[JonniBravo]

I am looking to upgrade my current setup and need some advice on what I should buy.

I am a bit short on funds at the moment but would like to get my self started by using my xp and buying a cheap processor, motherboard and basic ram just to get a running pc that I can upgrade gradually but after reading about compatibility issues and that some motherboards wont allow me to run two graphics cards(SLI) certain processors or even xp, I am slightly worried about where I should start.

There is nothing I can take from my current system apart from the hard drives, disc drives and operating system but I have listed them below just in case

AMD Athlon 2800+
Asus a7n8x-x Motherboard
1Gb Ram
Radeon Ati 9600 Pro

At the end of my upgrading adventure I would like to have Vista with two graphics cards taking advantage of sli technology a Good processor maybe quad core but at least 8Ghz

What would you advise
What should I buy
Thanks in advance

[Gazmondo]

What are you going to use your PC for?

What's your budget?

What components do you need and which ones will you be keeping from your current rig?

It's alright saying you want a quad with SLi graphics but if you don't have both the funds or the requirements for it, then it ain't going to happen.

[JonniBravo]

Originally Posted by Gazmondo

What are you going to use your PC for?

What's your budget?

What components do you need and which ones will you be keeping from your current rig?

It's alright saying you want a quad with SLi graphics but if you don't have both the funds or the requirements for it, then it ain't going to happen.

I want a good gaming machine that fits my budget. I cannot keep anything from my current rig because the graphics card is agp, the ram is ddr1 the processor is the old Athlon type and wont fit any up to date motherboards.

I do have a large li-on li case the hard drives and disc drives and a genuine copy of windows xp to transfer.

Ok I want to buy a new motherboard, processor, ram, and graphics card that will get me started. Nothing too flash just get the computer running so I can use it for the games I have running on my current system. But I need a motherboard that will allow me to run a quad core or high end dual core processor and top graphics card at a later date. At this stage I dont know what the budget is I could spend maybe £500 on it if I get a loan but I want to get it all over a year or so but I dont want to have to wait a year to get the computer running. I was thinking at the end of the month I might have £160-£200 to get me started. I just want to get a pc up and running with that if possible then I can upgrade the memory, cpu, and graphics card over time.

[JonniBravo]

Right people I have got £500 loan as mentioned I want a quality gaming pc.

What should I get

[JonniBravo]

Ok I have given up on the gradual upgrade idea and got a loan for £500 this afternoon. Can anyone advise me what the best set up is for this price. I am not sure whether Vista will be an absolute must or not. Currently I am looking at this bundle
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
775 / DDR2 / SATA II / PCI-E / Crossfire
2GB OCZ/Corsair / PC2-5400 / 667MHz
CoolerMaster Centurion 5
530W Hiper HPU-4M530 psu
256MB Inno3D GeForce 8600GTS
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit (OEM)
This leaves me £18 over budget or:

High End AMD X2 SLI Ready Bundle
CPU: AMD X2 6000+
MBD: AM2 / DDR2 / SATA / PCI-E / SLI
RAM: 2GB OCZ/Corsair / PC2-5400 / 667MHz
CoolerMaster Centurion 5
530W Hiper HPU-4M530 psu
256MB Inno3D GeForce 8600GTS
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit (OEM)
this leaves me 2 within budget

I haven't taken a monitor into account I know I will need one because at the moment I only have a naffy crt but that I hope can wait.

What do you all think

[Gazmondo]

Pfft, well, you've gone for slightly low spec PC in regards to a "good" gaming machine.

If you are desperate to go AMD rather than INTEL (and i'm not trying to skank you off or anything) but I have an AMD bundle kit which includes that 6000x2 that you mentioned.

If you wish to go new, I would recommend an 8800 series GFX card, a PSU which can run your system (If you plan on keeping) or a more expensive PSU with elbow room (If you wish to upgrade further down the line). I would also strongly advise against Vista, as it's not only exceedingly poor in every aspect it's aimed to excel in, but it is also just abismal for gaming compared to XP.

For the memory, I would go with PC6400, a good bet would be the Corsair XMS 2x1gb kit, which new is about £34-£50, and has been reviewed as a "best value" gaming memory by a fair few magazines.

