Help regarding upgrade

[limpness]

Hi guys,

I am wondering if someone will help me out.I'm trying to upgrade my PC.I just need a good mobo, a processor and RAM.rest i have from my old PC(P4 2.8) like SMPS,HDD etc.

I searched around and found that instead of the intel dual core i had in mind for around Rs.5000 i could get a athlon 2 x4 620/630?

I live in New Delhi and was hoping if someone knew the current prices if these are really available for around 5k that is.

I also found a AM3 socket mobo Gigabyte AMD 785G whch seems to be good for 5k also.Is there any other compatible motherboards available (possibly cheaper ones) from gigabyte?

what kind of RAM would i need?

[Cool Buddy]

When you ask for a buying suggestion, always mention a budget. anyways:

AMD Athlon II X4 635 - 4.8k (yes it is a quad core)
Gigabyte GA785GMT US2H - 4.5k
DDR3 RAM 1333Mhz 2GB costs ~2.4k, get 2 or 4 GB according to your budget.

If your old HDD is an IDE one, you might want to get a SATA one, 500GB from WD or Seagate costs 1.9k
Also, if budget permits, I'd advice you to get FSP Saga II 400W or Gigabyte Superb 460W SMPS for ~2k.

[Sam]

Athlon II X4 630 2.8Ghz ---> ~4.5k
Athlon II X4 635 @ 2.9Ghz ---> ~ 5k

Gigabyte GA-MA-785GMT-US2H ---> 4.4k
Gigabyte GA-MA880GM-UD2H ---> 4.6k
Biostar TA785G3 HD @ 4k (comes with 128Mb DDR3 memory) but currently not available.

Kingston 2Gb DDR3 1333Mhz ---> ~2.5k
G.Skill 2Gb DDR3 1333Mhz ---> ~2.8k

get the ones marked in bold. best value. also if possible, get a new SMPS. preferably FSP Saga II 350W @ ~1.5k. else if you not going for any discrete graphics & having trouble finding FSP, get VIP Gold 400W @ 1.5k.

for these parts, visit SMC International, Nehru Place. prices are according to their catalog. or maybe some prices will be bit lower or some maybe higher.

[Cool Buddy]

Sam have you seen any reviews of FSP Saga PSUs online. I wanted to know their exact efficiency but am unable to find a proper review. This makes me even more suspicious. Even CX400 is not available in Kolkata, only th VX series.
I enquired about Biostar one today, seems we have driven the demand too high for biostar to meet, it's not available.

[Sam]

till now. no review. actually only came across a Forton PSU (Saga II based compared to Gigabyte & Antec. last night Goggled a bit, no result).

best is to search Gigabyte 460W PSU review. as Superb is based on Saga II (heard its based on Blue Storm). so can take up their efficiency same as Saga II. but i don't its 80% efficient. i taking mine to be at 75%. just to be on safe side.

as for Biostar, the TA785G3 HD is selling for a long long time. now replaced by 3 880G board. sadly hardly one of them available. even then also at high price. gone is the VFM tag that Biostar always carries.

[Cool Buddy]

yeah, hope the 880G chipset boards become cheap soon. If one needs to spend greater than 4k on mobo, it becomes difficult to make a super value PC

[Sam]

specially when 785G chipset based mobos (Gigabyte, Biostar, MSI) are slowly disappearing from market. only option is costly 5-6k 880G. totally throws the balance of PC in those tight budget builds.

[limpness]

Thanks so much for replying guys

My budget is 9k and also i have two HDD an 40gb IDE one and seagate 160GB SATA from my old PC.And an intex 400w SMPS

What i am hoping for is a PC that can work for me for 2-3 years with possible CPU upgrading around next years time.And i realise it won't be top-end gaming PC but if i add a graphics card in the future(not right as i am on a tight budget) will it allow 'decent' gaming capability(not the latest games that are on the market at that time but some nice ones)?

Okay and so these are the current prices in Nehru Place?This quad core is really under 5k?
My budget is kinda tight so i was thinking about getting a 1GB RAM right now and adding another month after next.

And this configuration with the under 5k quad core is it good?I've never used AMD before.I have an old impression they're not preferred if someone has the money for an intel .

