Advice wanted

[rwest]

I have:

Compaq Presario fully reformatted with Win XP
ASUS A8AE-LE Socket 939 MB
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice core 2gb
2 x 512mb Samsung DDR400 in dual channel
hp 740i dvd rw drive
250gb Seagate 7200.10 SATA HDD
Onboard ATI Xpress 200
Optional pci-e 1x slot
Onboard sound

I want to upgrade just so I can decrease my encoding speed. PC does fine for all other uses. I support the X2 processor. So far my options are:
1. apx 80.00 -120.00 bucks for a used athlon 64 X2 4200 has 512 L2 cache
2. 155.00 new athlon 64 X2 4200 (was a hard find)
3. Apx 200.00 used Athlon 64 X2 4400 1024 L2 cache (I really want the larger cache)
And the 4800 is just stupid.
The 3800 X2 is out of the question, because it's HT speed is only 800 and the 3200+ Venice core I have has an HT of 1000. What I would gain from the dual core I'm afraid I would lose in bus.
4. Build.

I also have another case with a 450watt power supply with a 20+4pin connector. Two optical drives, two WD PATA HDD's, Creative sound card, and an ATI 9600XT AGP card. It has an ECS board with 2.4 celly on it. Probably gonna gut it.
I already own two copies of XP.

Is the dual core gonna bump my encoding up enough to make an X2 purchase worth it? Or should I spend the couple hundred i have and look at a MB, processor, and ram?

I'm leaning toward the build. So what'dya think? Should I drop the cash on a 939 dual core or can someone put together a decent set of guts for roughly 200.00? Max 250.00

I'm open to Amd or Intel.

[Alaron]

The upgrade would make a difference. I upgraded from the 3200+ to the X2 4400+ and it was quite a change for the better.

However, that was years ago and at this point I wouldn't drop any money on a dead platform. Look into something current like:

Asus P5Q-VM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131345
Core 2 Duo E7300: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115132
4GB DDR2-800: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148160

That comes to ~$270 and you could play around to trim it a tad probably.

[rwest]

Thanks for the relpy and suggestions. I am wanting to keep cost down and make the purchase well worth it. That's an awesome processor for the money. What do you think of this Board to pair with it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186140

[shadowpr]

I like this board for budget builds: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131350

[rwest]

Shadowpr, my biggest problem has been looking for a decent budget board I can hook up my front usb ports to. I didn't see where this was possible, or is it? I don't need to have them hooked up, but I'd like to.

[shadowpr]

It has two internal usb connections. I just checked the manual on mine.

[rwest]

That's good. It seems alot of the specs maybe don't list header's? Anyway it's an Asus and it supports dual channel.
Combined with that C2D Alaron suggested I don't think I could even come near it with any 939 setup.
Any reason I should get 4 gig of ram if I'm only gonna' load XP 32 bit, other than the fact than ram is super cheap?

[glc]

It will perform better than with 2gb.

[rwest]

Then 4 gb it will be. Thanx .

I have three hdds to choose from. Which setup do you think would be the best option?

A) 80 gb WD Caviar SE 7200 8mb cache for the OS
320 gb WD Caviar SE 7200 8mb cache for files

Of course these would have to be on the same channel, because both are ide, but both support DMA mode 5.


b) 80 gb WD for the OS
250 gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 16mb cache SATA for files

or

c) 250gb Seagate SATA for the OS
320gb WD for files

I don't neccesarialy need a large drive for the OS, and would rather keep one for the other system, but if data access will be notably faster then I'd do it. Whichever one I don't use, I'm gonna put back on the AMD 939 system. Lastly I would have to pull the Seagate and format it, because it's running the 939 system now.

So while I'm sure options 'B' and 'C' are better choices than 'A', my question here is: "How much better? Especially since the whole shebang started because I wanted to decrease my encodng times.

What would you guys do?..... and "What would Jesus do?"

[glc]

Go 100% SATA on the new board, including opticals. No good reason to use IDE any more. Go for the most cache - 32mb preferred. If you are going budget, at least go 16mb.

