Really Sad Upgrade Question (being poor sucks!)

Solitaire

Here's a good one for everyone to ponder. And I don't expect a quick reply - after all, I have to give everyone ample time to recover from their bouts of hysterical mocking laughter... :rolleyes:

I am poor. Very poor. So poor I'm not even thinking of getting/building a new rig 'til late '06/early '07 at the earliest. So I'm going to try to upgrade my old rig. Which is fine until you bear in mind its an old Sempron 3000+ running at 2.0GHz (nope, no OCing) on an (and here's the good bit!) archaic Gigabyte 7VM333M-RZ mobo.

I really wanted to be able to run games such as Half-Life 2 and Quake 4 at incredible resolutions of... hmm... let's say 800*600 or even (gasp!) 1024*768. And at almost medium detail levels too! :eek: Not to mention actually being able to run Oblivion when it comes out (meaning I'll need full Shader 2.1 support at least).

The really funny bit? My budget is €200-€300. Okay, you can stop laughing. Its not that funny. Not for me anyway.

The problem is that my first brainwave was to boost my RAM to 1GB CAS2.3.3.7 but I'm probably stuck with PC2700 due to the mobo, and all the good Corsair offers seem to be on PC3200. Same way, I noticed some old 256MB 6200s going cheap on Komplett (don't laugh, its better than the cruddy 5200 I'm currently stuck with!) but would it even run on the limited AGP capabilities I have?

So I throw myself upon your mercies. What can I do (if anything) to upgrade this bag o' bolts on the cheap? Would it mean switching out the mobo altogether? Would that finally push me to needing a bigger PSU as well, or (far worse) a modern CPU? Because the money for THAT would push things back from the next few weeks to... uhhmm... next year probably - I'd basically be building a PC anyway if things are that bad...

K.O.Kiki

Nobody stocks Socket A mobos anymore!:mad: So, we'll have to focus all our energies into other areas;)

• GPU: First off, a new AGP card. I wouldn't be worried about 4x bandwidth limitations; you're working with an XP3000+:D But a great card would be this GeForce 6600GT; ~€144.35
  
• Next, we need RAM -- a 1Gb stick of Value RAM(erm, sorry about that...) for €90. Plus you can use it in your next build if wanted. (Alternatively, you could get a 512mb of higher-quality/speed RAM, or even this PC3500 Value bundle)
  *edit* A nice review for those Kingmax PC3500 Value sticks marks them highest for consideration: (search for: MPWC22D-38KT3R)
  
• Finally, we'll get a new cooler for your CPU to aid overclocking, and what better one to get than a Gigabyte G-Power Pro? ~€41, and again can be used if you build a Socket 754/939 rig later. (Might also wanna get some Arctic Silver compound for €8.50)

With shipping this should work out as just under €300. If you really don't want to OC, get either this Zalman or this Thermaltake (or even stick with your current cooler)

Of course, you could always lurk the For Sale forums for bargains (or a newer Socket 462(A) mobo)...
Hope this helps!

rsynnott

Solitaire wrote:

I am poor. Very poor. So poor I'm not even thinking of getting/building a new rig 'til late '06/early '07 at the earliest.

I doubt they'll be starting a charity for you just yet.

Solitaire

Sure does help Kiki...

Very impressed with the Kingsram PC3500 kit; looking good and its CL2.5 for that price? Mind you its only true CL2 thats really expensive now (I've seen good offers for Corsair PC3200 CL2.5 as well...). Oh, and anything with an OCZ badge on it :rolleyes:

Bwaargh! Noticed the Gigabyte is bright blue, flimsy looking, ugly, expensive and even noisy to boot. When even the manufacturer admits that the noise level can fly past 40dB you start looking for Zalman coolers...

Okay, technical question: How badly off the pace is a GeForce 6200? Obviously with lower clockspeed and no GDDR3 VRAM support its going to be no match for a 6600GT but Asus claims it to have Shader 3.0 support and are flogging the 256MB DDR version for the equivalent of under €50 - a third of the (lovely) 6600GTs pricetag... is it really that vital to get a GT which could well be obsolete anyway by the time I get around to my next PC?

Finally: Does anyone here know by chance the delivery charges for Overclock.co.uk? Because I'm sure I was wrong when I read ~€28. I hope.

Stephen

6200 is pants. stay away. Any AGP card you buy will be obsolete anyway. By the time you get to building your new pc at the end of this year or early next year you won't be able to get a motherboard with an agp slot.

