Looking Cheap upgrade.. 2 questions

[chesss]

I am looking for a cheap upgrade . My current cpu is PIII 733Mhz with 256mb ram.

I want this upgrade to be really really cheap. A dead laptop being the reason

I am thinking abt..
AMD Sempron 3200+ @ Rs. 1050 /-
512 DDR2 ram
MSI K9N6SGM-V preferably
OR ASUS M2N-vm


Question 1 - Wld this mobo allow future upgrades? i.e wld future quad cpus fit in this mobo?


Q2) Shld I attach my ancient slow 20gb ide HDD? i.e wld my slow harddisk nullify the effect of the upgraded cpu? Basically how much of a bottleneck wld the hard-disk be?

Thank you

[ancientrites]

budget?

[Xccentricity]

The mobo u prefer lacks because:-

1. It does'nt not support the Phenom series of CPUs, max RAM is only upto 2GB, only 2 SATA ports,

2. Ur 20GB HDD will bottleneck ur system, go for a 160 or 250 GB SATA HDD depending on ur budget.



I suggest u go for this mobo:-

(MSI K9A2 CF)

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...=1&cat2_no=171

Priced at 6K it provides excellent VFM.

[kumarmohit]

Go for Sempron LE 1100 if you can afford it.

[Xccentricity]

Originally Posted by kumarmohit

Go for Sempron LE 1100 if you can afford it.

Are'nt all Semprons below rs.2.5K?

[chesss]

Ok I got the prices from nehru place-

sempron 1150 -1450
MSI mobo - 2200
80gb seagate -1800
512 ddr2 - 450

= 5900
So the only issue remains is...

1. It does'nt not support the Phenom series of CPUs,

but are u sure abt this??

AMD confirmed that AM2 processors will work in AM2+ motherboards and AM2+ processors will work on AM2 motherboards. However, due to the lack of support of HyperTransport 3.0 and separated power planes in Socket AM2 motherboards, AM2+ chips will be limited to the specifications of Socket AM2 (HyperTransport 2.0 at the speed of 1 GHz, one power plane for both Cores and IMC). AM2 chips will not benefit from faster HyperTransport and separated power planes on AM2+ motherboards as they do not support them, AM2+ motherboard then fall back to compatibility mode using AM2 specifications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM2%2B

[saqib_khan]

chesss pls go for 1 GB 667 MHZ RAM = 900 Rs.
Purchsing less than that is of no use imo.
Also ur HD price is costly, i mean, why don't u buy 160 GB HD for 2000 Rs.And ofcourse buy SATA 7200 rpm & 8 mb buffer.
And ur wikipedia link is correct, but according to tests conducted , many mobo don't support phenom.
It's only the theory which AMD said, but it's too far from practical.

[gulgulumaal]

Dont worry about phenom for now. By the time phenom becomes mainstream, your motherboard will become quite outdated. Then u'll be better off selling ur mobo/proccy/ram combo and getting a newer motherboard which supports phenom properly. For ur ultra low budget,just get something which will get u running at the lowest cost.

I wud suggest Jetway M26GT3-SVP. Support for 8GB RAM and a decent chipset. Cost shud be around 2K only.

And BTW instead of Sempron, get an Athlon AMD 64 LE 1600+ (Rs 1750/-) if budget permits. U get a lot more performance for 300 Rs extra.

[chesss]

^^Thanks a lot for replying
Your help is priceless.
I'll look into your suggestions.

[chesss]

get an Athlon AMD 64 LE 1600+ (Rs 1750/-)

r u sure abt the price? It is available for 2500 on ebay

[saqib_khan]

Don't buy anything from ebay or any online site, instead buy from ur dealer.
Ask for the prices in 5-10 shops, as i did before buying mine. lol.
I m serious, i did that, & u can also do that.
And yes , i liked ur signature "jin files...."

[chesss]

^thanks

My final config

AMD Athlon le-1600+ -1750 THis looks like a terrific chip!
Have a look here here I am drooling at the prospect of playing with this . Thanks gulgulumaal
MSI mobo - 2200
512 ddr2 - 450

= Rs. 4500
I want to go for a cool/decent and if possible fanless psu so I'll skip the sata and stick with my IDE..
So whats the quietest psu cabinet combo do I get for Rs. 2500?

[harryneopotter]

atleast get a 160 GB sata (if u r going for a HDD) coz there is little difference in price (150-250 max) and u will get double the storage capacity.

[chesss]

Change of plans
My final config
AMD Athlon le-1600+ -1750
512 ddr2 - 450
silent n cool sata HDD fomr my laptop - free! turns out 2.5 sata HDD are totally compatible with desktops!! no need for any wires/adapters
cd-rw from old desktop - free!

