Seeking suggestiongs for upgrade

Im looking to give my current system to someone in need and looking for
suggestions on what I could upgrade too.

Currently I have an AMD Athlon 1.4 ghz, 512 ram with an ATI 9600xt thats
held out fairly well. Ive played most games on it but Half Life 2 started to
show that its really time to get some more speed. ( I will keep my Antec
480W PSU and maxtor 120gig HD) Im not a serious gamer but still enjoy them
and not want to have to be worried about meeting system requirements for
awhile.

Its been suggested that theres a budget friendly CPU's such as the Sempron
3000 or a Celeron 3.06 ghz ( both in $75 range)with a simple MB for
$75-$100 which may be the way for me to go. ( I may keep the 9600xt AGP or
let that go with the old 1.4ghz and get something new in PCI-E ... This
option is quite flexible.)

What kind of CPU/MB/RAM combo for a modest price can you guys suggest ?
Thanks for all input

Brad wrote:
> Im looking to give my current system to someone in need and looking for
> suggestions on what I could upgrade too.
>
> Currently I have an AMD Athlon 1.4 ghz, 512 ram with an ATI 9600xt thats
> held out fairly well. Ive played most games on it but Half Life 2 started to
> show that its really time to get some more speed. ( I will keep my Antec
> 480W PSU and maxtor 120gig HD) Im not a serious gamer but still enjoy them
> and not want to have to be worried about meeting system requirements for
> awhile.
>
> Its been suggested that theres a budget friendly CPU's such as the Sempron
> 3000 or a Celeron 3.06 ghz ( both in $75 range)with a simple MB for
> $75-$100 which may be the way for me to go. ( I may keep the 9600xt AGP or
> let that go with the old 1.4ghz and get something new in PCI-E ... This
> option is quite flexible.)
>
> What kind of CPU/MB/RAM combo for a modest price can you guys suggest ?
> Thanks for all input


If your desire is only to play half-life 2, the MOST modest way to go
is to find out the top processor your motherboard takes, and scrounge
one up on ebay. Aside from the processor, your config is within the
Recommended Specs for that game, the processor is barely above mimimum.
If the top is only an athlon 1800+, you may as well dump the whole
system, but sometimes the top is an Athlon Thunderbird 2600+. Halflife
is a heavily CPU bound game.

This is a stopgap method, it would meet your current needs, and buy
some time to save for the better system.

If there are other games in the mix you've got your eye on, the picture
changes.

Can we get more detail on your current config?

Motherboard make and model?
What type of RAM? (eg, pc-133, pc2700)

THe Celeron is not really a gaming chip, but a 3.06chz would let you
play halflife 2 better than your current system. I have found the
Sempron 3400+ to be quite acceptable for the games I play. 2GB of ram
deosn't hurt either (I know it's overkill),

paulmd@efn.org wrote:
> Brad wrote:
> > Im looking to give my current system to someone in need and looking
> > for suggestions on what I could upgrade too.
> >
> > Currently I have an AMD Athlon 1.4 ghz, 512 ram with an ATI 9600xt
> > thats held out fairly well. Ive played most games on it but Half
> > Life 2 started to show that its really time to get some more speed.
> > ( I will keep my Antec 480W PSU and maxtor 120gig HD) Im not a
> > serious gamer but still enjoy them and not want to have to be
> > worried about meeting system requirements for awhile.
> >
> > Its been suggested that theres a budget friendly CPU's such as the
> > Sempron 3000 or a Celeron 3.06 ghz ( both in $75 range)with a
> > simple MB for $75-$100 which may be the way for me to go. ( I may
> > keep the 9600xt AGP or let that go with the old 1.4ghz and get
> > something new in PCI-E ... This option is quite flexible.)
> >
> > What kind of CPU/MB/RAM combo for a modest price can you guys
> > suggest ? Thanks for all input
>
>
> If your desire is only to play half-life 2, the MOST modest way to go
> is to find out the top processor your motherboard takes, and scrounge
> one up on ebay. Aside from the processor, your config is within the
> Recommended Specs for that game, the processor is barely above
> mimimum. If the top is only an athlon 1800+, you may as well dump the
> whole system, but sometimes the top is an Athlon Thunderbird 2600+.

You ever tried to get a 133MHz FSB XP2600+ second-hand? They're dearer than
the new CPUs mentioned, *if* you can get one. Always the case with the
fastest CPU for a particular socket/FSB...
--
Shaun.

