Cheapest Upgrade from a AMD XP 2500+ System??

[saber800]

Hey everyone,

I'm just trying to get some ideas on the best inexpensive upgrade path from my current system. I'm not looking for anything too expensive. My budget is $250-300.

What I currently have:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton 1833MHz
Motherboard: MSI K7N2 Delta-L nForce2 400 Ultra
Memory: 512 MB of Kingston 2700 DDR
Video Card: VisionTek Nvidia Geforce4 Ti4200 128MB
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 160.0 GB @ 7200 RPMS
DVD Manufacturer & Model: Lite-On 16X
DVD R/W: Pioneer DVR-108 16X DL
Antec Smartpower 350W Power Supply (Not 2.0 version)

I was thinking of just upgrading the mobo, cpu, memory, and video. Maybe an Althon 64 3200+ with mobo and a 7600GS? What do you guys think?

Edit: I don't play too many games. Some WoW, Command and Conquer...

 

[Relion]

Excellent choice for that budget and games

 

[Daleon]

I'd suggest trying not to invest in dead tech. An AMD64 3200 is not even that much of a performance boost over what you got.

I'd wait until Intel puts out the E4300, which should be very soon. That along with the Asrock 775DUAL-VSTA you can use your existing ram and agp video card. This combo should be in the $180 range. Then upgrade the video\ram at your pleasure. Eventually once you have DDR2 and PCI-Express video I'd ditch this board and get a cheap but good OC'er like a Gigabyte S3 and crank that E4300 way up and it will be like a whole new CPU again.

But this atleast puts you on a current technology path and will smoke a 3200.

 

[saber800]

I didn't really wanna wait too long. I just need something decent to 1) run my games at 1024x768 - High settings with a max of 1280x1024; 2) Speed increase in my computer. This XP2500+ has been doing great - rock solid, but now its only a email, websurfing, IM computer.

 

[lobbyone]

CPU
Motherboard
Video Card
total comes up to $260.97

 

[saber800]

Do I need new ram? (Currently have 2x256MB Kingston 2700 DDR).
And how about power supply? (Currently Antec SmartPower 350W v1 not v2.0 with SATA connectors)

 

[lobbyone]

Originally posted by: saber800
Do I need new ram? (Currently have 2x256MB Kingston 2700 DDR).
And how about power supply? (Currently Antec SmartPower 350W v1 not v2.0 with SATA connectors)

You can re-use your existing RAM with that board I linked. The PSU will have no trouble powering a 7600GT, I had mine running on an Allied 300w no problem.

 

[Lemon law]

To saber800,

Does money burn a hole in your pocket?---like you say, your current system is rock solid.

You have yet to ask the real question---what can't my current system do that I want to do?

Once you answer that question you are somewhere. Then ask if you want to run vista---in which case another $150+ transfers out of your pockets and into Bill's pockets---and best add some ram also.

But as I look at your system, I don't see a single real high horsepower component that is really state of the arts.

You are probably better off selling the computer you have and getting a package system with vista preinstalled. ---and by then the dual and quad core processors will start to get affordable.

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: saber800
I didn't really wanna wait too long. I just need something decent to 1) run my games at 1024x768 - High settings with a max of 1280x1024; 2) Speed increase in my computer. This XP2500+ has been doing great - rock solid, but now its only a email, websurfing, IM computer.

If you are just playing older games, then the XP 2500 is still fine, and isn't what's bottlenecking your system. Tom's Did an article recently with your very same processor and new video cards. A new video card and more RAM would probably get you by for awhile. Even a 7600 GS should run a lot better than what you have now.

You might also consider that it might not really be worth upgrading and just save up for a new system. The E4300 is suppose coming out from Intel at $163 next week, and is suppose to drop to $113 next quarter. Sounds to me like that would be a good time to upgrade to a dual core.

 

[Dantzig]

If you reuse your current 512MB of RAM in a S939 system, your RAM will become your bottleneck. You really want at least 1GB these days. If you had 1+GB, I'd say go for the S939 system but since you really need more RAM, you might as well wait until the E4300/4400 price drops and put together a whole new system then.

If you're dead set on upgrading right now, I'd just get some more memory from the FS/FT forum and maybe overclock that Barton. They usually OC nicely. A used X800 Pro/XT video card wouldn't set you back too much either.

 

[ShawnD1]

If you want to upgrade, just overclock it to 3200 by changing the bus from 166 to 200. It's pretty much a sure thing that it will work; I've never heard of a 2500 not being able to OC to 3200
The ram should OC easily as well. My Athlon 2500 had some no name ram and the bus was able to go up to 210 before crashing.

Also, you'll get a way bigger speed boost if you put no money towards a processor upgrade and all of it towards a video card upgrade. The difference between an Athlon 2500 and a Core2, both using a GeForce 4, would be marginal. The difference between a GeForce 4 and a GeForce 6 is mind boggling.

 

[Sniper82]

I suggest posting on the FS/FT forums. You will get more for your money there. Just post looking for a video,memory,mobo and CPU for $300. If you plan on playing any of the newer games you need 1gb and IMO at least a 7600GT to run at your preferred settings.

 

[Jiggz]

I'm still running my Barton 2500+ (oc'ed to 3200+) after almost 4 years. I used to upgrade almost yearly, but not for the last three years. The reason why, my barton can still do everything I wanted to do with my system. Of course, I spend more time in front of it rather than with the babe. So an extra wait of 2-3 minutes compare to newer system doesn't bother me. Maybe when AMD comes withe new cpu better than C2D's I'll start upgrading again.

 

[0roo0roo]

yea same barton oc here. 2400+ mobile though
frys has has a pentium d 805 + mb for 78dollars ending today...tuesday
uses ddr memory/agp so cheapest upgrade i can get, and may help with multitasking performance since its dual core, my barton is getting a bit sluggish with all the stuff i leave running. plus it opens up future drop in of core 2 when they get cheaper. the chip also has some overclocking potential, i still have to buy a cheap cooler so i haven't tested it yet. dunno just a cheap suggestion.