---------- Post added at 02:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 AM ----------

Also will a 785g mobo be available in nehru place??
I don't have the money for a 880g mobo

[Cool Buddy]

No problems with AMD, go ahead with it or you won't be able to get a good upgrade in your budget.
By buying 1 GB RAM you'll save only 700-800 which is a total wastage. so better get 2 GB RAM now itself by increasing your budget a bit.
You can definitely add a graphics card later on, but at least at that time you'll have to change your SMPS also. Don't go by the wattage rating, these local PSUs are very bad. You can keep them for now.

[limpness]

Ok one thing i was wondering about is whether a 880g mobo be available in my price range?
And also will the AM3 socket remain compatible for future processor upgrades?

Thanks for the info guys

[Sam]

^^ 880G starts from 4.6k (not sure if its the real price) & goes up till ~9k.

AM3 will support the next gen proccy from AMD. so you will get 2yrs upgradeability headroom.

[Cool Buddy]

Nice to know that AM3 will support next gen proccys too.
I am thinking of a part by part upgrade.
First the PSU, then mobo and RAM and later proccy and still later the gfx card (in gaps of a month or 2 each). I think AM3 mobo will support Athlon X2 3600+, so do you think it is a good option, coz I can't spend all the money at the same time.
And which one would you suggest among FSP Saga II 500W and Gigabyte Superb 460W considering FSP to be 300 bucks more than gigabyte.

---------- Post added at 06:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:58 PM ----------

oops, I hope the op was done, I posted my own question.

[Jaskanwar Singh]

@cool buddy,
just check the CPU support of the mobo you want to buy from the website.

[Sam]

@Cool Buddy, NO. that proccy is AM2+. won't run in AM3 board. the "ulta" is only possible i.e. AM3 running in AM2+ board. so you first need get the processor (if your board is AM2+) so you can use new processor. or save little more money, get proccy + Mobo combo.

---------- Post added at 09:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 PM ----------

Reason: AM3 = DDR3.
X2 3600+ = DDR2 memory controller. so running DDR3 ram by a AM2+ processor is IMPOSSIBLE.

[Piyush]

@OP
what will u do with ur old PC?
if u r not going to use it then u can sell the unwanted parts and that way u can increase ur budget by 2-3k
and these 2-3k will help u very much in building ur PC

[RaptorX]

Originally Posted by Sam.Shab

^^ 880G starts from 4.6k (not sure if its the real price) & goes up till ~9k.

AM3 will support the next gen proccy from AMD. so you will get 2yrs upgradeability headroom.

Sam...are you referring to the bulldozer chips? If you are then unfortunately according to this article and this one, Bulldozer will not be compatible with AM3.

[Sam]

but Bulldozer will use AM3r2 as the socket & as heard earlier, its compatible with AM3 (revision 1). some features will be turned off. well for now, we'll have to wait for an official word from AMD.

[limpness]

Ah no i'm just finished.In two days i've read up on about the x4 635 and now i'm excited.
So processor is set and RAM is set and the only thing that'll take some digging is the perfect mobo in my price range.I visited SMC international site and found some ASUS ones whos specs seem good so i'll have to hunt for a comparable gigabyte or MSI alternative.

@piyush

I'll be using the body,SMPS etc. so the thing that'll have to go to the storage cupboard is the mobo along with the processor and RAM.I still have 8 yr old P3 in there (If i sell that to a museum i'll be able to upgrade without a paisa from my pocket, and still have enough left for a burger or something LOL).

[Cool Buddy]

DDR RAM prices are sky high, if you can find a taker, you'll get some money from the RAM itself (but only if you have at least 512 MB stick). Donate your old P3 components (if they are working) to some NGO. They use it to teach MS office to kids, so it should help them coz it would definitely handle word & excel's basic features.

P.S.: There goes my dream, now I need a one shot upgrade. Proccy+Mobo+RAM+SMPS=14k

[limpness]

I'd suggest an athlon2 x4 635 with an Gigabyte GA785GMT US2H and a 2gb DDR3 RAM 1333Mhz .

Anyways i'll be going to Nehru Place on Thursday to get the parts for the PC.Thanks for the help guys.

I do have a stupid question:

This quad core processors speed is 2.9 Ghz.So that's 2.9 Ghz divided into 4 CPUs or 2.9 Ghz for each?

[Cool Buddy]

2.9 Ghz for each core. But they cannot simultaneously process a single thread, so don't consider it equivalent to 11.6 Ghz