CPU Selection

[satyanjoy]

I m in mood of CPU upgradation..i want to upgrade my P3 800 mhz+810e
mobo+256 sdram with AMD Sempron+Geforce 6150 motherboard+512 DDR ram...
i m low in fund..thats why i m nt going for AMD Athlon 64 3000/3200 ...Is
that above configuration is enough to play the latest games like:
GTA :SA
POP
NFS:MW
HL
FarCry
etc
(in modest setting n fluid frame rate(30))

Note:: I am not going for athlon 64 3000/3200 (venice) due 2 low fund..will upgrade later

 

[Diasper]

First, welcome to the forums

I suspect the answer is not very well at all. The inetrated graphics are really only suitable for office and general stuff.

Still you might be able to play at the very lowest settings and get something. I might suggest the Jetway board using the ATI chipset (can't remember the name offhand as many people have reported overclocking the graphics part very well such that its much faster than any 6150 board. It also has HD sound, SATA 2 and fast USB performance so it'll be a board that should last you a while - it looks like you'll be looking to keep it for a while. The other reason I'd recommend going for a S939 board is that when S939 becomes the budget option and time passes dual-cores should become very cheap (comparatively) and offer you some a decent upgrade with performance/$.

Also you can overclock your CPU well in that board as you'll be looking for maximum bang per buck. That board can typically do 300mhz for HTT or pretty close - at that speeds the onboard NIC will go if that's an issue but you should still be able to overclock pretty high before that goes (check).

Anyway going for the sempron is a perfectly good choice - currently I'd say it's one of the budget kings (Well maybe next to the Intel D 805) and will compare well enough for a similiar single-core Venice etc (when you upgrade make it to dual-core)

512MB of RAM is going to limit you alot - 1GB is standard for any gaming machine but if you are running very low graphics perhaps you can get away with it - what I will say is be prepared to run a very lean machine eg a user account with next to no background apps or services running bar the key ones. Just when you purchase RAM ensure that it is a single 512MB stick so you can add a second one later.

In fact, given the hype about Conroe and the arrival of AM2 you can expect DDR sticks to be going for very cheap at second hand for sale venues (inc at these forums). In fact even now might be a good oportunity to buy from someone here - you might be able to get 1GB at very good prices.


(edit) I'm not sure S939 have arrived in the retail channels yet - there meant to arrive mid this year. In which case just check second hand places/hot deals/anandtech for & trade for some bargain S939 Venices or so. There should be enough people upgrading to dual-core etc that you can get a very nice price.

 

[Bobthelost]

Look at secondhand parts on the forsale/trade forum, you won't be able to game at all well on those settings, you may be able to get playable fps if you set everything to low and drop the resolution really low, but even then there's next to no chance of running the newer games.

Thought about and Xbox360? For the same money you'll get a much, much better gaming system.

 

[RussianSensation]

I'd strongly recommend saving up extra $20 to get A64 3000+ rev E which overclocks very well. It costs $107. Plus you'll have S939 mobo and when prices come down on dual core processors when AMD transitions to M2/M3 in 07/08 you'll be able to simply upgrade the processor and save $ in the long run. You can also find Radeon 9700 for $67 on pricewatch which is a very good 8 pipeline DX9 discrete graphics card.

Also you can play Far Cry, NFS:MW and HL2(from Xbox1) and GTA on Xbox360. That might be a better investment as boblost mentioned if you already have a decent TV. And renting games is not too expensive.

 

[Diasper]

Xbox 360 + renting/borrowing is probably a very good recommendation.

However, can I ask if this is your family PC you're trying to build here and want a little oomph for some gaming?

In which case just go for sale/trade in these forums - people tend to be nice and prices lower than elsewhere.

If you wanted to buy new I'd go for:
Jetway A210GDMS PRO
3000+ Venice

I might quickly ask what PSU are you planning to use as they've come a long way since the days of the early P3s. For overclocking or a decently powered graphics card stuff can get quite demanding on a PSU - that and connectors change.

As before though see what deals you can get on for sale and trade.

 

[furballi]

Best deal is probably this ECS combo overclocked 2.25 to 2.4GHz if you want to stick with an AGP slot.
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4705559

Fry's will often have the ECS NForce4-A754/Sempron 3100 Paris on sale for $80. This combo comes with PCI-E x16 video slot and is a good overclocker (289MHz FSB).

Circuit City has Kingston Value Ram (512MB) for $20 AR. You should get two sticks.

 

[swinger222]

Or a Geforce 6200 or ideally 6600GT if you have the cash. I would save upgrading for about 6 months until Vista is out.

 

[satyanjoy]

I planned the following Rig:
AMD Sempron 3000 - s939
MSI K8NGM2-FID motherboard
512 ddr 400 ram
I found gud comparision of AMD sempron 3000 s 939 with AMD Athlon 3000

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/sempron-3000.html
http://www.digital-daily.com/cpu/sempron_3000_939/

I want to play :
GTA:SA
FarCry
NFS:MW
POS
Brian Lara Cricket 2006
etc.. at a 800*600 resolution and modest detail..

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: satyanjoy

I want to play :
GTA:SA
FarCry
NFS:MW
POS
Brian Lara Cricket 2006
etc.. at a 800*600 resolution and modest detail..

I'd still get a stand alone graphics card. Onboard is very very slow. Even Geforce 3 is probably faster than 6150 for games.