Which processor/MB?

[LancerZero]

Here's the deal: for various and sundry reasons, I'm having to replace my computer's motherboard and processor, most likely due to my putting high-drain hardware in it and trying to run it off the cruddy 250W PSU it came with. Lesson learned.

Anyway, I'm a broke college student, so I want to go cheap. I've decided to go with newegg.com, since I've heard mostly good things about them, and they're cheaper than CompUSA.

Here's an AMD Sempron I'm considering: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104210

A very attractive Celeron D: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112190

As for motherboards, there are so many choices . . . I'll leave it up to you guys to recommend something for my needs, if you would.

Here's what I do with my machine:

-Office-type tasks (word processing, spreadsheets, that stuff)
-Digital image editing (nothing overly heavy-duty - I swear by the [link=http://www.gimp.org/about/]GIMP[/link] since I can't afford Photoshop)
-Lots of streaming audio
-Games. The most graphically demanding thing I run right now is Warcraft III - I also own Unreal Tournament 2004, but I never play it because it runs too slow.

Point is, I'm not overclocking, not doing anything really heavy-duty - but I do want something that will be solid, reliable, and perform well over the years.

And before anyone suggests it, no, I can't afford the extra 200-300 bucks for an all-new box. Besides, I hate the thought of wasting all the perfectly good parts in my current comp.

Thanks in advance!

 

[turtile]

How much $$$ do you have?

What kind of graphics card - intergrated, agp, pci express

 

[etch]

digital image editing is quite demanding graphics wise, you should probably save for a pretty high end system

 

[ZeroStrife49]

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2535

Anandtech is a great place to go for buyers guide. right there is a guide for mid range office/gaming computers. Im sure that will aid you a lot in your buying decisions.

 

[GuitarFreak1857]

Anyway, I'm a broke college student, so I want to go cheap. I've decided to go with newegg.com, since I've heard mostly good things about them, and they're cheaper than CompUSA.

monarchcomputer has better prices then newegg but i don't know a company that ships faster then newegg so if you can wait fot your parts definatly go with monarch.

 

[Gigabite]

Isn't normal AMD Athlon XP better than sempron's and celerons? if so, you should go for barton 2600+ like me.

 

[LancerZero]

Turtile: $$$=squat. Like, I won't spend more than $80 on the motherboard, and I've decided I want it to be backwards-compatible with my old AMD Duron Spitfire 750MHz processor, so I won't have to do it all at once. I'll worry about the processor later; for now, I need a new mobo.

Etch: Well, what I'm doing now works just fine on my Frankenstein's Monster cobbled-together machine, so I figure that even if I do more demanding stuff, anything even slightly faster should be adequate. Like I said, I'm only doing relatively light-duty digital editing, and since my mobo has issues I can't wait to save for a high-end system. I'm paying for community college, my car, etc. on $7/hour. It'd take me years. Wish I could, though!

ZeroStrife49: Put me in the "budget" category! Good info though, and may yet be useful.

GuitarFreak1857: I'll sure check it out, if it's cheaper.

Current comp stats:

AMD Duron Spitfire, running @ 751.4MHz
64KB L1 cache
128KB L2 cache
320MB PC100 RAM
350W Antec PSU

DVD-R
CD-RW
Floppy drive
20GB HD
8.4GB HD
AGP slot: ATI Radeon 7000
plus three PCI slots with a wi-fi card, an ethernet card, and a cheap 5.1 sound card.

Basically, I want to reuse everything except maybe the RAM, since the new mobo probably won't support such old stuff.

Gigabite: Unfortunately, the Athlon XP series costs more than I was wanting to spend. I'll keep an eye on it though; maybe by the time I can afford a new processor, they'll be cheap enough. (like, a month or so).

 

[LancerZero]

Um, okay. So . . . how about this mobo/processor combo?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186025#Combo

Anyone else have any experience with foxconn stuff?