[manimal]

'tis a very good idea dartman. i already have an external drive that i'm going to use to do the backup and i'm re-using the same HD for the barebones kit.

and i think i'll still go w/ the amd x2 because i'm mainly using this pc for gaming and storage and the amd dual core is plenty fast. newegg has a combo deal for a amd 2400 x2 + crucial 2Gb ram for $160. i figure $300 for the kit and processor/memory isn't too shabby of an upgrade. my HD, vid card and dvd drives are fine for what i do so there's no need for anything else; i'll just increase the speed of my pc exponentially by doubling the memory and adding a dual core cpu.
now i can't wait to get gears of war after the upgrade

 

[Wumpus]

If your computer is older, you may still have an AGP video card instead of a PCI Express.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>

and i think i'll still go w/ the amd x2 because i'm mainly using this pc for gaming and storage and the amd dual core is plenty fast. newegg has a combo deal for a amd 2400 x2 + crucial 2Gb ram for $160. i figure $300 for the kit and processor/memory isn't too shabby of an upgrade. my HD, vid card and dvd drives are fine for what i do so there's no need for anything else; i'll just increase the speed of my pc exponentially by doubling the memory and adding a dual core cpu.
now i can't wait to get gears of war after the upgrade

Here's what I got recently and have no complaints:

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128034 : $77
Proc: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103741 : $75
Mem: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146565 : $50

 

[SK6]

...which is proprietary and costs $16 per quarter ounce.

You can get real cool accessories with it though....

 

[SK6]

They dry-fvck your wallet.

BBBBBBBBBBBBWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[syadasti]

Just a tip for the harddrive from a dead system.

When my laptop got zapped I was able to get an external USB drive enclosure for about $20 and recover the data from the drive using another computer. Just be sure to match the interface (IDE, SATA)

I used Acronis TrueImage to create an image of the drive and then opened a copy of the image to do the file extraction on. I had to take over ownership of the Doc and Settings folder to get my stuff out.

When you're done you have a handy external drive to use for backups and stuff.

Or buy one of these for $13 - works with any IDE/SATA drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

 

[Dartman]

Or buy one of these for $13 - works with any IDE/SATA drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

Brilliant. Thanks!

 

[manimal]

so this is what i'm ordering. tell me what you think and if there are any conflicts. also, is the onboard graphics card better than my radeon 256mb card (i can't remember the model off hand but it's a 256mb pci-e card i got about 1.5 years ago)

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16856110077

Barebones kit
Brand ASUS
Model V3-M2A690G
CPU Supported
CPU Type AMD Athlon X2 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64
CPU Socket AMD Socket AM2
FSB 1000MHz HyperTransport
Chipset
North Bridge AMD 690G
South Bridge ATI SB600
Memory Supported
Memory slot 4 x 240Pin
Memory Type Supported DDR2 667/800
Max Memory Supported 8GB
Expansion Slots
PCI Express 1 x PCI Express x16 + 1 x PCI Express x1
PCI 2
Storage
IDE ATA 1 x ATA 100
Serial ATA 4 x SATAII 300
SATA RAID RAID 0/1
Graphics
Onboard Video Integrated ATI Radeon(TM) 1250
Video Memory Shared
Audio
Onboard Audio Realtek ALC883
Channel 6-CH
Communications
First LAN 10/100/1000 LAN
Max LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
Extension Bays
3.5" Internal bays 1
3.5" External bays 2
5.25" External bays 2
Front Panel Ports
Front USB 4
Front IEEE 1394 1
Front Audio Ports 2 jacks
Card Reader 6 in 1
Back Panel Ports
PS/2 2
LPT 1
VGA 1 x D-Sub + 1 x DVI
TV-Out S-Video + RCA
Rear USB 4
RJ45 1
Rear IEEE 1394 1
Rear Audio Ports 3 jacks
Other Rear Ports HDMI
Power Supply
Power Supply 300W

Processor

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103774

Model
Brand AMD
Processors Type Desktop
Series Athlon 64 X2
Model ADO4000DDBOX
CPU Socket Type
CPU Socket Type Socket AM2
Tech Spec
Core Brisbane
Multi-Core Dual-Core
Name Athlon 64 X2 4000+
Operating Frequency 2.1GHz
HT 2000MHz
L1 Cache 128KB+128KB
L2 Cache 2 x 512KB
Manufacturing Tech 65 nm
64 bit Support Yes
Hyper-Transport Support Yes
Virtualization Technology Support Yes
Multimedia Instruction MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, 3DNOW! Professional
Voltage 1.25/1.35V
Thermal Power 65W
Cooling Device Heatsink and Fan included

Memory
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820211066

Model
Brand A-DATA
Model ADQVE1A16K
Type 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
Tech Spec
Capacity 2GB (2 x 1GB)
Speed DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Cas Latency 5
Timing 5-5-5-18
Voltage 1.8V
Heat Spreader Yes
Recommend Use High Performance or Gaming Memory



is there anything else i need? i'm trying to keep the budget fairly low and i'm just swapping over the hardware, HD, DVD drives. i considered going for the new quad core but i think that going to a dual core from s single core plus doubling the memory will be enough of a boost for me for now and now that i've got the building bug, i might snag a quad core after a while when the prices come down even more.

oh yeah, complete price on all of this is $270

 

[blue]

Which Radeon?