~misfit~ wrote:
> paulmd@efn.org wrote:
> > Brad wrote:
> > > Im looking to give my current system to someone in need and looking
> > > for suggestions on what I could upgrade too.
> > >
> > > Currently I have an AMD Athlon 1.4 ghz, 512 ram with an ATI 9600xt
> > > thats held out fairly well. Ive played most games on it but Half
> > > Life 2 started to show that its really time to get some more speed.
> > > ( I will keep my Antec 480W PSU and maxtor 120gig HD) Im not a
> > > serious gamer but still enjoy them and not want to have to be
> > > worried about meeting system requirements for awhile.
> > >
> > > Its been suggested that theres a budget friendly CPU's such as the
> > > Sempron 3000 or a Celeron 3.06 ghz ( both in $75 range)with a
> > > simple MB for $75-$100 which may be the way for me to go. ( I may
> > > keep the 9600xt AGP or let that go with the old 1.4ghz and get
> > > something new in PCI-E ... This option is quite flexible.)
> > >
> > > What kind of CPU/MB/RAM combo for a modest price can you guys
> > > suggest ? Thanks for all input
> >
> >
> > If your desire is only to play half-life 2, the MOST modest way to go
> > is to find out the top processor your motherboard takes, and scrounge
> > one up on ebay. Aside from the processor, your config is within the
> > Recommended Specs for that game, the processor is barely above
> > mimimum. If the top is only an athlon 1800+, you may as well dump the
> > whole system, but sometimes the top is an Athlon Thunderbird 2600+.
>
> You ever tried to get a 133MHz FSB XP2600+ second-hand? They're dearer than
> the new CPUs mentioned, *if* you can get one. Always the case with the
> fastest CPU for a particular socket/FSB...

http://cgi.ebay.com/AMD-Athlon-XP-26...QQcmdZViewItem

I usually pull mine out of dead machines Particularly Emachines (lots
of dead ones). It IS easier to find the 2600+ in the 166MHZ FSB
vareity.

It really depends on what the top for the motherboard is, and 1 step
below the top is not a bad idea either.

On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 05:54:39 GMT, "Brad" <none@invalid.com>
wrote:

>Im looking to give my current system to someone in need and looking for
>suggestions on what I could upgrade too.
>
>Currently I have an AMD Athlon 1.4 ghz, 512 ram with an ATI 9600xt thats
>held out fairly well. Ive played most games on it but Half Life 2 started to
>show that its really time to get some more speed. ( I will keep my Antec
>480W PSU and maxtor 120gig HD) Im not a serious gamer but still enjoy them
>and not want to have to be worried about meeting system requirements for
>awhile.
>
>Its been suggested that theres a budget friendly CPU's such as the Sempron
>3000 or a Celeron 3.06 ghz ( both in $75 range)with a simple MB for
>$75-$100 which may be the way for me to go. ( I may keep the 9600xt AGP or
>let that go with the old 1.4ghz and get something new in PCI-E ... This
>option is quite flexible.)
>
>What kind of CPU/MB/RAM combo for a modest price can you guys suggest ?
>Thanks for all input
>

It will depend on how much future upgradability matters.
The cheapest means towards your end is legacy stuff from the
socket 754 or 939 era, but of course least upgradable, and
even moreso if you bought another board that supports DDR1
or AGP instead of DDR2 and PCI Express.

So you have to decide what the budget is, including for
memory and video card, and consider what resolutions you
game with and how much eyecandy you "need" in your games as
it directly effects how good a video card you need and how
much of a bottleneck your current one is.

Since your present system is fairly aged, I will presume you
want to likewise get a few years out of it's replacement and
thus recommend going to PCI Express and DDR2 memory,
especially since your present video card and memory aren't
very valuable and not of much use in a faster/newer system
even if the newer system supported them.

If instead, you only want the cheapest thing to reuse your
memory and video, possibly something like this,
http://promotions.newegg.com/NeweggP...urs/index.html
but IMO, you're at the point where replacing the video card
(and going with a board supporting PCI Express instead) make
the most long-term sense, but of course will cost more
immediately.

