200 euro upgrade build

msg11

Just going to upgrade my rig, current rig is going since 2007.

Parts to be updated

Mobo; AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Box, Sockel AM3
Socket; ASRock 970DE3/U3S3, AM3+, ATX
RAM; 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9
GFX Card; ASUS GT610-SL-1GD3-L
PRICELIST
86.26
55.62
28.31
36.80
206.99

Budget 200/250. I have a HDD 500GB and the PSU also think it's 450WATTS. Computer is just for Watching films, Youtube, Internet browsing and music playback nothing to heavy. So the above parts seem to fit the bill.

Could up the price a bit on GFX card, what do people think ?

Monotype

Do you need that graphics card in there at all? I know that that board doesn't have integrated graphics, but how about selecting one that does instead.

Alternatively, there's the new Trinity APUs. Something like these two.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/66940/MSI+FM2-A75MA-E35%2C+FM2%2C+mATX.article
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/Socket+FM2/66795/AMD+A10+5800K+Black+Edition+mit+AMD+Radeon+HD+7660D+Grafikeinheit%2C+Box%2C+FM2.article

Is graphics important at all? If not, maybe the 5600K would suit you instead.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/Socket+FM2/66799/AMD+A8+5600K+Black+Edition+mit+AMD+Radeon+HD+7560D+Grafikeinheit%2C+Tray%2C+FM2.article

If it's really just watching films and internet, you could could the CPU way down and see if you can fit in an SSD? It would give a much snappier feel to your day to day stuff since there wouldn't be much processing.

Edit: Actually, looking there now, there's feck all AM3+ motherboards with graphics cards any more. I wonder why they cut back so much. There used to be more in the 800 series chipsets.

msg11

Well it's ideally what ever people think? I am not too sure about cards etc.. It's been along time since my last build so I am not quite up on the components these days.

Ideally I would like something Quad core as it sounds like it can do some speed, I do want HDMI as my screen can take the input and I would like to use it to the best it can do.

Monotype

Using a DVI or HDMI won't make your screen any better. HDMI is not necessarily better than DVI at all, but it does has some advantages such as sound and network uses. More useful for televisions.

Certainly better to use either of those over VGA though.

Going by what you've said - Internet, films - you don't need a powerful CPU. I think you should be looking at something like below:

Item|Price
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile schwarz PC3-12800U CL9|€36.23
MSI FM2-A75MA-E35, FM2, mATX|€66.00
AMD A4-5300 mit AMD Radeon HD 7480D Grafikeinheit, Tray, FM2|€49.00
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€65.90
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€236.12

It's a dual core with reasonably okay graphics. Might even get away with some light games. High definition films is no problem whatsoever. Not tremendously powerful, but much faster than a several year old PC.
The motherboard is a brand new socket, so you can always pick a different CPU (or APU, which is what these ones are called) down the line. I picked a mATX because there's more of them to choose from and they're cheaper.
The key part of this build is the SSD. You'll tear through your regular programs and have literally no wait time for your browser. To open, that is - it won't improve your internet speed!

Edit: Have you windows 7 or 8 or linux? You'd want one of those with the SSD rather than Vista or XP.

msg11

Reading up on the SSD , I am still confussed as to what it is? Is it a HDD ? I was wanted to keep my HDD and just migrate easily over IE plug HDD into the new MOBO and just load up with Windows XP etc..

Although I can do a fresh install it's mainly music that would be stuck on this HDD.

Would a Quad core not be better than a dual core? 2x3.4GHz vs 4x3.4GHz

Also, the board in my first post is AM3+ over the FM2 is AM3 legacy ? Which one would be more future friendly !

Dreddybajs

It's almost 2013 msg11, maybe time to lay XP to rest. :pac:

ED E

msg11 wrote: »

Reading up on the SSD , I am still confussed as to what it is? Is it a HDD ? I was wanted to keep my HDD and just migrate easily over IE plug HDD into the new MOBO and just load up with Windows XP etc..

Old drive will be IDE most likely, so you'll need an adapter, and if you've been using the same drive since 07 its time to change it, thats enough wear and tear for one poor little drive.


XP is due to be retired soon enough, and driver support is becoming thinner and thinner on the ground, so I'd strongly consider 7, even if that will push your budget.

msg11

ED E wrote: »

Old drive will be IDE most likely, so you'll need an adapter, and if you've been using the same drive since 07 its time to change it, thats enough wear and tear for one poor little drive.


XP is due to be retired soon enough, and driver support is becoming thinner and thinner on the ground, so I'd strongly consider 7, even if that will push your budget.

Yeah the rig is pretty much a 24/7 operation, it's recently starting to act up and needs a update big time.

Don't mind updating to Windows 7, but XP dose me fine. I could use the developer edition of Windows 7 which I think is free?

msg11

Dreddybajs wrote: »

It's almost 2013 msg11, maybe time to lay XP to rest. :pac:

I guess the time has come to make the move to Windows 7.. Is there even a difference in them, dose it not have the same kernal and code as XP ? Or was that Vista ..

