"I guess I'm just looking for expert advice on the best I can do.."
I'm going to have 400$ to spend after holidays, and decided I mine as well upgrade as I've been wanting to do for awhile now. All I'm going to need is a case (ATX I assume), motherboard and processor.
Currently have:
Antec 480-W 12V PSU
WD Caviar 300GB HD
Radeon 9800 PRO 128 MB (Does fine for now, thank you :-)
DVD-RW Drive
M-Audio 9268 Sound Card
Currently need:
Case
Mobo
Processor
So - I'm thinking of a mobo with AGP and PCI-E, which I did find the ASROCK for 70$, which features that, 1000mhz FB, and up to 4Gig of 3200 Ram. I'm liking that. Also leaning towards AMD 3500, found that for about 200$.
I guess I'm just looking for expert advice on the best I can do, any help is truely appreciated.
Here's where I am at, and this is only 347$, not counting shipping. Suggestions please? I'm hoping this will last two years. Not a hardcore gamer, play World of Warcraft and do some audio editing.
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: CAC-T05-UW
$49.99 -$5.00 Instant $44.99
-This case should be fine and looks like it would make upgrading a breeze (with 5 5.25" slots and 7 expansion slots)
-Also this mobo looks like a good choice, with everything that you said you needed for a price you've got to love.
-And this processor will rock. My computer currently has the same one except the 3500 (one model down) and it is great so the 3700 should be great for you!
Thanks for your reply! I'm liking those choices so far too - the mobo appears to be a value-brand of ASUS, but the 'great' reviews outnumber the 'bad' reviews seemingly 6 to 1, or so. Yeah I made that ratio up but it seems worth the shot.
Oh well - any more advice from others is appreciated as well, especially on that case. This will be my first official 'ground up' project.
as long as you're not planning on overclocking, that mobo should be fine for your purposes. rugripper had problems with his, but he was trying to overclock it and I think he fried it. the northbridge supposedly gets pretty hot, so make sure you have good airflow (shouldn't be a problem with that case you chose, it has EXCELLENT cooling). Good luck on your project!
Athlon64 San Diego core 3700+, ASUS A8N-E, Sapphire X1900XT, 320GB WD SATAII HD, 2GB Gskill mem. Win XP Pro SP2. Pioneer DVR111D. Nero 6.6.1.4, DVD decrypter 3.5.4.0. ,PS2 V7 w/no-solder and swap magic
