BlakeSauner
07-13-2008, 10:54 AM
Ok, mostly, I'm a person who enjoys working with Photoshop, and some mild computer gaming. Nothing too serious, just spare time WoW. Aside from that, just your typical net junkie stuff. No serious multimedia endeavors...
(get your giggles out about WoW, I know you want to.)
It's a "Frankenstein" build at best, comprised of various budget parts, and I think even a couple components from the original Dell purchased in...2003?
(the monitor and the optical drive)
Let's look at the current specs.
Windows XP SP2
Pentium 4 2.6Ghz
1GB ram (really two 1GB sticks, but my cheap-ass Mobo won't recognize the rest..guaranteed compatibility from Crucial doesn't extend to to budget Mobos I guess :P)
P4M800PRO-M478 (V1.0) (http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?DetailID=580&CategoryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=45&LanID=9)
(this Mobo has been complete sh*t if you ask me, as far as RAM compatibility goes.)
ATI x800xl AGP card 256MB
Dell 17" flat panel monitor (looking to make this my 2nd monitor)
600w power supply, cannot recall the brand, was purchased a year-ish ago for a little over 100USD, mid-range as far as I'm concerned.
Graphics cards are pretty cheap these days, for my needs, WoW isn't so demanding on the current card, and I'm not some serious end-gamer or PvP person. Mid range cards that do the job aren't a huge concern for me.
My main concerns are the motherboard, processor, and a new monitor. I'm thinking since my old dell still holds up nicely, I'll be going for the mobo/cpu upgrade first.
Any recommendations? I like the price points on the AMD X2 processors, and as far as what I read into, anything is going to be a substantial upgrade over my current 5 year old P4. I'm looking to keep the total around or preferably under 200USD for the cpu/mobo upgrade. Is there some glaring fault with the AMD socket X2 processors that I'm overlooking? They seem to be more budget friendly than Intel.
I'll keep posting in this thread with concerns and links to things I'm looking at. any feedback would be wonderful, also, I hope I posted this in the correct section :)
(get your giggles out about WoW, I know you want to.)
It's a "Frankenstein" build at best, comprised of various budget parts, and I think even a couple components from the original Dell purchased in...2003?
(the monitor and the optical drive)
Let's look at the current specs.
Windows XP SP2
Pentium 4 2.6Ghz
1GB ram (really two 1GB sticks, but my cheap-ass Mobo won't recognize the rest..guaranteed compatibility from Crucial doesn't extend to to budget Mobos I guess :P)
P4M800PRO-M478 (V1.0) (http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?DetailID=580&CategoryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=45&LanID=9)
(this Mobo has been complete sh*t if you ask me, as far as RAM compatibility goes.)
ATI x800xl AGP card 256MB
Dell 17" flat panel monitor (looking to make this my 2nd monitor)
600w power supply, cannot recall the brand, was purchased a year-ish ago for a little over 100USD, mid-range as far as I'm concerned.
Graphics cards are pretty cheap these days, for my needs, WoW isn't so demanding on the current card, and I'm not some serious end-gamer or PvP person. Mid range cards that do the job aren't a huge concern for me.
My main concerns are the motherboard, processor, and a new monitor. I'm thinking since my old dell still holds up nicely, I'll be going for the mobo/cpu upgrade first.
Any recommendations? I like the price points on the AMD X2 processors, and as far as what I read into, anything is going to be a substantial upgrade over my current 5 year old P4. I'm looking to keep the total around or preferably under 200USD for the cpu/mobo upgrade. Is there some glaring fault with the AMD socket X2 processors that I'm overlooking? They seem to be more budget friendly than Intel.
I'll keep posting in this thread with concerns and links to things I'm looking at. any feedback would be wonderful, also, I hope I posted this in the correct section :)