforce gf 5900XT (smth cheap for the moment). I am very pleased with MSI so far (etc 1gig ram, 80gb sata, 6 fans and a very nice psu)

If you plan on obtaining a AMD64 computer please take care when selecting your PSU. As I posted in several other posts, the AMD64 saps from the +12v rail instead othe +5v like p4's do. So make sure you have enough AMPs on the +12v rail else you will not be able to power everything at the same time (24+ amps should definitely suffice)

Btw this forum is about MSI mb's and AMD64s (well one part is!) ! It was very useful for making my decisions: http://forum.msi.com.tw/
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