AMD Advice
 

Since I've had an Intel based machine for the last 2 years, I have fallen behind with the AMD scene. Im currently looking into an upgrade since my trusty P4 is starting to show its age and is giving me stability problems.

I have been looking on various sites including Overclockers.co.uk, Ebuyer.com, and many more (too many to list), and I have realised I don't know the best AMD setup to be looking at.

Im looking for a motherboard, processor, ram and graphics card. I don't have a massive budget availble for this upgrade, but I want something that has some go.

Just for reference my current spec is listed below;

Intel Pentium 4 'Prescott' 3.0ghz
1024Mb Kingston DDR400 RAM
Intel D865GBFL Mainboard
ATI Radeon 9800PRO (Sapphire Board)
2x Maxtor SATA150 300GB HDD
plus the usual dvd drives

This is in a Lian-Li PC7-Plus case which has front (120mm), top (60mm) and rear (80mm) fans. Plus the optional PCI Exhaust fan (80mm I think). My CPU cooler is a Scythe Ninja (That damn prescott ain't easy to keep cool) with a 120mm fan. Im fairly sure that this problem isn't related to overheating.

Any advice will be gratefully recieved.

Now this is a product of envy if ever I saw one! :lol:

Although, you best not kick my ass with an AMD processor just after sorting out mine :roll: :twisted:

Opteron 146
1024 XMS , Firestick or any good overclocking ram ... wait till thamar arrives ...
Epox or DFI Motherboard for 939 ... Look for Nforce 4 Ultra
As for the graphic card ... a cheap one must be a Nvidia 7600gt or ATI x1600xt

Look at them in newegg.com ... i dont have time to look at the site for you now ...

He said he was on a budget thamar , which part of that you didnt understand :lol: the 7900gt is quite expensive :(

Thanks for the replies, I will be having a close look at the products suggested.

Jon, I assure you this is unrelated. My pc has been doing some wierd things the last few days. :cry:

Yeah yeah :roll: he he

See you on Sat 0X

Motherboards - go for MSI (Microstar Int.) or ASUS with socket 939 of course. I really don't know what else to say as "not a massive budget" only slightly narrows things down :p

I've got a figure of £600 to play with, but that is a maximum. I won't be able to push much further than that. I have worked out I can make about £200 by selling the bits from my old pc, plus I can put up £400.

Hopefully, that will help any recommendations.

Thanks.

So, you have roughly:

£200 on a graphics card
£200 on a processor
£100 on RAM
£100 on a motherboard

edit: what about this for a starting point:
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/4859/amd2lj.th.jpg

what are peoples views on the DFI boards vs. the MSI boards? I want to make sure I end up with a board that is going to be realible, overclocking is something I would look into in the future, but not straight away.

Edit:

I'd prefer to get DDR2 memory if I can, I have noticed the DFI boards don't seem to have one available with DDR2.

Update, I have been offered an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+, and a MSI K8N-SLI motherboard for £200 all in. Opinions required, as this is a limited time offer.

Umm, I thought AMD did not support DDR2 yet?

:shock: With your current specs I wouldnt want to upgrade until Hard drive are replaced by NAND Flash Drives...

My bad, been doing some research and just noticed that. d'oh!! :roll: My bad. Told you I was out of touch with AMD stuff.

Normal!! Cheeky; the ££££££££££ rules :twisted:

hehe :wink:

but for reference:

Overall budget = £600 or 800€

which breaks down to:

GFX card: 290€
Motherboard: 145€
RAM: 145€
Processor: 290€

and the deal on the table is 290€ for AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+, and a MSI K8N-SLI motherboard which looks like a bargain to me :shock:

As you can only use DDR could you not use your current Kingston stuff? which would leave room for something like the Gainward (or a 7900GT - 256) as well as a Zalman water cooler thingy! Well, maybe a bit of a squeeze :lol: 8)

I think I should start a new job :P