Upgrades...

[Smudger]

I've been considering upgrading to PCI-E, so this means a new motherboard. I thought that while I was at it, I may as well get AM2, so that means new CPU and memory. Here's what i've put together, anyone got any comments? Or any better ideas?

Asus M2N, NF430, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533 667 800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £45.59 £53.57

1Gb Corsair Value Select, DDR2 PC5300 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15 £59.19 £69.55

AMD AM2 Athlon 64 3800+ Windsor Core, Dual Core 2GHz, 2x 512KB Cache, OEM £81.99 £96.34

256MB Sapphire RX1950Pro PCI-E Mem 1400MHz GDDR3 GPU 580MHz 36Pipes VIVO CrossFire + Zalman VF900-Cu £122.65 £144.11

[Yellowbeard]

I did not do the money conversion but based on US pricing, that looks like a smart budget build. Have you priced a similiar system using a C2D 6300 or, are you committed to AMD? A C2D system for the same or similiar money will likely run circles around what you have listed.

Also, since you are considering Corsair, I'd suggest comparing pricing on our HX520 PSU. It should be a good fit for your system.

[Smudger]

I didn't look at the c2d. I think I read in a PCPro article that if you're going budget, then AMD offers more bangs per buck, but in the better chips the C2D blows AMD away. I'm willing to hear arguments for both...

[Smudger]

Would I need a new PSU? I hadn't factored that in to costs...

[kalniel]

*nods* the article is right - at the budget end AMD wins out (because there aren't yet any core 2 duo in this range, so you'd have to go something horrible like pentium D).

[kalniel]

Would I need a new PSU? I hadn't factored that in to costs...

Nope, a good make 400W should be fine with that set up.

[Smudger]

OK, thanks for that, guys.

One more question, if I'm keeping my hard drives, is it just a case of plugging them into the new motherboard and starting up, or will I have to re-install windows etc? Will I have to re-load SATA drivers on the MB too?

[Yellowbeard]

You should definitely reload the OS, you can get all sorts of problems if you don't. If you have lots of personal settings, email addys, etc, you can use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard if you have XP.

Also, I'd price shop the vendors here. I believe you can have a 6300 for a TINY bit more money than your 3800+.

[Smudger]

OK, so I'm using my 2nd drive purely as a backup store. Would I backup everything to the 2nd drive and then restore once the drives are in? I've only been backing up non-program files at present...

*Edit* Just looked it up, seems fairly straightforward...

[Lee H]

It looks like your already on the right track with the equipment and I cannot really see anything I would improve on personally, well apart from probably 2 Gb of RAM but I'm just greedy

[Smudger]

That was part of the reason for going for 1x1gb rather than 2x512; I can add another stick when I've stopped feeling guilty about blowing my money on this lot...

[Lee H]

That was part of the reason for going for 1x1gb rather than 2x512; I can add another stick when I've stopped feeling guilty about blowing my money on this lot...

Oooh I like you thinking there

[MSIC]

OK, thanks for that, guys.

One more question, if I'm keeping my hard drives, is it just a case of plugging them into the new motherboard and starting up, or will I have to re-install windows etc? Will I have to re-load SATA drivers on the MB too?

Just wanted to check that you are using WinXP SP2 and not an earlier disc? You do need SP2 to allow you to use a SATA drive as a boot drive.

If you have WinXP (no Service Pack) or WinXP SP1, you need to use nliteOS to upgrade it (a very powerful & useful tool).

[Smudger]

I've got SP2, it's just my motherboard required me to load SATA drivers from floppy drive before it would recognise the HD. A floppy drive that I had neglected to purchase on account of it being outdated technology...

[Smudger]

Actually, Lee, while you're around, any idea how long until that x1950 is going to be in? Would I be better off going for a vanilla x1950 Pro?

[redsky009]

... nliteOS to upgrade it (a very powerful & useful tool).

Thanks for that MSIC - looks like just what I was needing to spank windows onto me new peecee