I've been with a HP Pavilion a1640n for the past several years and overtime have gotten to upgrading nearly every stock part, except for the Motherboard and CPU. Why? I've never upgraded either of these, I don't know jack shit about upgrading them but I'm finding more and more that I need to. A 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo just doesn't cut it anymore, nor does the fact that I can't overclock anything with the Motherboard's BIOS. Every other part, sans -perhaps- the RAM (2GB), does not need to be upgraded. Video card (Nvidia 9800GT), Hard drive (1TB eSATA) and PSU (450W BFG) are all fine.
So, with that out of the way, anyone know if the following would be reasonable options? I mostly play games, but some tend to be quite intensive (ArmA 2 = Jesus fuck), and I'm in the U.S. I have two 1280x1024 LCDs, my keyboard, all other I/O etc. is covered.
*Antec 300 BlackSteel ATX Case ($60)
*ASUS AM3 ATX AMD Motherboard ($115)
*AMD Athlon II 3.0GHz AM3 CPU ($100)
With just this I still have plenty of room to spend ($225), and I was just wondering if you guys think you could improve on this, or any of the other current hardware?
You might want to save up for a new PC, the GPU is starting to get dated, and eSATA sounds like you might be getting suboptimal read/write times. RAM could use improvement, PSU should probably be upgraded before too long (although it's not crucial at the moment). You would only need a few hundred more for something great. That being said, assuming you're in the US, this is what I suggest if you want to upgrade now:
Case: HAF 912 - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233[/url]
Mobo: MSI 870A-G54 - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130275[/url]
CPU: Phenom II X4 955 BE - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808[/url]
Totaling $280
Also look at these, you might be able to fit one or two with any extra money
[list]
[*]RAM: $40 [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277[/url]
[*]GPU: $130 [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127490[/url]
[*]HDD: $65 [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185[/url]
[*]PSU: $60 [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016[/url]
[/list]
A note: you might want to consider the PSU, at $60 it's a great deal, and it won't fry your components like I'm afraid the generic PSU you have might. Plus it's modular and has active PFC.
[QUOTE=acidcj;29788418]You might want to save up for a new PC, the GPU is starting to get dated, and eSATA sounds like you might be getting suboptimal read/write times. RAM could use improvement, PSU should probably be upgraded before too long (although it's not crucial at the moment). You would only need a few hundred more for something great. That being said, assuming you're in the US, this is what I suggest if you want to upgrade now:
Case: HAF 912 - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233[/url]
Mobo: MSI 870A-G54 - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130275[/url]
CPU: Phenom II X4 955 BE - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808[/url]
Totaling $280
Also look at these, you might be able to fit one or two with any extra money
[list]
[*]RAM: $40 [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277[/url]
[*]GPU: $130 [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127490[/url]
[*]HDD: $65 [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185[/url]
[*]PSU: $60 [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016[/url]
[/list]
A note: you might want to consider the PSU, at $60 it's a great deal, and it won't fry your components like I'm afraid the generic PSU you have might. Plus it's modular and has active PFC.[/QUOTE]
Alright, thanks man. I'll definitely go for the RAM and PSU along with the Case, Mobo and CPU. And again, thanks, I would've made some bad decisions on my own.
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