Budget Build possible?

[RivaCom]

I am running currently AMD Athlon 64 3200+(754 socket), 2x512 Corsair, 1 120 Gig IDE HD, 1 250 GB Sata HD, ATI 9800. Now I was just looking to maybe add another gig of ram and new video card for about 250 dollars. Now i've been told by a few people to just upgrade the motherboard to a 754 PCI-E and get a 7600GT. Now im wondering.

I have 4x256 Sticks of Kingston DDR2 533MHZ memory laying around. Would it be possible using the memory, hard drives i have, dvd drive i have. To get a lower end am2 board and case, cpu, and video card for as close to 250 as possible? Or is there another solution that would allow me to upgrade in the future since but 754 socket and agp are going out?

 

[darkop16]

You could get another 754 mobo with a pci-e and a 7600gt. The 3200+ is still a pretty decent proc. I was using the same one on the 754 socket and a 9600pro last year.

But if you do that, you won't leave alot of room to upgrade later...say to a dual core. So i would say save the money so you can get perhaps a C2D 4300, gigabyte s3, and a 7600gt and then you could use your 533 ram with that setup. Use the the sata with this setup and keep the other hdd for the current setup or sell the current setup for some extra money, too.

 

[RivaCom]

Well I'd like to leave room to upgrade. So if I pick up a AM2 Combo on Newegg for about 150, would this be a bad deal? I figured since I have a few things already it would just mainly be MB, CPU, and Video Card. I have an x-blade case if the MB can fit in that, thats one less thing I would need.

 

[darkop16]

Im not familiar with the x-blade case but if it is atx ready then you should be fine.

I would stick with the c2d over amd. You will see more bang for your buck, but if you can't wait then a good am2 board with a single core (the 3800+ is a good choice) would at least leave some room to upgrade. I would sell your current cpu, memory and graphics card (maybe even your ide drive unless you plan to put it in an external case....not alot of new boards are coming with alot of ide slots, just enough for a couple of optical drives usually) on ebay or something and see if you can get some money for that to put into some better memory or put it away for a different processor later.

edit: also your mobo too ...and if you sell it on ebay....sell them separately. You usually get more money that way.

 

[RivaCom]

Again I kinda need the current computer until I get the new one. So if I could get a better CPU/Board and video card. And hold out a bit, possibly until after i sell my old gear to upgrade again maybe a better cpu then thats what i need. But what i need now is possibly cpu/motherboard/graphics card to as close to 250 as possible.

 

[Ronnie]

you can get an am2 3600+ dual core combo on newegg and then get something like a 6600gt until you can afford a better pci e card

 

[darkop16]

yes i understand you still need your current computer. I was just suggesting selling the upgraded parts for better ram (maybe some ddr2 667 or 800 2x1gb) or save the money made in the sell to help get a better processor later.

edit: $250 is kinda hard to work with. The best i could come up with was a 939 setup:

asus a8n-e $85
amd athlon 64 +3200 $57.60
evga 7600gt $110

total: $252.60 (w/o shipping...there is a rebate for the gpu which should bring you at $250 w/ shipping though)

 

[RivaCom]

Ok so how does this sound.. or is this another hopeless build that will just die out with no upgrades in a year?

* ECS NFORCE4M-A (V3.0) Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 4X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
* AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO3600IAA5DL - OEM
-$150 newegg.com combo

-EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
-$94.99

4x256MB Kingston PC24200 DDR2 533mhz
-Already have

DvD reader/burner
-already own

250GB Sata HD
-already own

That would leave me at just about 250 with only thing needed being fan and case/psu. Any suggestions on this?

 

[darkop16]

That looks good....i didn't see the ecs/x2 3600+ combo, just a biostar/x2 +3600.

linkworld T3131 $23
froton 400w $42
zalman 7000 $30

 

[Nagasama]

i think that will work out well for you.
as far as being hopeless and dying out in a year...good plan going to am2. if everything works out the way amd says, then you will be able to upgrade to the newer cpu's (am2+, am3) using am2 boards.
youwill probably want to get a new video card within a year or two, though.
good luck!