K.O.Kiki

Well, I recommended Overclock.co.uk cos I bought stuff off them; they were very quick. Oh, and they worked out cheaper than Komplett pre-shipping! ^_^

I actually pointed out the cheapest AGP 6600GT with only DDR1; if you don't want to spend a lot of money, get a 6600 (pref silent) and save your moolah. *edit*...that's the cheapest AGP 6600 there is...*/edit*

As for the 6200... too much RAM for a low-powered graphics processor. I'd doubt you'd get SM3 working at 640x480... mind you, I'm not too sure how the 6600GT would fare at your preferred resolutions either (damn my memory), but it would probably give you a playable framerate.

As for the Gigabyte cooler, it's really a matter of personal taste & needs.
Oh yeah, and the PC3500's cheap cos it's on sale -- GO GO GO!!

Solitaire

Would it be worth parting up with the extra tenner to get the Gigabyte? Cheapest 6600GT with DDR3 RAM... especially seeing as all the cards only have 128MB RAM would getting the stuff to chug along at 1.2GHz trump the usual 800MHz LeadTek by a lot?

astrofool

a 6600gt + 1gb of ram will do for you (corsair value S recommended). Might be worth getting a twin pack (2 sticks) as older boards can have problems with large sticks (1gb+).

PC3200 will run at PC2700 speeds in that motherboard. Bear in mind that when you build your next system, it'll like be ddr2 anyway, so you could sell the entire old system at the time

A 6200 isn't a big leap over the 5200, so definitely go for at least a 6600.

Ignore CL ratings, as your system will be too slow to notice it anyway.

christophicus

go for it if its only an extra tenner.

> by the way you dont have it half bad,ny pc is an

800 mhz pentium3
with 320 mb of ram
30 gig hdd
and onboard graphics.

so dont feel so upset for yourself now.lol

by the way you can get very cheap basic ddr at www.scan.co.uk its scan own ram.

Solitaire

Does a G.Skill 1GB PC3200 CL2.5 RAM kit for €84 total sound good? Sure, I can't take advantage of the dual-channel with this piece of poo but it still works out cheaper than non-dc RAM anyway!

As for the 6600GT... €167.50 total is the cheapest I've found, and that's only because of Komplett.ie... sure there's cheaper in England/Scotland but the ludicrous shipping costs I've seen (€30-€50+!!) kill any saving ten times over :mad:

I don't suppose anyone knows of webshops that ship to Ireland a bit more cheaply??

Endurance Man

Well now im going to be shot down for this as many boardsies dont like this shop: www.pixmania.com.
Personally i have only good times with this crowd. Their prices are decent and shipping to ireland is only 10euro the last time i purchased from them , take a look.

TomCo

Solitaire wrote:

I don't suppose anyone knows of webshops that ship to Ireland a bit more cheaply??

I think for small, light items like graphics cards overclockers.co.uk have a €10 delivery charge.

SeanW

If you think that rig is old - you should see mine, an early 2002 Dell:

PC2100 ram
1.7Ghz processor
nVidia GeForce 2 MX 400
USB1.1

And that's just the stuff I haven't changed ...

40 GB HD (original) (new 80 GB drive added, both Maxtor actually pretty good)
DVD ROM drive (original - had to add a CDRW - both LiteOn, highly reccomend 'em)
128MB PC2100 DDR RAM (wasn't enough, and the original Dell RAM was faulty, so I put in 640MB PC2100 instead 128+512)
Piece of crap CRT monitor that only supported 60hz refresh (had to chuck it for an LCD cuz it was killing my eyes.
No TV Tuner facilites originally, added a cheap TV Tuner from Aldi.

Still, my current rig works great for some relatively recent games like Trainz Railway Simulator 2004 and CS: Condition Zero.

K.O.Kiki

Guess I was wrong about shipping after all :rolleyes:
It's €315 exactly for GeForce 6600GT (128Mb DDR3), Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu & 1Gb dual-channel RAM kits from both Komplett and Overclock AFTER shipping; the only difference being RAM -- Komplett having Corsair ValueSelect PC3200, Overclock having Kingmax PC3500 "SuperRAM".
(and it's a little over budget...)
However, I'd still recommend Overclock, if purely for the PC3500 you can use if you don't upgrade to a DDR2 system.
*edit* Oh yeah, and Overclock would be 48hr Business post; Komplett using 3-ish day An Post...