Monotype

We'll probably see much the same kernal for many times to come. It's been updated and refined though. There'd be significant changes in the movement to 64 bit and the most would be re-written.
Swapping hard drives into a new system very rarely works. You'd really have to reinstall.

Windows 7 has a lot of new stuff, mainly updating ease of use in a lot of ways with the aero snap, updated programs such as the snipping tool. There's also how it handles new hardware which is much easier. Much of the technology just wasn't around for XP. Better for newer graphics too (directX 10 and 11). Much hardware won't even have drivers for XP now.
XP is awkward enough for installing as you'd need to slipstream drivers in for an SATA drive. If that's what you've got.

Security is worse too. SSDs work much slower as well because they don't have the code for cleaning and maintaining SSDs.

Also, you won't be able to use your 8GB of RAM with XP. XP is a 32-bit OS. Max is ~4GB.

SSDs are basically a very fast hard drive. They're expensiveish for the size, but you can install your main OS on a 64GB one and keep your bulk files on the hard drives.

Yes, of course a quad core would be better, but is a quad core of any use to you? You don't magically have double the speed unless you run double the programs.

FM2 is a brand new socket. There's definitely two more processor releases. AM3+ has been out a while - we'll be getting another set of CPUs soon and possibly another after that. Beyond that, it's uncertain.
FM2 is geared towards integrated graphics. For AM3+ you'll need a dedicated card. They had a few integrated graphics on the AM3 motherboards but they seem to have evaporated with AM3+ and the 900 chipsets.

msg11

Monotype wrote: »

We'll probably see much the same kernal for many times to come. It's been updated and refined though. There'd be significant changes in the movement to 64 bit and the most would be re-written.
Swapping hard drives into a new system very rarely works. You'd really have to reinstall.

Windows 7 has a lot of new stuff, mainly updating ease of use in a lot of ways with the aero snap, updated programs such as the snipping tool. There's also how it handles new hardware which is much easier. Much of the technology just wasn't around for XP. Better for newer graphics too (directX 10 and 11). Much hardware won't even have drivers for XP now.
XP is awkward enough for installing as you'd need to slipstream drivers in for an SATA drive. If that's what you've got.

Security is worse too. SSDs work much slower as well because they don't have the code for cleaning and maintaining SSDs.

Also, you won't be able to use your 8GB of RAM with XP. XP is a 32-bit OS. Max is ~4GB.

SSDs are basically a very fast hard drive. They're expensiveish for the size, but you can install your main OS on a 64GB one and keep your bulk files on the hard drives.

Yes, of course a quad core would be better, but is a quad core of any use to you? You don't magically have double the speed unless you run double the programs.

FM2 is a brand new socket. There's definitely two more processor releases. AM3+ has been out a while - we'll be getting another set of CPUs soon and possibly another after that. Beyond that, it's uncertain.
FM2 is geared towards integrated graphics. For AM3+ you'll need a dedicated card. They had a few integrated graphics on the AM3 motherboards but they seem to have evaporated with AM3+ and the 900 chipsets.

With regards Windows 7, where could I get a copy that dose not break the bank. I could get a pirate copy, but I feel I owe Windows a payment plus I have a job now so there's no excuse not to pay my way.

Regards FM2 and AM3/3+ which would be better towards the future. Also in saying that dual core is perfect for what I need it too do I would feel quad core might be better for the future or for times I might use a heavy programme.

I'm going to go for the SSD sounds very interesting and I can always turn the old HDD into external drive.

I have a week or two before I can buy some of the stuff for this so I would like to see whats out there to try out and have a ponder about !

Thanks for all the input so far, been excellent.

Monotype

Hardwareversand have about the cheapest copies of Windows. €82 or so though. Unfortunately, the student editions have dried up, so that's not an option. If you were very thrifty and are a student, you could sign up to dreamspark and convert windows server. You do need student ID though.

FM2's future is more certain, in that we know that we'll have two more generations after the recently released one. AM3+ will have the upcoming one and probably the next one. The upcoming one will be soon and should be similar to the FM2 ones just released, so that's really only one more generation after that that we know that we'll have. Either could go on longer, as we just don't have that kind of info.

FM2 is aimed at more mainstream users. Someone who has a lower budget and just needs integrated graphics, office users, light gamers and those who want a few games now and want to upgrade later. Good for HTPCs or even a console alternative. AM3+ is for heavier users - few boards have integrated graphics, so you'll need a dedicated card. We'll also have more powerful processors - not necessarily in speed but there are 8-core CPUs. They could also release more cores to FM2 later on.

marco_polo

Apparently a downloadable Windows 8 upgrade package will be available for $39.99 through to January 2013 for any existing XP/7 users so it might be worth waiting for. (The pricing has been confirmed at $39.99 and £24.99 so the euro price will hopefully be similar)

http://news.ie.msn.com/windows-8-upgrade-price-set-at-dollar3999

Genghiz Cohen

Could Linux until then.

Monotype

Or just run a Windows 7 trial for up to 4 months.