# How's this look for my next upgrade!?



## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

I've got an HP Pavilion a1710n - and I'm getting tired of not being to overclock it and such... it's time to spend some money!! I'm hoping ya'll can help me find some good alternatives (if need be) or things I've forgotten. This will be my 4th computer I've build, but I'm in no way "good" at building computers yet, so this will help me double check that everything will work together as well.

I don't want to spend a TON, but I still want decent stuff. I played around on Newegg, and put together a unit based on a balance of price and good reviews. I'd like to re-use my monitor, GPU, and disc/DVD drives - but the rest I probably need to upgrade. I'd like to get everything online from Newegg, as I've had nothing but great experiences with them in the past!

I use my computer for lots of things: Photo editing, DVD Burning, and Gaming. As well as all the other regular stuff - word processing, email, por.... never mind :laugh:

I'll also be putting Vista on it, and using all my current peripherals; G15 Keyboard, G5 Mouse etc... 

Thanks in advance for all your help, and for reading this crazy long post!


*To Buy:*

Processor - Athlon 64 X2 5000 2.6GHz - $90
CPU Fan - Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro - $25
Mobo - Asus M2N - $135
PSU - Apevia 500W - $40
RAM - Adata 4GB (2x2GB)  - $70
Card Reader - Rosewill RCR-102 - $15
Stuff - Thermal Paste, COD4 :grin: - $50
Total=$425 ($380 if you don't count the game, lol)


*To Re-Use:*

Monitor - Hanns G 28" Widescreen LCD - $500
Graphics Card - 8800 GTS 320MB - $145
Hard-Drives - 600-something GB's on 2 SATA drives
Optical-Drives - 2x DVD burners

*Need your Help!*

Case - Looking for something without a ton of outside lights, it can be in the "medium" noise range - and preferably under 18" tall so it will fit in my Ikea desk!
Everything else - What did I forget!?


Cheers,
-Brandon


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Ooohhh, I've been reading some not-so-hot feedback on the Asus M2N mobo - funny how it still has such high reviews on Newegg... Hmm...


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Avoid that motherboard as a first step.

Also find yourself a good brand name power supply because Apevia is not a high quality supply. Consider the Seasonic, PC Power & Cooling, Thermaltake "Toughpower", or even one of the Corsair power supplies. All of those are great brand names in power supplies. You willl need a bigger power suppy for the 8800GTS video card. Take a look at 650+ to do the job you want and permit you some head room. A reasonable one in that price range is the OCZ 700. It would do a great job for you. 

Thermal Paste, you can't beat Artic Silver 5 IMHO.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

seeing as how you are going with a new mobo and cpu


you would be selling yourself short big time going AMD right now / intel and the core 2 d's have amd on the ropes performance wise; big time!


I would suggest the gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 or DS3L

and get as much cpu as you can spend for starting with the E6550, E6750, E6850, E8400

your choice of PSU will give you a real headache

I suggest you look at the OCZ 700 watt for about $129.00 thats about as decent as you will find for a low price

also check the coolermaster real power pro 650 watt (only the pro!)

you could check antec trio power 650 watt >>>>> but IMHO their quality is now slipping, but even so they will be WAYYYYYYYY above the apevia or other cheapies :4-thatsba


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

if you are on a tight budget >>>> look to mwave.com / click on refurbished / then go to motherboards & power supplies


check here on power supplies before you buy >>>>> there is alot of junk in there too! but often times there are some real keepers for a super price!


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Thanks for the good replies! Looks like I'll have to consider the Intel's... I've actually ALWAYS used AMD - will I see any difference in terms of installation and such? I liked the AMD's because there was a lot of info about how safe it was to overclock - it the same with Intel?

I will definately re-think the PSU as well... I might as well go a little higher there if I'll have so much tied up in my computer.

As far as refurbished stuff is concerned - I think I'd rather pay a little more for new - and have a warranty and a little piece of mind!


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Ahhh... more answers beget more questions!

Forgive me if in my arrogance of Intel, the answer here should be obvious, but comparing the prices and speeds - wouldn't the AMD seem to be the more logical choice?


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

I'm not quite sure about the Intel processors yet - hopefully somebody can reply about them tomorrow (I know its late! :laugh I've re-worked things a bunch, and of course, it came out to be more money, haha. 