The change is ..
ASUS M2A-vm -3350
It has
a) AM2+ support. pop in a f!@#@ phenom baby!
b) ATI card that has 3d drivers for ubuntu
c) aero compatible onboard VGA!! ahhhhhhhhhh
d)major ocing support .
All this is toooooo much to miss. It wld be crazy to go for anything else

=Rs.5600.. SWEET

I am overjoyed here! I was looking for a cheap upgrade, but it has almost turned into a dream system(taking into acc my bugdet)...Also my proccy will be noiseless, my HDD is baerly audible, Now I just need a quiet 300w PSU cabi within 2k for the ideal system.

btw my suggetion for those building 20000K systems -
Instead of getting one system, get 2 systems like mine , which wld cost u abt 16000 and now with the left over money u can rent neighbour kids to play lan games with u...

[chesss]

Edit: I am confused again. two more mobos have popped. Both with ATI X1250 (aero compatible)

Jetway M2A692-GDG -- Rs. 2550 perfect.. got great reviews but no am2+
MSI K9AGM3-F --Rs. 2800 has AM2+ , but I can't find a review or even detailed specs for this..
help plz

[juggler]

better go for Asus m2-am.
On one of the benchmarks on some site they have tested it with phenom with no problem.
Also its a very good performer and in my opinion asus makes the best boards

[Zangetsu]

Originally Posted by juggler

in my opinion asus makes the best boards

Not true always.......

[juggler]

Just an opinion arising out of personal experience

[saqib_khan]

Originally Posted by chesss

Edit: I confused again. two more mobos have popped. Both with ATI X1250 (aero compatible)

Jetway M2A692-GDG -- Rs. 2550 perfect.. got great reviews but no am2+
MSI K9AGM3-F --Rs. 2800 has AM2+ , but I can't find a review or even detailed specs for this..
help plz

Don't buy any from these 2, buy Asus M2A-VM, instead.
I think there is some issue with graphics on m2a vm, read the reviews on net first & take ur decision.
Can u buy jetway mobo ?
Do inquiry of amd 690g chipset in jetway, and say us the price and model no of it.

[chesss]

^that was just a driver problem..
btw a dealer quoted m2a's price at 5500 ...on the phone
and when I asked him abt athlon 64 le-1600+
he said "aisa koi processor nahi hai. AAp galat bata rahe ho" wtf. I guess I'll have to make another trip to nehru place.. arghhhhh

Can u buy jetway mobo ?

well I have no idea abt availability
and Jetway M2A692-GDG - this itself has 690g

[m-jeri]

hmm...asus is not tht good now...u might wanna look into tht...go with msi....if u can...

[saqib_khan]

oop's , i think i missed that.
Buy Jetway M2A692-GDG if u can, it's a good mobo.

[chesss]

turns out the MSI board doesn't have AM2+ afterall... some site said it does butits only limited support (like some guys wrote above). it doesn't have an AM2+ socket

[shift]

go for GIGABYTE mobo, very silent, but dont remember the model (will post later), and has ATI Radeon graphics, can even play NFS: ProStreet with onboard graphics, price is not more than 2300, a friend of mine bought it yesterday

[m-jeri]

look for abit or so....try others opinion abt asus....here in kerala they have horrible service...

[shift]

GIGABYTE S Series, GA MA69VM 52 - very silent

[chesss]

^this thing is available for 2300??
It has AMD 690v
Works with ubuntu
Nice reviews
and according to this site. It has am2+ socket as well. :yikes:
THough I doubt if it 'real' am2+ board. More like partially supporting am2+ cpus

But still for 2300 it looks unbeatable. The only issue wld be availability..

@shiftplz tell me u r from delhi

[saqib_khan]

So, did u got that for 2300?

[chesss]

nah, it has phoenix bios (ewww)

I have decided upon asus m2a-mx (Rs. 2400)
and I can't find the le-1600 cpu in delhi..might go for x2 4000 if budget permits.. or else wait a week or so for le-1600
Nor am I getting any recommendations for an affordable quiet psu...

[chesss]

LE AAYA!!
Jumping with joy here!!
This is what I got (very different from what I had planned earlier)

AMD 64 x2 4000+ + ASUS M2a-mx = Rs. 4900 (Computer Infinite 207, Sahyog Building 58,)
corsair 1gb = 1050 (same dealer)
Sahara cabinet = 1100 (computer zone) - initial quote was 1100, so I had to bargain (beg?), as I didn't have any cash left for auto

== Rs 7050

Haven't done any assembling yet. First up is cleaning the computer table(rajors, lighters, radio,knives,wires,pens,batteries,coins, boxes,old sound cards, cdroms etc etc) Then read a few guides and tips for assembling. Don't wanna screw anything.. Now just hoping that it all works and that too silently..

btw the heatsink and fan of the are HUGE as compared to my PIII and the gpu heatsink also kind of big. Just run cool...