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Computer Dilemma

Started by TomX 2 replies 600+ views
Original Post
TomX
TomX
Hey, I'm going to university next September and will need a computer for when I'm there so I'm going to build one. I currently only have £500 so I don't have enough for the type of system I would want. Whilst I don't plan to game (since I get addicted to games so easily) I would like the option available to be able to upgrade as so I could play the latest games (i.e. so I can upgrade to a good graphics card). So, with this in mind it seems obvious I need a motherboard which supports PCI-E but the problem with this is that I recently (2 weeks ago) bought a new AGP card (only cost £40 but still...) which would mean I'd need to buy another, cheap and sort of unneeded, graphics card. Here's a few options for me --------------------------- Buy a system right now (Motherboard supporting AGP, AMD Athlon 64, 1024MB; if I wanted to game in my later university life I'd need to buy a new motherboard and graphics) Save a little bit more (Motherboard supporting PCI-E, AMD Athlon 64, 1024MB; would feel lame for having to buy another crap graphics card) Save a lot (Motherboard supporting PCI-E, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core, 1024MB; overkill for the tasks I'll be performing). The major tasks I'll be doing on my computer is programming, browsing, music and watching TV series. I doubt a PCI-E graphics card is required for this but if I never bought a PCI-E motherboard I wouldn't be able to upgrade later without buying a new motherboard. So, given all this information (probably more info than required), what do you think of my situation? Thanks in Advance Tom EDIT: BTW, assuming I don't buy anything yet, I will have £950 by Christmas, enough for a X2 processor, fast RAM and a nice graphics card.
Extrarius
Extrarius
First of all: Do not buy an x2 processor. They offer practically no performance improvement and they're far too expensive. Unless something radical happens, they probably won't be worth it for several years.

Next, in the other threads on pc ugprades, I made the following suggestion that is probably in your budget (though my prices are in USD)

For $461:
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor - $146
AOpen GF6600GT-DV128 Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - $139
PNY Optima 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory - $97
EPoX EP-9HEAI Socket 939 VIA K8T890 ATX AMD Motherboard - $79

Of course this presumes you're keeping a lot from an existing machine, but if possible you should definitely do that when you're trying to save.
"Walk not the trodden path, for it has borne it's burden." -John, Flying Monk
ktuluorion
ktuluorion
I saw a MB on newegg that was of the brand gigabyte that supported not only a PCI-E card but also an agp card. It was something like 80$, you should take a look.
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tstrimp
tstrimp
Quote:
Original post by Extrarius
First of all: Do not buy an x2 processor. They offer practically no performance improvement and they're far too expensive. Unless something radical happens, they probably won't be worth it for several years.


If you do much multitasking there is indeed a performance difference. It is especialy noticeable in the UI while doing CPU intensive tasks, there isn't the stutter and lagging that you have with single core CPUs. Everything feels more responsive. Definitly right about the price though. Since you don't have extra cash I wouldn't recommend a dual core either.

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