Nukem

Please remember there is eBay and our local FS hardware forum.I have boughts tons of gear off fello boarders. Built a computer from soul 2nd hand parts from places and it came to 550-600. 9800pro,P4 2.8,Antec 1080 amg+PSU,1Gb RAM-mid level gamer for family.

You could pick up some great bargains from time to time. Dont despair,average price of 9800 is 70-100 and a 6600gt is not much more. Have a post up in the wanted section and see how it goes. No point spending loads of your hard earned cash for something you may discard in a few months!

Komplett do value RAM and its dirt cheap - check www.shop4memory.com for cheap RAM aslo. As Endu mentioned www.pixmainia.com are cheap and dealt with them a few times and no hassles others have had problems though so up to you.

Nukem

WizZard

Did you see this? I've no idea if it will work, and am too busy to check right now...

Nukem

WizZard wrote:

Did you see this? I've no idea if it will work, and am too busy to check right now...

Wouldnt that be a huge bottleneck with the CPU and mobo? Know little of Socket A?

christophicus

SeanW wrote:

If you think that rig is old - you should see mine, an early 2002 Dell:

PC2100 ram
1.7Ghz processor
nVidia GeForce 2 MX 400
USB1.1

And that's just the stuff I haven't changed ...

40 GB HD (original) (new 80 GB drive added, both Maxtor actually pretty good)
DVD ROM drive (original - had to add a CDRW - both LiteOn, highly reccomend 'em)
128MB PC2100 DDR RAM (wasn't enough, and the original Dell RAM was faulty, so I put in 640MB PC2100 instead 128+512)
Piece of crap CRT monitor that only supported 60hz refresh (had to chuck it for an LCD cuz it was killing my eyes.
No TV Tuner facilites originally, added a cheap TV Tuner from Aldi.

Still, my current rig works great for some relatively recent games like Trainz Railway Simulator 2004 and CS: Condition Zero.

look at some of the previos posts ,my system is alot worse!!!

K.O.Kiki

WizZard wrote:

Did you see this? I've no idea if it will work, and am too busy to check right now...

WizZard, you're a legend & all but that is:

1. Waaaay overbudget.
2. Doesn't include a CPU cooler.

:rolleyes:

TerrorFirmer

You may laugh at that 6200 but it's actually good for the price! :eek:

Obviously it's not a good card by any means but I've seen it new for about 49.99 with Far Cry free. It does run Far Cry at pretty much 1024x768 with all options on, yes, a shock I know. Far Cry may be getting old but it still look beautiful! It also runs Counter Strike Source pretty decently. However there is absolutely no future proof in it, I doubt it'll play bf2 and quake 4 on anything over 800x600.....but still, those are the only 2 games I've ever seen it play, FC and CSS, both looked nice. If you were really stuck

I think it compares to a 9600-ish...

The best place is to use boards to pick up a cheap 2nd hand gfx card. For about 80 quid you'd get a 9800pro which'll do you okay for a temp year and won't be overkill given your limited cpu. Although you can't really have everything.....if you want to play the latest games now, you aren't going to do it without putting decent money in....

Why not sell the current system for a few hundred somewhere, add the budget you currently have and build a nice new pc? Might save some hassle of having to upgrade now and then again later.

K.O.Kiki

Ah, but would a 6200 run Far Cry with his 3000?
Would be interesting if you could dig up a review or 2...

Anyway, FS forum would be good. Although nothing is as cool as taking a new PCB out of its static-bag:D
Yeah, if you can find one, 9600xt/ 9800pro/xt would do you well. Even a vanilla 6600, I guess. RAM should prob be bought new, though.

gamer

if u r using a 5200 agp card almost any 128meg ,card wuould be an improvement, look at toms hardware benchmarks,it runs only 4frames/per second on far cry .be aware if u get 1gig ram now, u may need another gig in a year depending on what type on mobo/cpu u buy in the future.MY advice is get 512meg ram ,then get a fast 128meg agp card ,as recommended above,far cry and halflife 2 should run ok at 1024res with medium or hi sttings.

TerrorFirmer

The 5200 can run Far Cry better then 4 frames a second. I mean the Geforce 2 can run Far Cry....

My friend has a 5200, doesn't plan upgrading, but when Far Cry came out he was at the time able to beat the pants off my old geforce 4, and it looked rather nice.

gamer

I think that was at 1024x768 ,hi detail settings, but it was last in 2004 test, behind all 10 graphics cards tested.See toms hardware website, if u want to confirm the benchmarks,re,far cry agp cards benchmarks.