[rwest]

Okay. Then I'll have to use my Seagate for the only hdd drive untill the boss lets me have a little more play money. Although; I still would need an SATA DVD burner. Any good suggestions for around $50 bucks? Possibly with lightscribe. Lightscribe not neccesary, willing to give it up for quality.

[glc]

If you already have an IDE burner, go ahead and use it. You can spend the 50 bucks on another hard drive.

If you want a SATA burner with Lightscribe, Newegg has a Lite-On for $25.99 OEM and $27.99 retail. The retail is not in stock right now, the only difference is the retail comes with a data cable and a Molex to SATA power adapter, and it also comes with OEM Nero software.

[rwest]

Thanx. I'll be getting the OEM version with a future purchase,( I have software) for now I'm gonna stick with my ide optical.

Looking at things from this standpoint:

I could build with the list as it is with only one hdd and my ide burner, or buy a second SATA.

I was using two hdds because I had them, and one could be used for the OS. Also for encoding. (ie. original file on one channel encoded file on another channel).

Since it appears that I may be droppiing a little more money into the build, what do you think of my purchasing a name brand power supply before putting the money into a second SATA hdd? Putting quality before want. Because realistically I have what I need to build.

The PS I'm planning to use came in a non-labeled, non-working case. It's been almost fully loaded and stable for a good three months now. That's why I feel pretty confident in using it. But since your saying don't use the ide drive buy SATA( and I trust your opinion), Now I'm looking at the bulid from a different perspective than I started with.

So; in a nutshell:
1. Build with a no name 450watt PSU, one SATA hdd, ide optical, and buy 2nd SATA hdd as next purchase, or
2. one SATA hdd, ide optical, then scrape, beg, and plead to buy known quality PS to build with?

Oh, and of course your suggestions.

[glc]

Can you find any kind of labeling on the power supply?

If you are just going to use onboard video, you can get an Antec Basiq 350 (built by FSP) for 20 bucks or a 300 watt Enlight (built by Delta) for 12 bucks.

[rwest]

Well I pulled it and found a label on the top! Jeez. Anyway the model is APC 430W-P4

28A on the 3v
30A on the 5V
15A on the 12V

Know anything about it?

[glc]

Old ATX 1.x unit - not suitable for a PCI-E board.

[rwest]

Hmmn. well then I'm going to need to get a PS.

I'm eventually going to be running two optical drives and two sata hdds, most likely a low to moderate pci-e card, and I've got a recent Creative Sound Blaster Audigy card I may put in it.

Given that info will the Antech do the job or should I look for a unit with a little more punch?

[glc]

I'd go for the Basiq 500 at 40 bucks.

[rwest]

I looked at it, and honestly if I'm gonna get the PSU now it'll need more SATA connectors. Here's some I looked at:

Cooler Master Ext Pow plus 500W 49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171031

xclio Stable pwr 500W 49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189014

Thermaltake 500w 59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052

Or is there a better choice for me?
BTW I really have capped my dollar range, but it doesn't make since to buy ps now and one later when I do start getting the additional drives.

[glc]

All you need is Molex to SATA adapters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812189121

The P5KPL-CM happens to come with one, along with one SATA data cable.

[rwest]

I sure thought too hard on that one. Here's the list:

Processor: C2D E7300 $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115132

ram: Crucial 2 x 2gb $41.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148160

motherboard: Asus P5KPL-AM/PS $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131350

power: Antec Basiq 500w $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189014

total $256.96
3-day shipping $13.50

Grand Total $270.46


video: onboard

Creative Audigy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102012 own it

250gb Seagate 7200.10 Barracuda 16mb cache own it

Hp740i DVD ide burner own it


After shipping, I'm only 20 bucks over budget. Any final thoughts?

[glc]

The ram is now 29 bucks.

[rwest]

Yeh, it says that; but when I take it to the cart it goes to 41.99

[Alaron]

It says $39.99 for the RAM now.

It looks like a very solid list rwest. Plenty of space for future upgrades when you need 'em. Enjoy!