£250-300 to spend [Motherboard, CPU, Ram]

Impotence

Impotence

May the source be with u!
Ok, Before i start i would like to say YES, i do have a pointless obcession with powerfull hardware that a rarly use! (But the spare power does go to distributed.net).

Im looking to upgarde to a AMD Dual Core CPU, mainly beacuse ive spent the whole summer working and i now have a cash sum to spend :D

Suggestions? i need a Motherboard, CPU, RAM (Unless i can use my current RAM untill i have more cash) and a cheap-cheap graphics card if there's no AGP slot (I dont expect it to have one, PCI-E is better for future upgrades anyway!)

I currently have 512MB PC3200

EDIT: Budget is now around £500, and if anyone mentions intel they will be flammed!
 
Well, if you want to keep using your current memory, you will have to stick with Socket 939, if you want to upgrade to AM2, i am afraid you will have to upgrade your memory. Overclockers.co.uk has some cheap stuff, check this out, 105 quid for a AMD Athlon 64 X3 3800+ CPU, Asus M2N-E (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard, this is a nice mobo, only 70 quid, got 8ch HD Audio and other great features, now this is the problem, Memory DDR2 is preety expensive so your going to be looking for value unless your budget is preety high, Overclockers UK Crucial Kits, 1GB DDR 2 Memory for 76 quid.

Overclockers UK 7600 Series, a 7600Gs should do you for now, dunno about the makes, any of those should be good tho :), i was going to reccommend something from ATi, but there not that good in the mid range, Nvidia is dominating there with it's 7600 series.

Ok, just noticed your budget :p, i think that slightly goes over it.
 
Overclcokers is very expensive compared to microdirect.co.uk... the AM2 3800+ is £10 less for a start

they also have pleanty of cheap ram

PS my buget just went up, but it now need to be a complete computer! lol (selling my 'server' to my parents... using this machine as a server, building a new one)

now about £500, graphics are not big an issue... this machine is not for games (and only the occasional GIMP) so thats really the last thing to get!
 
I have never really heard of MicroDirect, thats why i reccommended overclockers, i know its a bit off topic, but you shopped at microdirect before? whats it like, how fast is deelivery?


Ok, to the computer now:
CPU :AMD Athlon 64 4200+ AM2 £131.73
Mobo:Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 (Sata 2, Sli incase you decide to go the gaming way £88.13
Ram :OCZ® Value Pro 1GB DDR2 PC4200 533Mhz Dual Channel Kit with Copper Heatspreader £63.80
Hdd: 250 GB Western Digital Caviar £53.46
GPU: Ok, a choice of 3, there is 6200, 7300gs and 7600gs, i know your not into games, but i would get the 7600gs, or maybe look for a 7600gt just incase you decide you may like to try a game, but the 7600gs would last you a very long time if your not prepaird to play games anyway, just go with the 6200 ot 7300gs if your never planning on playing games.
7300GS £40.54
6200TC £34.66
6600 £56.64
7600GT £110.22
DVD: Sony DWQ120AB2 Dual Layer Black 16X x 16X DVD +/-R/RW oem £23.55
PSU:Antec TruePower 2.0 480W £48.06
Case:Antec SLK3000B Matt Black Midi Case 4x5.25" 3x3.5" NO PSU £34.02

£552 inc 7600GT
If thats far too over budget, get the 7300 or 6200.

are you requiring keyboard and mouse too?


Thats really wierd, sempron 3600 going for more than a 3800+ AM2 :o
Ok, all the stuff is at microdirect, but i must say, there CPU's are about £2 more, and the 5000+ at micro direct is 490, were as at overclockers.co.uk its £223, there prices are really mixed up :s
 
The prices are all over the place, but they seem reasonable! I can >just< afford that lot! I might get the 6200 to save cash, i really have no gaming plans for this machine (and i can play games on my current one if i really want, ATi 9800XT 256MB.... I got it for £180 when they where selling @ £240! [awhile ago])

Money From Exam results = £130
This Weeks pay = £132.51 (I bet there going to take NAT INS again tho :()
Sale of Computer = £250
next weeks pay = £132.51 (predicted)

Total = £645

Tobbaco = -£10
GPS = -£30(?)
Food = -£20

Total = £585.02
Remainder = £20.02 (allowing for £15 postage!!!! lol)

Beer = Remainder
 
Personally I would go cheaper on the video card and, if at all possible, get a better CPU. You can never go wrong with that upgrade.
 
I'm on a budget which has just taken a £45 cut, and there might be more if i have to pay national insurance... I can Afford that lot if i get the cheap G/C (This computer is for its sheer number crunching power!) and still have a bit of cash left over for myself
 
If you have a old HDD then use it for sometime untill you get more money to spend on your system. Like this you can hold 54 pounds for sometime.......
 
Ok, New Budget!!!

If i can stick to my budget then i will have £525 to spend :D I just need to work and the postage for that lot and im all good :D
 
The above lot (with the cheap gpu) comes to £490 incl postage! :D so i might get a better gpu... but i'll have to wait and see how well i stick to my budget!
 
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