Upgrading the parents

[Zoinks]

I think I can get by with just CPU/MB/RAM. What's a middle of the road, basic but reliable upgrade? Nothing fancy, no overclocking.

 

[century child]

For this type of system, it's hard to beat the Abit KV7 combined with a Sempron 2500+ or so, and 512MB Corsair VS. I've built several systems for people using this combo and was surprised at how "snappy" they ran.

 

[Zoinks]

Thanks, anyone disagree?

 

[o1die]

I'd go with an nforce2 board. They're available with onboard video, if needed. Newegg also has them pretty cheap as refurb boards. My ecs, even though it's a very basic board, still runs ok with this chipset.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

It depends on the budget, I build a lot of systems with a SiS741GX board (from ASRock), a Sempron 2200+ and 512MB. If you want the system to be a little more snappier change that to a socket 754 Sempron 2600+ and a K8M800 or SiS760 board.

If you go with the nForce2 you should get 2*256MB (or 2*128).

 

[flipcody]

I would go for the following. I just built a machine with these basics and was amazed at how fast it runs for the money:

Epox EP-8KDA3I $65 (nForce 3 250)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-225&depa=0

Athlon 64 2800+ retail $120 (only $30 more than equivalent Sempron):
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-452&depa=0

Corsair 512mb Value Select $53
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-026&depa=0

good luck!

 

[Zoinks]

Thanks. I think I will go for the 2800+

 

[filterxg]

If your parents are like mine look here http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2316&p=13 . The cheap AMD system can be had w/o a monitor for around $400, and will last them a couple of years easy.