Sorry there's no links for these ones - but the prices are all from Newegg. How's this one look?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

the new intel processors overclock very well standard overclock ability is 30% and more 

the high end AMD chips are 15% at BEST and never more without watercooling

The AMD cpus are cheaper but motherboards are definetly not >>>>> so when comparing the $$$$$$$ you must add cpu & motherboard together then compare the cost :wink:


play with this for yourself >>>>>>> then you tell me ?

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=882&model2=921&chart=429


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

if you can get that rosewill power supply cheap enough, you could sell it for scrap metal; I hear copper is way up in salvage price ? but then again; there wont be much copper in a Rosewill.......... ROFL

yes, they are that BAD


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## talletd (Jan 5, 2008)

Tigerdirect has some good buys on the XFX 680i LT motherboard with the E6750 duel core PU for about $300...I have had good luck with this and it screams for more. 1333 fsb and you can OC at least to 3.0 w/o much hassel or stability issues (so I've read).


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Ah-ha! The whole mobo+cpu makes much more sence, I'll look into that and report back. ^^

Looks like I'll be stearing away fromt he Rosewill power supply as well! I guess I'll keep with the name-brands, lol. (Whew, this is lots of work to build the right computer!) lol


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Ahhhh, NOW you guys have done it, lol. I did some research on how Intel stacks up against AMD, and it seems that in most cases (CPU bench tests and fps graphics tests) the Intel came out on top, even if it was a bit lower Ghz. While AMD might be a bit more "bang-for-your-buck" type of processor, if I want performance, I think I'll go with the Intel.

And that got me thinking.... if I'm going to this much trouble to "upgrade" like I was thinking... I might as well build an entirely new PC and sell off my old one to recoup some of the cost - I should be able to get a few hundred out of it. So... YAY! I get to build an ENTIRE NEW COMPUTER! (at a price, haha!)

Heres what I have in my cart:


CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz  $210 
CPU Fan - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 92mm $ 23 
GPU - MSI NX8800GT 512MB $210 
MoBo - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L  $ 90 
RAM - G.Skill 4GB (2x2BG) DDR2 800 $ 80 
PSU - Silverstone 750W $120 
HD - Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM $100 
Case - Rosewill R5605 Mid Tower  $ 60 
Stuff - DVDRW, Card Reader, Arctic 5 $ 50 
Games! - Crysis, COD4, The Witcher $ 85

*Total w/ shipping: About $1,100*

How's THIS sucker looking?! And did I forget anything? (maybe I'll need cables, screws or other things I've overlooked?)

Thanks a ton! Cheers!
-Brandon


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

if you want to overclock >>>> the artic freezer aint gonna cut it


the silverstone is awesome and for that money >>>> shes a keeper ray:


the rest of the rig is very nice >>>>>> you have done well, very quickly! ray::wave:


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Yay! I'm glad I'm finally getting close. Do you have any suggestions for a fan/heatsink?

And yes, I'm really happy about that Silverstone - good find eh!? 

I've got a couple specific questions if anybody can handle them. 

Would I see much improvement with the newer Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 for an extra $50? I don't know much about the difference between the 45n and 65n build types

How would the max speed memory for the mobo (something like G.Skill 2GB DDR3 1333) compare to the 4GB of the DDR2 800 memory? Again, I'm not sure how these things compare, but they are about the same price for 2GB of faster and 4GB of slower, so I thought I'd ask.

And my humble thanks goes out to Linderman - It makes me feel a lot more comfortable having somebody double checking my stuff before I hit the "buy button"!!

Cheers!
-Brandon


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

The E8400 is a better cpu than the E6850 I had the 6850 before I got the E8400

both are stock at 3.0ghz but the 8400 overclocks higher and easier too


hell the E8400 hits 3.6ghz without any cpu voltage bumping at all ! 

thats hard to beat and cheaper too ! still havent figured out why intel releases newer cpu's that are cheaper than older versions ???????


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I would not get DDR3 memory right now / not until they get the big latency numbers down to earth 

right now DDR3 is much slower than DDR2


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Sweet! It's settled then - I'll go with the stuff in post #13!

What's your CPU cooler of choice for overclocking this bad boy? :chgrin:


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

The zalman 9700 or a tuniq tower


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Man, those things are huge! I might have trouble seating those with my mobo/case combo...


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## Akula (Jan 26, 2007)

Alrighty! Newegg just shipped out 55 pounds of goodies between 2 boxes. I'll really be looking forward to the UPS guy's visit on the 18th! $58 isn't bad for the shipping really, and it beats the hell outta paying tax! LOL

BTW, I went with the Zalman 9700... can't believe I paid $70 for a damn fan! haha!


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