Upgrading friends computer, need a little advice

[EvilKupo]

OK, so thanks to some people on these forums (Sp12 and mfenn) I learned a lot about current processors, but now I have a few questions about ram and mother boards...

First off, my friends old system was a AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core 4200+ and 4GB Ram....would the ram that he used for that system be comparable with new mother boards? (I know it would help to know exactly what ram he has, I'll know later tonight when he gets home)

My second question is how much does the mobo matter when it comes to a person who won't OC or do anything special? Other than the standard stuff like ports and the amount of ram it can take, that is.

I also have some questions about video cards, but that will wait till I know exactly what he wants...thanks in advance!

 

[Sp12]

The original Athlon 64s were all DDR. The current standard is DDR3, so no.

Performance differences between motherboards (of the same chipset) are minuscule. The primary differences are the features/ports/quality of components used. For example, ECS and Biostar do not typically use very high-quality components (capacitors etc) as they're more expensive.

 

[EvilKupo]

Just checked his system (he sent me his cpu-z file) and it says they're DDR2 PC2 6400 which is exactly the same type of RAM I'm using (that came with my barebone) with my newer system...as long as the mobo supports DDR2 it should work, right?

Also, I'm looking through processors/video cards...I personally like AMD/ATI over Intel, and was thinking I'll most likely tell him to get the Phenom II X6 1055T and either the Radeon 5830 or 4890...or if he wants to spend the money I'l probably recommend the 5850...unless someone can give me a really good reason for him to buy either Intel or Nvidia?

Edit: Although my friend has a good budget, he hates to think about replacing the RAM he just bought about a year ago that's why I'm asking about the RAM...if it comes down to it, I can just tell him he will have to buy more no matter what.

 

[DominionSeraph]

The original Athlon 64s were all DDR.

The x2 4200+ had both socket 939 and AM2 versions. I'm rocking a 5200+ with DDR2.

But if I'm recalling the previous thread correctly, his is socket 939, which would be DDR.


Evilkupo send me a PM if you want to sell that RAM and processor (if it is socket 939). My brother-in-law's been stuck with a single-core Athlon 64 3200+ and 1GB of RAM. (My sister won't let him spend the $130 to gut it and put in an E5200 with 2GB.)
edit: Damn, looks like he has AM2.

 

[EvilKupo]

Yeah, sorry, it's socket AM2...looking at mobo's on newegg, there's a lot of cheap ($50-$100) ones that are Socket AM3/AM2+/AM2...so i'll probably get one of those so that he can keep his ram and always upgrade in the future.

DominionSeraph, i'll look around and see if I still have my Socket 939 RAM from my old computer lying around somewhere, if I do I'll let you know

 

[WildW]

I looked around when I was upgrading and the consensus was that DDR2 doesn't particularly hold back an AMD system. I've been using 4GB DDR2 with a Phenom II with great results.

 

[Sp12]

Yeah, sorry, it's socket AM2...looking at mobo's on newegg, there's a lot of cheap ($50-$100) ones that are Socket AM3/AM2+/AM2...so i'll probably get one of those so that he can keep his ram and always upgrade in the future.

DominionSeraph, i'll look around and see if I still have my Socket 939 RAM from my old computer lying around somewhere, if I do I'll let you know

The CPUs themselves are backwards compatible. The motherboards are not.

You can drop an AM3 CPU into an AM2 board, but not an AM2 CPU into an AM3 board.

 

[Pederv]

My daughters system has an AM2+ motherboard with 4GB of DDR2 memory. With the latest BIOS update it will handle all of the currently available AMD processors that are rated at 125W or lower, including the X6 1090T. So if you keep the old memory, you should be able to find a motherboard that will allow a good selection of upgrade paths.

 

[mfenn]

Make sure to check the motherboards CPU compatibility list. If it is a really old AM2 board, it may technically be able to handle a 6 core, but they manufacturer may have never gotten around to updating the BIOS. Also, some cheaper boards have wattage limitations for the processor. Basically, check the compatibility list.

On the GPU front, a 5850 would be a nice match for something like a 955, 965, 1055T, or 1090T.

 

[EvilKupo]

OK, so this is the setup I'm thinking about...

He'll keep his 4gigs of DD2 ram, case, his current HD (at least for now) and DVD-RW

I'm recommending him purchase the AMD 1090T, this gigabyte Mobo, the Radeon 5850, and a PSU (any suggestions for a PSU?)

This will come to about the top of his price range, so we'll see how he feels about it. Let me know what you guys think.

the links I provided was just from my quick look at newegg, I didn't look for best price yet.

 

[Sp12]

I think the 1055T is a much better value.

It's 200$. The 1090T is 300$. Does the 1090T offer 50% more performance? Not even close.

As for the PSU, a 550-650 watt unit will be fine for that build. The Corsair 650 watt is a good value, but I'm a big fan of the Seasonic 650 for it's gold-efficiency rating, despite it's (much) higher cost. It's also modular.