Advice on an Upgrade please?

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Here's my current spec:

K8NF4G-SATA2 Motherboard
Sempron 2800+ (1.6Ghz) Processor - OC'd to 2.1Ghz
2x 512MB DDR Corsair RAM
Geforce 7600GT (PCI-E) Graphics Card

Basically, I really want to get hold of a new motherboard that will fulfil the following specs:

1. Has 3 or more slots for DDR Ram (So I can just buy another gig stick and shove that in and not get rid of my other ram)
2. Will fit my Graphics Card and allow me to put another Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode if I wanted (so I don't have to buy a new graphics card)
3. Has a better processor than this

I am looking to spend a maximum of £150, because I am a student and can't afford much more than that at the moment. I'm not amazing with computers so I would have to get someone to put the stuff in for me.

Please could someone offer me advice? I have come to the experts because I'm lost and need to know if motherboard and processor bundles even EXIST to fit this specification. I don't want to have to buy a new graphics card or Ram.

Help, please?

 

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Hi and welcome to CF!

First - if you don't have much money (and isn't that true of all of us! ) you have to ask yourself - "What is wrong with this computer?".

My rule of thumb for getting faster performance is that you have to spend quite a bit for the result to be noticeable.

What are you using it for?

It is a bit hard to suggest much without the specs on the memory - you could but faster stuff but the memory may hold you back.

And going SLI is sometimes not as much of an improvement as moving to a more recent card group. And if that model number is correct you only have a medium level card - check the docs to see if it supports SLI.

Finaly - wander over to the new members introduction area and introduce yourself!

Harry.

 

1. most motherboards have 4 memory slots
2. PCI-E is the standard at the mo. so you should be good with any new motherboard
3. what you after amd or intel (am2 or 775) ?

the problem you have is that your CPU and motherboard use an old socket so you'd have to upgrade both which would mean you would need to change your memory to DDR2 aswell. usually when you upgrade the motherboard, memory and CPU are done together.

grim

 

i wouldnt worry about the graphics card just yet...but like everyone else has said, the motherboards will have 4 slots for RAM, you have a choice between Intel or AMD based boards and then from there u know what CPU to get. As you say u want to go to SLi at some point so make sure u keep that in mind as not all boards come with two PCI-E slots for graphics cards...saying that Crossfire (ATI) ones are hard to come by these days...but I am hoping they will bring out more...

As for your budget...£150 will probs get you another 7600GTS card and possibly 2GB DDR2 RAM (1x 2GB sticks). The CPU and motherboard combined will be about £200 (maybe less if u dont want a very fast CPU (perhaps a C2D 2GHz?) have a look around places and see how u go...but u will be spending more than £150 for all those parts.

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the replies!

Sorry, I forgot to put socket 754. So, it'll take more than £150. Damnit, I need that student loan for university a year early!! Oh well, let's hope christmas is good this year.

I was looking for a 3Ghz CPU because my current one at 2.1 Ghz isn't very fast to me when it comes to stuff. I did some looking around and found a socket 754 processor, I think it was a Sempron 3400+ running at 2.0Ghz which is the best my current motherboard will allow. Even though I want a faster computer, I would have to buy two 1 gig sticks of ram (as my motherboard only has 2 slots) and the processor. The ram I can get off ebuyer for £60 or so, and the processor I have found for only £20. I'm sure I could overclock the processor to maybe a 2.4.

It's just something I thought of; instead of spending £200+ on basically a new computer, I could compromise and get the a 2.0 processor and 2 gigs of ram which should speed my computer up significantly. Would it be worth it, if I would only be using it for a year (until next september)?

Oh and once again, thank you all for the friendly welcome!

 

don't just look at the CPU speed there are other factors that you need to take note of such as bus speed, no. of cores, cache etc.

your best bet would be to upgrade to 2gb of memory and replace the CPU to the max the board can take else its gonna cost you a fortune to do the lot.

grim

 

Hm - 2GHz to 3GHz on the processor? In my experience you will be hard put to notice the difference!

On most PCs there are many other factors limiting the 'apparant speed', such as I/O bandwidth.

The main home apps that would benefit from that change would be:
1) Video editing (when rendering) and
2) A few games

Harry.

 

I have found that most computers that seem slow to users is not the fault of the hardware but more a combination of bloatware and poor configuration. Dare i mention Norton.. HP printer bloatware.. etc.

Run you PC lean and it will out perform faster hardware.

 

To be honest, he would notice the difference if he went dual core...and now the dual core CPUs are not as pricey as they use to be...I mean you can fetch an AMD dual core (socket 939) for about £50 now compared to this time last year when they were roughly 3 times the amount.

 

If you don't mind a short term upgrade what about 2nd hand? A lot of people are upgrading to newer intel chipsets so are selling off older kit cheap.

If so then try a Asus A8N-SLI mobo (Premium or deluxe versions) coupled with and SKT939 AMD64x2 4400 or so. You can use your existing ram on this board as well as add an additional stick (has 4 slots) plus if you get a 7600GPU you can rn it in SLI with your current one. Might be able to get Mobo, CPu and ram for £150 or around there but doubt you'd get a Graphics card as well for that price.

Otherwise, like the others have said, save your money and wait 6 month then buy Intels C2D at a decent price as a complete setup.