Updating a P4 to an AMD Gaming Rig

[brettitonius]

Got some help in here a few months ago trying to update a flagging machine.

Old parts to be upgraded:
P4 & some old intel mobo
couple of sticks of DDR2 memory

New parts purchased already:
Corsair 650 W PSU
ASUS GTX 460 ENG TX 1GB Video Card

Parts to use until I get some more funds:
Dell 20' 1600 x 1200 monitor
Mouse, keyboard, optical drives, 2 x 160 G barracuda drives

So I was all excited when I got this beautiful new video card but the framerate on most of my games still sucks and I haven't seen much improvement so next bet is to upgrade the CPU/Mobo/RAM

I ONLY use this rig to play games, mostly games a few years old, no PVP or Online games. I'm looking for a inexpensive set-up that will dazzle me for upgrading from a P4, but also something that I won't cry about if I decide to re-upgrade in 18 months when I have more money and new toys are on the market.

I've never owned AMD before and thought I might give it a shot hearing there are a lot of good gaming chips out there I might pick up for a song. However, just in the bit of research I've done (again, used to Intel) I'm confused about the CPU model numbers, what would be overkill, and what would be a good chip if I just spent $10-$20 more than another one.

Can anyone recommend a good CPU/mobo/ram combo for the above stated purposes?

Thanks!

[glc]

What is your budget for the CPU, ram, and mobo?

[brettitonius]

Well glc, that is the big question isn't it.

A few months ago I was set on buying a i5-760 and an ASUS mobo that you recommended and 4 gigs of ddr3 1333 ram- I think the price tag was around $ 400 for everything.

Then, with the new sandy bridge chips I could get an i5-2500 & a 1155 board & the ram and spend maybe $500. It seems foolish to go with the first option with the advent of the new chips and boards for not much of a premium. I know I could future proof my system if I just pulled the trigger on the 2nd option but I don't really buy new hardware right when it hits the market for various reasons (many of which i've seen discussed here in the forum).

So that's why I thought I might be able to put together a cheap AMD system to play my older games and hold out for a year until the newer intel technology was a little longer in the tooth and not selling at a premium.

I know, sounds goofy but I have $200-$300 to upgrade with now, and I can always use whatever I get now later on in another rig for my kids. The bottom line is I'm bummed that my new video card is obviously being hamstrung by the current processor/mobo/ram and I want to throw a little more money at this PC now- so I can enjoy my new parts.

So the long answer to a short question is: budget @ $250

[glc]

I know you want an AMD suggestion, but I don't do AMD builds and am not really familiar with their offerings. However, may I offer you a suggestion for a nice little Intel build for $250 to tide you over?

Newegg.com - ASUS P5G41T-M/CSM LGA 775 Intel G41 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80571E7500

Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TW3X4G1333C9

There's a very good chance you would be able to reuse the ram in a new build later.

[Khalil]

Are you planning on using the same operating system you were using on the old machine? If you are, stick to Intel, you may not even need to do a windows repair but simply just load the the new drivers.
The E7500 glc recomended is plenty fast enough for gaming.

[glc]

It's probably going to need a repair install - the controller on that board is ICH7.

What you could try is this:

How to move a Windows 2000 hard drive

Post #30.

I just replaced my motherboard again - and I used this shortcut successfully this time - before shutting down, I opened device manager, went to the parent IDE controller (mine was Intel Ultra ATA Storage Controller), updated driver, chose from a list, and chose Standard Dual IDE controller. Then I shut down and swapped the motherboard. Worked like a charm. This works with XP too.

[brettitonius]

Thanks for the suggestion guys. I like the fact that I should be able to reuse the ram when I do my major upgrade in about a year. I'll definitely look at the Wolfdale chip as this build should only set me back @ $225 - seems acceptable to me.

I'm running Windows 7 32bit but I'd like to do a clean install of the x64 Win 7. Don't really know what the difference is or if this build you recommended even warrants the 64 version. Whatever will allow full reading of the RAM I guess is important.

[David M]

If it's most demanding use is going to be gaming, and it sound like it is, then sink your money into a faster graphics card. Graphics cards are primarily what makes games run faster. That's where your bottle neck is, unless you have a really slow processor and you don't.

RAM will not make your computer run significantly faster unless it using all of what it has. Do you know how much it typically uses?

[brettitonius]

David, your post confuses me. I just bought and recently installed the Asus 460 1GB card (recommended by several on this board) - but like I mentioned in the original post I have not seen significant gameplay and framerate on the tester software that came with the card (some graphic game of a kid on a rocket sled- pretty cool but off topic...) a-sucks.

I play Rome and some of the other total war type games- but they are all at least 2-3 years old, and I get a lot of graphic slowdown and general lameness. Crysis (can) look beautiful if I want to play at 5 fps LOL, but anyway I digress.

I assume the cpu/mobo/ram I have is the culprit and not the new video card, hence this thread. I'm not entirely sure you read my original post, but I'm not trying to be rude, I will accept all suggestions. But you think the P4 3.2 chip is fast enough? Thats the chip I currently have. I just assumed the cpu and mobo being as dated as they are, would be the prime culprit.

Thanks.

[PiousDevil]

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision HDZ555WFGMBOX

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

$217 for mobo, cpu and ram. I have this mobo, very solid and great user friendly bios. CPU screams, 6MB L3 cache, I have the 3.4 quad core version, but that mobo has a very simple unlocking feature which may be able to unlock the cpu to a triple core or even a quad core. RAM is kind of an off brand, but very highly rated by users.

I'm very impressed with windows 7, btw. Don't know what you're planning to do for OS, but 7 feels very light, very responsive, and very solid. I think microsoft finally did it right.