<paulmd@efn.org> wrote in message
news:1159339587.019460.215520@d34g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
>
> Brad wrote:
>> Im looking to give my current system to someone in need and looking for
>> suggestions on what I could upgrade too.
>>
>> Currently I have an AMD Athlon 1.4 ghz, 512 ram with an ATI 9600xt thats
>> held out fairly well. Ive played most games on it but Half Life 2 started
>> to
>> show that its really time to get some more speed. ( I will keep my Antec
>> 480W PSU and maxtor 120gig HD) Im not a serious gamer but still enjoy
>> them
>> and not want to have to be worried about meeting system requirements for
>> awhile.
>>
>> Its been suggested that theres a budget friendly CPU's such as the
>> Sempron
>> 3000 or a Celeron 3.06 ghz ( both in $75 range)with a simple MB for
>> $75-$100 which may be the way for me to go. ( I may keep the 9600xt AGP
>> or
>> let that go with the old 1.4ghz and get something new in PCI-E ... This
>> option is quite flexible.)
>>
>> What kind of CPU/MB/RAM combo for a modest price can you guys suggest ?
>> Thanks for all input
>
>
> If your desire is only to play half-life 2, the MOST modest way to go
> is to find out the top processor your motherboard takes, and scrounge
> one up on ebay. Aside from the processor, your config is within the
> Recommended Specs for that game, the processor is barely above mimimum.
> If the top is only an athlon 1800+, you may as well dump the whole
> system, but sometimes the top is an Athlon Thunderbird 2600+. Halflife
> is a heavily CPU bound game.
>
> This is a stopgap method, it would meet your current needs, and buy
> some time to save for the better system.
>
> If there are other games in the mix you've got your eye on, the picture
> changes.
>
> Can we get more detail on your current config?
>
> Motherboard make and model?
> What type of RAM? (eg, pc-133, pc2700)
>
> THe Celeron is not really a gaming chip, but a 3.06chz would let you
> play halflife 2 better than your current system. I have found the
> Sempron 3400+ to be quite acceptable for the games I play. 2GB of ram
> deosn't hurt either (I know it's overkill),

Thank you for the ideas. I just wanted to clarify though that Im not looking
to just upgrade portions of my system. The intent is to give my setup to my
lady friend. I wanted to find if the budget cpu's will noticeable outperform
my aged Atlhon or if I would need to go higher. Given your opinion and some
others, Im gathering a Sempron may be the viable option.

Brad wrote:
> <paulmd@efn.org> wrote in message
> news:1159339587.019460.215520@d34g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
> >
> > Brad wrote:
> >> Im looking to give my current system to someone in need and looking for
> >> suggestions on what I could upgrade too.
> >>
> >> Currently I have an AMD Athlon 1.4 ghz, 512 ram with an ATI 9600xt thats
> >> held out fairly well. Ive played most games on it but Half Life 2 started
> >> to
> >> show that its really time to get some more speed. ( I will keep my Antec
> >> 480W PSU and maxtor 120gig HD) Im not a serious gamer but still enjoy
> >> them
> >> and not want to have to be worried about meeting system requirements for
> >> awhile.
> >>
> >> Its been suggested that theres a budget friendly CPU's such as the
> >> Sempron
> >> 3000 or a Celeron 3.06 ghz ( both in $75 range)with a simple MB for
> >> $75-$100 which may be the way for me to go. ( I may keep the 9600xt AGP
> >> or
> >> let that go with the old 1.4ghz and get something new in PCI-E ... This
> >> option is quite flexible.)
> >>
> >> What kind of CPU/MB/RAM combo for a modest price can you guys suggest ?
> >> Thanks for all input
> >
> >
> > If your desire is only to play half-life 2, the MOST modest way to go
> > is to find out the top processor your motherboard takes, and scrounge
> > one up on ebay. Aside from the processor, your config is within the
> > Recommended Specs for that game, the processor is barely above mimimum.
> > If the top is only an athlon 1800+, you may as well dump the whole
> > system, but sometimes the top is an Athlon Thunderbird 2600+. Halflife
> > is a heavily CPU bound game.
> >
> > This is a stopgap method, it would meet your current needs, and buy
> > some time to save for the better system.
> >
> > If there are other games in the mix you've got your eye on, the picture
> > changes.
> >
> > Can we get more detail on your current config?
> >
> > Motherboard make and model?
> > What type of RAM? (eg, pc-133, pc2700)
> >
> > THe Celeron is not really a gaming chip, but a 3.06chz would let you
> > play halflife 2 better than your current system. I have found the
> > Sempron 3400+ to be quite acceptable for the games I play. 2GB of ram
> > deosn't hurt either (I know it's overkill),
>
> Thank you for the ideas. I just wanted to clarify though that Im not looking
> to just upgrade portions of my system. The intent is to give my setup to my
> lady friend. I wanted to find if the budget cpu's will noticeable outperform
> my aged Atlhon or if I would need to go higher. Given your opinion and some
> others, Im gathering a Sempron may be the viable option.

Anything new will outperform that old athlon by at LEAST 3x or more.
Probably much more.

With regards to the motherboards, avoid ECS/Elitegroup, they have a
phenominal failure rate. Also avoid the temptation to buy an emachines
computer. Aside from not being gaming computers, they both SUCK, and
die young (never to be revived). It's not a moneysaver to have your
machine die in 2 years. I have a wall of dead emachines.