Also, going back to graphics cards, this depends really on your monitor. No point getting a card which can easily run at 1280x1024 if you only get a monitor with max res 1024x768.

Give me till tomorrow and I will try and put up a few systems together for you, if you are wanting to go new. Would you be comfortable in building your own rig or having it pre-built?

[mrdaveyk]

yeh you need to get a better card than the 8600gts if you want to play modern games on a high quality.
if we are talking crysis and cod4 etc we are talking the 8800

[alex]

Originally Posted by JonniBravo

Ok I have given up on the gradual upgrade idea and got a loan for £500 this afternoon. Can anyone advise me what the best set up is for this price. I am not sure whether Vista will be an absolute must or not. Currently I am looking at this bundle
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
775 / DDR2 / SATA II / PCI-E / Crossfire
2GB OCZ/Corsair / PC2-5400 / 667MHz
CoolerMaster Centurion 5
530W Hiper HPU-4M530 psu
256MB Inno3D GeForce 8600GTS
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit (OEM)
This leaves me £18 over budget or:

High End AMD X2 SLI Ready Bundle
CPU: AMD X2 6000+
MBD: AM2 / DDR2 / SATA / PCI-E / SLI
RAM: 2GB OCZ/Corsair / PC2-5400 / 667MHz
CoolerMaster Centurion 5
530W Hiper HPU-4M530 psu
256MB Inno3D GeForce 8600GTS
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit (OEM)
this leaves me 2 within budget

I haven't taken a monitor into account I know I will need one because at the moment I only have a naffy crt but that I hope can wait.

What do you all think

Vista isn't a must at the moment, SP3 for XP is due for release in a couple of months. Plus, vista will eat into your system's resources and as this is obviously a gaming build (you mention dual graphics).

Out of the two I'd have to say the AMD cpu, but only out of these two, again, considering that I'm reading this as a budget gaming build.

I'd prefer to see an E6550 or E8300 there instead. Stronger performers in that price range.

Bin the 667mhz ram and get 800mhz. 2gb of Corsair XMS2 won't cost much more than the ram quoted. Or you could just get generic 800mhz ram without the fancy (and useless in most cases) heatsinks. The heatsinks fitted to most dimms of ram are fitted directly to the ram modules, which is stupid as this isn't where most the heat comes from. Corsair got this right on their Dominator range, but those are more pricey.

Also bin the 8600gts and have a look at the AMD 3850. A 256mb version will suffice (and save some money over a 512mb version). Much stronger performer than the GTS and around the same pricepoint. Nvidia's mid-range gpu's aren't anything to write home about.

I'm not a fan of Hiper psu's myself, loud in my experience and as socialwarfare rightly commented, they're also rather flimsy (for want of a better word).

Have a look at Coolermaster's 'Realpower' range or the Corsair brand (Corsair out of the two).

[JonniBravo]

Originally Posted by Gazmondo

Pfft, well, you've gone for slightly low spec PC in regards to a "good" gaming machine.

If you are desperate to go AMD rather than INTEL (and i'm not trying to skank you off or anything) but I have an AMD bundle kit which includes that 6000x2 that you mentioned.

If you wish to go new, I would recommend an 8800 series GFX card, a PSU which can run your system (If you plan on keeping) or a more expensive PSU with elbow room (If you wish to upgrade further down the line). I would also strongly advise against Vista, as it's not only exceedingly poor in every aspect it's aimed to excel in, but it is also just abismal for gaming compared to XP.

For the memory, I would go with PC6400, a good bet would be the Corsair XMS 2x1gb kit, which new is about £34-£50, and has been reviewed as a "best value" gaming memory by a fair few magazines.

Also, going back to graphics cards, this depends really on your monitor. No point getting a card which can easily run at 1280x1024 if you only get a monitor with max res 1024x768.

Give me till tomorrow and I will try and put up a few systems together for you, if you are wanting to go new. Would you be comfortable in building your own rig or having it pre-built?

I'll be ok building it myself

[JonniBravo]

How about

intel dual core e8500
2gb Ocz sli ready edition ram
500w coolmaster Xtreme power
radeon hd3850 256mb
XFX NFORCE LT 680I SLI
leaving 50 left for the case