Preparing for Vista, and current build is going nuts anyway.

[ferris209]

Well, my two year old build is starting to get faulty. After upgrading my PSU a couple months back it's gone buggy. Long story short, I think the Raid portion of the MB got zapped. So, after many hours of attempted salvaging, I figured it was high time to consider going on ahead with buying the necessary Vista upgrade parts. I probably won't actually get Vista until the SP1 release, which is sure to occur in a few months. So here's what I have now:

Motherboard: Asus A8V Deluxe
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 512K, L2 Cache, Socket 939 Windows Compatible 64-bit
Video Card: ATI All In Wonder x800 XT 256MB AGP
Memory: Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MBx4 DDR PC-3200 2048 MB total Ram
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro PCI Sound Card
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower W0097 550-Watt Power Supply for ATX 12V 2.0
HDD: Seagate 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model ST3200822AS
Monitor: ViewSonic VP171B-2 17" LCD Monitor, 8ms
OS:Microsoft Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2
Case:COOLER MASTER Praetorian Black ALUMINUM MID-TOWER CASE, Model "PAC-T01-EK"

I want to upgrade to these items, and continue to run my Windows XP Pro for a time until I decide to break my Vista cherry by the end of the year.

Motherboard: Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131013)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+, Windsor Core (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103747)
Video Card: XFX GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI-E x16 Extreme (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814150202)
Memory:G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240 pin DDR2 800 SDRAM (PC2 6400) Dual Channel (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231065)

What do you all think?

[phatphoeater]

unless youre wed to the AMD platform, Core2duo is the current champ. Pricing out your cpu/mobo/ram choices comes to about $880. a better C2D setup can be had for less.

from the frequent recommendations found here:
ASUS P5B deluxe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131045)- $180
E6600 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115003)- $316
Corsair XMS DDR2 800 2gb (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145590)kit - $196 after MIR

Under $700.

heck you could even save another $130 if you get a 4300 and OC to over stock 6600 speeds. Stepping down to the vanilla P5B will save another $50. the drawback is that you cant run SLI on the P965 chipset which most C2D mobos use.

just something to think about.

[ferris209]

Nah, I ain't dead set against Intel, I've just like the AMD products, but I guess in the end it don't matter so long as it works.

[Freakitchen]

What is your budget for this system, and does it include Monitor and Peripherals?

What do you want this system to be able to do?

What parts (if any) do you intend to re-use from your old system?

phatphoeater's list is a good start - and he is right that a Core 2 Duo build is DEFINITELY the way to go right now. But a lot depends on your answer to my questions :)

FK

[jayb1234]

If you can live with your current video card untill you, do the Vista build, there should be a lot wider selection of DX10 video cards available. And there should be some models that are a lot less expensive than the few that are currently available. I agree with the Core 2 Duo reccommendation.

[ferris209]

What is your budget for this system, and does it include Monitor and Peripherals?

What do you want this system to be able to do?

What parts (if any) do you intend to re-use from your old system?

phatphoeater's list is a good start - and he is right that a Core 2 Duo build is DEFINITELY the way to go right now. But a lot depends on your answer to my questions :)

FK

I don't mind spending around $800, but if I can go less and be just as well, that would be alright.

I do a variety of things with my computer. I record and edit music, play mp3's, surf internet, and I play a few games. Mostly just Star Wars games like Empire at War and the Jedi Knights series

I plan on using everything from my old build except the motherboard, video card, ram, and processor. My optical drives are superb, as well as my case, floppy, soundcard, and power supply.

Jay, I would love to use my vid card on my next build, seeing as how it is only 7 months old, but it is an AGP card and I would rather upgrade to a PCI-E. I figure I could at least put everything back in the box and make a few bucks back on ebay for the vid card I have.

[The Segasonic Kid]

Get a new motherboard and PSU if the problem started when you got that PSU.

its not worth selling your whole system away just because abit of the motherbaord is burned. To be honest your quite lucky your whole motherboard didnt blow.

[phatphoeater]

using an ide optical drive with the p5b has been associated with some problems. some say its a p965 issue but i dont see as many complaints about it with gigabyte users. this is something that i'd be interested in knowing as well.

anybody with experience with non asus mobos and ide opticals?

[ferris209]

Get a new motherboard and PSU if the problem started when you got that PSU.

its not worth selling your whole system away just because abit of the motherbaord is burned. To be honest your quite lucky your whole motherboard didnt blow.

No the whole motherboard wasn't blown, it's just the RAID is kind of acting weird. I'm thinking that a little static electricity hit the RAID area of the board. Also, my keyboard went to acting funny where it wouldn't recognize it in the ps/2 port, got an adaptor and it did recognize it through the USB. But it won't see it on startup, so I can't access my bios or anything until windows loads.

phatphoeater, so is this problem non-existent with SATA opticals. I tried an SATA optical when I firest built this one and I had troubles galore, but that was two years ago.

[ferris209]

Also, I hate to not use this brand new PSU that I gave around $130 for. You think I should contact Thermaltake and see if they could give me a new one? If so, what should I tell them. I just know if I write them and say that upon install part of the board went bad that they'll say it was user error.

[phatphoeater]

the ide problem is the lack of a native ide controller in the chipset so some 3rd party controller is used as a bandage. from what i've read this "jmicron" controller is the culprit of the problems. there is a sticky here in the forums somewhere that a mod posted. the p5b uses this jmicron solution. i'm not sure about other makers like gigabyte.

the problem with sata opticals are that there aren't very many of em so they cost a tad more than their ide brethren.

[ferris209]

the ide problem is the lack of a native ide controller in the chipset so some 3rd party controller is used as a bandage. from what i've read this "jmicron" controller is the culprit of the problems. there is a sticky here in the forums somewhere that a mod posted. the p5b uses this jmicron solution. i'm not sure about other makers like gigabyte.

the problem with sata opticals are that there aren't very many of em so they cost a tad more than their ide brethren.

Believe me I know that, I think I gave around $125 for the SATA Optical I had first, top of the line Plextor PX-716SA, but I had problems for a couple weeks with it. I don't remember what they were. Newegg RMA'd it for me and I got a nice IDE NEC to replace it, been working great since, well, until the great PSU fiasco of December '06.

[phatphoeater]

i dont think the price difference is that great now. i just looked at newegg though and they are out of stock, unless you want a blu-ray burner for several hundred :)

[glc]

Newegg does have other brands of SATA opticals, they are maybe $5 more than IDE.

The TT power supply isn't that bad but if it's defective I'd get it replaced.