If you want to keep upgrading, don't buy AMD...doesn't make sense at all, it's not anymore expensive. I'd piece together a setup, but my internets is failing me ATM.

 

[H8R]

so this is what i'm ordering. tell me what you think and if there are any conflicts.

It's not Intel.

AMD is dead.

 

[binary visions]

It's not Intel.

AMD is dead.

 

[H8R]

What?

They've been stomped. Are they coming out with anything that will even remotely compete w/ Intel anymore?

 

[binary visions]

Just look at what's been going on for the last few years. Each brand comes out with something new, which trumps the other. Then the other comes back and trumps them again. And meanwhile, the whole thing is totally irrelevant for people like manimal who want a low cost system that will perform adequately, since either system offers that.

You can get a 2.2ghz AM2 processor for $67 from NewEgg. The cheapest Core2Duo processor is also 2.2ghz and will run $125 without double the performance or anything close... actually, benchmarks show that it performs slightly better at low resolutions but exactly the same at higher resolutions.

AMD has been ahead and behind for the past several years. Their hypertransport bus is superior technology, but they are lagging against Core2Duo... but in the end, they offer a similar solution at the low end for a much cheaper price, and the sockets change too fast to be seriously concerned as an average consumer who will ultimately win in the next year or two.

This is like saying "Don't buy a Civic, because Toyota's F1 team is much faster." Who cares? The Civic is cheap, very functional and the reality is most people won't do an engine swap on it, they'll drive it until it's time to buy a new one. There are plenty of faster AMD64 x2 chips around if manimal wants to upgrade in a couple years, and for the time being, he can spend significantly less money but still get the latest socket, fastest hypertransport bus, and support for 4 DIMMs, all of which he'd have to spend more money on going Intel.

 

[PatBranch]

just reinstall windowz

 

[H8R]

Just look at what's been going on for the last few years. Each brand comes out with something new, which trumps the other. Then the other comes back and trumps them again. And meanwhile, the whole thing is totally irrelevant for people like manimal who want a low cost system that will perform adequately, since either system offers that.

You can get a 2.2ghz AM2 processor for $67 from NewEgg. The cheapest Core2Duo processor is also 2.2ghz and will run $125 without double the performance or anything close... actually, benchmarks show that it performs slightly better at low resolutions but exactly the same at higher resolutions.

AMD has been ahead and behind for the past several years. Their hypertransport bus is superior technology, but they are lagging against Core2Duo... but in the end, they offer a similar solution at the low end for a much cheaper price, and the sockets change too fast to be seriously concerned as an average consumer who will ultimately win in the next year or two.

This is like saying "Don't buy a Civic, because Toyota's F1 team is much faster." Who cares? The Civic is cheap, very functional and the reality is most people won't do an engine swap on it, they'll drive it until it's time to buy a new one. There are plenty of faster AMD64 x2 chips around if manimal wants to upgrade in a couple years, and for the time being, he can spend significantly less money but still get the latest socket, fastest hypertransport bus, and support for 4 DIMMs, all of which he'd have to spend more money on going Intel.

But the Intel stuff is more shiny.

 

[manimal]

i already ordered that setup and i agree with bv. i'm still upgrading considerably from what i had and for a lot less as well.

funny thing happened this morning. i was talking with noah about the new setup and told him that as soon as i get it up and running i'm going to buy the new Call of Duty 4. Without thinking, he just blurted out, "wait, you don't have to buy it, that's what mommy got you for christmas!"
my wife was pissed but couldn't really blame him, 7 year olds don't have that instant filter in place yet.

 

[H8R]

Without thinking, he just blurted out, "wait, you don't have to buy it, that's what mommy got you for christmas!"
my wife was pissed but couldn't really blame him, 7 year olds don't have that instant filter in place yet.

I'm waiting on my future spy-in-training right now.

 

[SK6]

i already ordered that setup and i agree with bv. i'm still upgrading considerably from what i had and for a lot less as well.

funny thing happened this morning. i was talking with noah about the new setup and told him that as soon as i get it up and running i'm going to buy the new Call of Duty 4. Without thinking, he just blurted out, "wait, you don't have to buy it, that's what mommy got you for christmas!"
my wife was pissed but couldn't really blame him, 7 year olds don't have that instant filter in place yet.

Wow, what does that say about YOUR filter?