Low Budget Upgrade

Got a shopping cart of parts that you want opinions on? Get advice from members on your planned or existing system (or upgrade).

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Ropes4u
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:18 pm

Low Budget Upgrade

Post by Ropes4u » Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:48 am

Tossing the system in my signature for a new one. I rarely play games anymore and the pc is mainly used for some 3d cad, and lots of photo editing. I am open to savings or better components.

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz 65W
MSI RX2600XT-T2D512EZ Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3
G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR

Thanks, John

Lt_Dan
Posts: 199
Joined: Fri May 18, 2007 4:37 pm
Location: IL

Post by Lt_Dan » Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:39 am

so you want to make it quieter.
generaly there are a few options -
1. the cheapest - suspend your HDD, it's a bit tricky doing but you just need to get an elastic cable, and the sound difference is incredible!
note that they will get a bit warmer because they aren't connect to the case (unless you put a fan in front of them)
2. changing the Case fans to quieter ones, or trying to rig the ones you got to the MB and lowering their speed. if that doesn't work a zalman fan mate 2 is a very cheap solution to decrease their speed.
3. more expensive - (possibly) if you have a heatsink on your cpu - that you can change the fan on, do it, if not get one that can.
4 more expensive, replace your graphics card to one without a fan or replace the fan to a heat sink.
5. get a quieter PSU.

after writing all that, your sig setup is good - u don't need to change any thing in the case, you hdd are suspended, the PSU is fine.

- i didn't write what components to get because i don't know how much you want to spend. and you have SPCR to get great recommendations .

my sig has my setup, and i'm pleased with it.

hope it helps.
Dan.

andyb
Patron of SPCR
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Location: Essex, England

Post by andyb » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:49 pm

I presume that you want to change the PC in your sig for a newer faster beastie such as the one that Dan missed in your post :wink:

The spec looks fine to me, but I am not up to scratch with Intel stuff although I understand that the mobo and CPU are good.

You will (as you know) want to stick with 2 HDD's one for Swap and the other for Scratch to keep everything running smoothly, and suspension as Dan says is a good idea.

Do modern CAD packages get any benefit from fast GPU's or not.?

Do you realise that you will only be able to use 3-3.5GB of RAM if you are running a 64-bit OS, I also wouldnt suggest Vista to anyone unless I hated them - stick to XP.


Andy

Lt_Dan
Posts: 199
Joined: Fri May 18, 2007 4:37 pm
Location: IL

Post by Lt_Dan » Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:22 pm

i see, so the list he posted was his new set up (that he wants to get).
it seems kinda old (sorry) - even if you don't want to run games.
anyway, i came out kinda lame...
what did you think for an HDD?
you can use 4gb of ram on vista 64 btw.

Rewdoalb
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:52 am
Location: USA

Post by Rewdoalb » Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:33 pm

since you seem to be really going for low cost here...

check out this motherboard alternative. As far as I know, it's a good quality board, just missing pretty much all bells and whistles. If it's missing something you need, forget about the suggestion lol.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6813128078

Things to know:
-Only 2 slots for memory, no room for expansion unless you scrap whatever is in there before the upgrade. (4GB is plenty though...)
-MicroATX board
-integrated graphics onboard, which you won't need, but that's okay.


And as a totally unrelated comment, consider getting a SATA DVD burner instead of IDE. Better airflow/cable management, similar price.

Also consider a passive video card or adding aftermarket quieter cooling to the card. (unless you don't care about PC noise, but then why would you come here lol?)

Finally, look at the E4600 or the new E4700 instead, as slightly more expensive but faster CPU's than the E4500.

thejamppa
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Location: Missing in Finnish wilderness, howling to moon with wolf brethren and walking with brother bears
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Post by thejamppa » Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:53 pm

Are E4x00 series really a low budget? I myself consider Celeron's and Sempron's low budget CPU's while E4x00 series inteds to be middle priced... AMD is still cheaper by the dozen and in E4x00 series AMD can compete with X5000+ BE or regular AMD X2 4400+ - X2 4800+ are pretty good for lower budget rigs.

Pairing it with AMD 690G chipset you will get nice low power consumption.

Ropes4u
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:18 pm

Post by Ropes4u » Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:32 am

Thakns for the help..

Yes CAD like more expensive GPUs but for what I do, knife design, my current rig works though a little slow when in 3d modeling.

I will look at the AMD rigs I have not kept up and was not sure what competed where so i picked middle of the road cpu from intel.


I will be using XP pro not vista so maybe I only need 2 gig of ram?

Rewdoalb
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:52 am
Location: USA

Post by Rewdoalb » Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:32 am

for XP pro -

2 GB RAM
E4600
Gigabyte G31M-S2L that I linked to earlier.

that combination should work well for you. If you need to save more cash, look at this CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6819116070
It also has a slower alternative for $10 cheaper, the E2200.

mcoleg
Posts: 410
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:55 pm

Post by mcoleg » Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:13 pm

the 2x00 ati cards are a bit outdated by now. 3x00 series should run cooler and possibly a bit faster. 3650 m/b? i am pretty sure any of them should be able to run with passive cooling.

autoboy
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Joined: Fri Dec 10, 2004 8:10 pm
Location: San Jose, California

Post by autoboy » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:36 am

Highly recommend the 3650 over the 2600. Similar speed, much lower power consumption and heat than the 2600. Intel or AMD would suit you just fine. Overall, an AMD system in this performance range would be cheaper for the same speed but either are workable. I just prefer AMD for the motherboard selection.

JLee
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon May 26, 2003 2:39 pm
Location: Vancouver

Post by JLee » Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:07 pm

+1 for 3650

cheap and will handle hd media and games very well

Ropes4u
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:18 pm

Post by Ropes4u » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:27 am

what amd mother board would be similar in specs to the P35?

mcoleg
Posts: 410
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:55 pm

Post by mcoleg » Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:51 pm

got me there...

why not stick with intel?

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