Upgrade advice needed

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

I'm looking at upgrading my PIII computer to better handle FS9. Will do it piece by piece.

For now I will use my existing:
Maxtor 60 gig 7200 drive.
RW/DVD drive
ATI 7500 64MB (next upgrade)

Right now I plan on upgrading my MoBo, Processor, RAM and OS.

Processor will be Athlon64 3000+ Boxed, Venice core
- seems to be the best value
- significant $ jump to faster CPUs (at least $75 Can to a 3200+)

RAM 1 gig Probably 400DDR Any recommendations?

OS either XP home or pro haven't decided.

MoBo

Motherboards is where I'm stuck and could use some help. Which chipset? which features? which MoBo?

Right now I'm considering either:

1) Asus A8V-E Deluxe VIA K8T890 PCI-Express w/Audio, FireWire, Gigabit LAN, WiFi, SATA-RAID, Dual DDR400 (Socket 939)

or

2) DFI LanParty UT nForce4 Ultra-D, Dual Gigabit LAN, SATA-RAID, Firewire, DDR400 (Socket 939)

These boards seem to be a good value at $175.00 Can (about $140 US). DFI is $0.95 higher. I've actually seen the ASUS board for up to $15.00 US cheaper if I were to order from the US. Of course it takes longer to get it then. As I understand it DFI boards are for tweakers while ASUS boards provide much more limited tweaking but are easier to set up.

Are there any other boards in about this price range or cheaper that I should look at? Is SLI worth another $12 US (ASUS board)?

Appreciate any help!

Thanks an Take Care! -Ed-

[Wulf190]

OK you want my first sugestion? Go to NewEgg.com

I am currently building a new system

Here is my current system: Keep in mind I got this from my Dad 5 years ago

MoBo: Unknowln Type
CPU: AMD k6-2 500MHZ
RAM: 320MB PC100
OS: Windows 98 SE
HDD: 7.5Gig
Case: ATX Mid tower, unknown manufactur or type
Fans: One, what looks like 80mm case fan in the back
PSU: Unknown, but looking at the rest of the "stock" stuff, cheap.
Video Card: Gefore 2 MX400MX 32MB, or 64MB, my card has an identity crisis
Soundcard: Some Yamaha card/ game port card. Came "stock" Game port defunct
CDRW: TDK 52X CDRW, replaced my me about two years ago

My new system: including price of parts
MoBo: ASUS A8N-E $125
CPU: AMD Athlon 3200+ 64bit vinice core $192
RAM: Corsair Value Select 1 gig PC3200 DDR400 $75
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 80Gig $65
Case: Maxtop Signature, ATX Midtower, with two 80 mm case fans $28
Fans: In addition tot he two 80mm case fans I am adding two 80mm ASUS ball fans $15 for both
PSU: Antec Smartpower 500watt $75
OS: For now I am going to get Xp Pro 32bit edition OEM $140
Video card: Leadtek Px6600GT 128Mb $170
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 OEM $50
DVD/RW: MEC DVD Burnner IDE OEM $50
CDRW: From currenty system
Floppy: from current system
Monitor: From current system, will upgrade later

Total: $985 no including S&H for parts

Right now all I need to get is the video card, OS, and HDD.


So for you OS, I am somewhat confused about whether to get the 32 or 64 bit version. Many people I have been asking have suggested doing a dual boot, but I am not paying for two OS right now, I may upgradeto the 64bit later, but I'd say 32 bit since most of the softwear out there only runs on 32bit OS, not a 64bit one. But I would deffinatly say XP pro!

As far as moBos go. I am going ASUS because 1. It was highly recomended brand. Now I don't know much if anything about DFI, so if you wanna try to, go for it! I'm not a huge over clocker, so I don't care to tweak all that much.

[SdC]

The Asus mobo would be my choice. The price seems a bit high. Be aware that if you get a PCI-Express mobo you will NOT be able to use your old AGP video card.
Asus also has an AGP version of the same mobo (without the -E in the type) but already AGP video cards are getting hard to find, so you'll take the risk that by the time you're ready to upgrade the video card, you won't be able to get one (new).

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Thank You for the replies. I think I have a plan for a motherboard. It is to be socket 939, nforce4 chipset (at this time best gaming chipset) and no SLI (may not catch on) so I've a few options to consider including MSI, DFI and a couple others. I want 939 as it should be upgradeable for a while - knock on wood! :): My video card is not AGP but is PCI so I can use it temporarily - until I decide on a better one probably another ATI with at least 128MB memory.

Thanks Again! Take Care! -Ed-

[Wulf190]

Withhte entire Nvidia verusu ATI, well right now supposidly Nvidia is once agian leading the market, but that may change agian. Really in all reality both companies make good cards.