New 2nd Pc for the wife - Upgrade path

[Gavac220]

Ah well, my old venerable AMD 3700+ San Diego and ASROCK 939 combo are coming to the end of their usable lives. I have overclocked the processor to its absolute maximum, and although it still runs most games, the newer releases have Dual core minimum specs. I have it running with a 7950 GT Extreme which still handles any game I have offered it.

My wife plays games like Grid, Dirt 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and a few other titles. The upgrade is for Dirt2 and future titles.

The route I have taken is another AMD, as bangs per buck they are unmatched (Unless you are going for top spec systems-I run an Intel for my sins, but the overclockability was superior, as was the 'oomph'). I looked at the AM3 chips, and although the Dual Cores are cheap, the X4 640 3GHz was a bit of a bargain at £78.00-ish. The mother boards are incredibly cheap, and yet feature rich. After racking my brains, I actually went with a triple core X3 445 at 3.1GHz, with the view to unlocking the 4th core (Fingers crossed) for a cheap, yet powerful multi-core system.

Here it is from e-buyer:-

Item: ASUS M4A78LT-M LE AMD 760G Socket AM3 DVI VGA Out 8 CHannel Audio MATX Motherboard
Qty: 1Cost: £38.74 inc. vat

Item: AMD Athlon II X3 445 3.1 GHz - Socket AM3 1.5 MB cache Retail Box Processor
Qty: 1Cost: £54.96 inc. vat

Item: EXTRA VALUE 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit 1.5V CL9
Qty: 1Cost: £34.99 inc. vat

Very cheap system upgrade that should have the power to act as a decent second system/Arma 2 server. Not many games take advantage of Quad cores yet, believe it or not, so after I overclock it, even if I fail in my attempt to unlock the 4th core, it should be an 'OK' games machine.

I'll update this as I get it running, and comment on the capabilities as a cheap gaming rig and overclocking capabilities.

[AN7HR4X]

i recently got a am3 cpu cant remember which model to go im my media pc, im quite impressed so far, iv always had amd ie, xp 3000, s939 3500 2 of, 4800 dual core still got s754 3000 still got until i got this q6600 intel.
i also have a dfi rdx200 and a nf4 ultra d mobos lying around to tinker with.
keep us techie nerds posted

[MudShark]

Yeah Gavac, keep us posted. My old crate is starting to wheeze with BFBC2 methinks.

Current setup:

Athlon 64 X2 6000+
2 gig DDR2? RAM
8800GT with 1 gig RAM and after sales cooling
Razer Barracuda AC-1 audio
Speedlink Medusa surround headphones
Razer Lachesis mouse
Windows XP

[Gavac220]

I am very positive about what this rig could achieve. It should run everything well as standard, and after I tinker with it, should be quite a capable little box. The mobo can take the AM3 Phenom II chips as well, so there is an easy, and cheap upgrade path in the future too.

Bits should be here before Friday.

[Gavac220]

Sorry for late reply (Not been too well )

The bits all arrived, and I quickly realised a critical mistake. I usually pour over suitable third party coolers, but for some reason (Perhaps as it was the wifes PC) I forgot. Thankfully my old Gigabyte Rocket Pro from my 939 board fitted perfectly! Really surprising, but it is one of the best fits I've seen, with the minimum of jiggerypokery.

The Asus board is a dream to work with, and has a tiny form factor. Really compact. This made installation a breeze. 10mins later I had everything attached to the motherboard, and then installed into the case. So damn simple! Fired it up, and the first ASUS splash screen instantly gives you the option to "unlock cores". Installed Win7 Home Premium onto her PC, and then a quick call to re-register it with the new components. The CPU gave a 6.8 win index instantly which is pretty damn good for a £50 chip. Installed the basics (AVG, NVidia drivers etc) and then rebooted to try this core unlocker. It worked first time, and the chip was then picked up as an X4 Phenom II B4 revision. BRILLIANT! So easy and I just got a quad for peanuts! I tested it with Prime95 etc, and It wasn't completely stable without a hike in voltages, and although I have now reached that stage, I am going to crank it back to a 3 core X3 at normal voltages, and concentrate on an overclock instead. Opening the 4th core increased heat levels, which minimise the window for a decent overclock.

As I mentioned before, not many games/processes really take full advantage of full 4 cores anyway, and Ghz are what games really crave. So I am now overclocking it on air to 4 Ghz and it runs like a dream. Win 7 CPU index is 7.4! This really is a revelation in bargain power computing! My old 7950 GT Extreme is in her machine, and it runs Dirt 2 with full graphics at playable FPS. Incredible, and just shows how much we chase 'benchmarks' and 'bragging rights' in the PC market. Her system can run anything mine can, and it all cost lest than my CPU alone.

I recommend this setup to anyone needing a fast PC on a budget! You could just buy a quad core X4 Athlon II 640 for £70ish if you don't want to take the risk that the 'core unlocker' wouldn't work, but really wanted a quad cpu. I'm happy with the results (Ecstatic more like), and I plan on upgrading to a Quad Phenom II AM3 chip with an L3 cache in 1-1.5years to keep this thing able to run the latest software for the next 3yrs plus for around £50 again! Now thats budget gaming! When I upgrade my ATi 4870 (Still faster than a new 5770, although over a year old, and bought for less!), I will donate it to her system.

The major point I'm trying to make is, there hasn't been any major jumps in PC technology for a long time. Lots of hype, yes, but no real big advancements. It's a great time for the budget PC enthusiast. My Quad Q6600 (oc'd from 2.4 to 3.6Ghz on air) still cannot find anything to truly stretch its overclocked legs, and I bought my ATi 4870 1gb from the U.S. over 2 years ago (I think), and it was for less than a current budget ATi 5770 1gb, and yet it out performs high end oc'd models by quite a margin in benchmarks. Why upgrade? Well, for me, I have no need to do so for a long time, and Sarah's PC is now right up there too for CPU power, and my old 7950 GT Extreme oc'd edition runs pretty much any game alongside it, at decent graphical levels.

I7's - I laugh at you!



**Edit Just a quick mention of the budget 4gb 1333 DDR3 budget memory. Oc'd perfectly, and ran like a dream. Seeing how well it coped embarrassed my own belief that a decent chip with heat spreaders was required for overclocking. Remember this whole system (CPU MOBO and RAM) cost peanuts! Check the costs in the first post!

[MudShark]

£130 freakin quid! Fek me.

[bambam]

yeah well done Gav - max bang-per-buck probably. The 7950 seems like the weak spot but maybe you're running it with low settings. From Muddy's specs the 8800GT was a truly classic card but today it's replacement is going to dominate the upgrade cost IMHO.

Bamzors

[Gavac220]

7950 GT Extreme kicked most of the 8800 series ass!

Gotta love the naming game - Higher the number the better the card? Bollox. A few new features, and quite often less horse power. Marketing is such a fun way to screw with the world and it's perceptions.

[Tempest]

I just want to know, was it an upgrade path worth trading the wife for?

"New 2nd Pc for the wife - Upgrade path"

[Gavac220]

I'm happy, and now I can watch all the porn I want without any grumbles! Win Win