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Question from Foxxie_kun

Asked on: 11/9 5:11PM

Best Hardware Upgrades applicable?

I don't have the money for a complete overhaul of my PC, so I was wondering what hardware would be the best on a budget?

I have a socket 939 Motherboard, and I need to upgrade to Dual Core.

Would an Athlon 64 X2 3800+@2.0Ghz for $50 be a good deal?

Also, I'm eying a new video card as well, and it comes with Far Cry 2. The card is an XFX Geforce 9800GT 512MB card. It's on Newegg for about $125 plus shipping and comes with Far Cry 2. Would it be better for me (Who couldn't care less about linking it with Far Cry 1) to get the Geforce, or would I be better going with almost $50 more for a Radeon HD 4850 512MB from HIS Hightech?

I've already got planned for a new 600 watt PSU.

Would I be better off with a new sound card over Integrated Audio? It's a $40 sound card with 7.1 channel support.

I'm pretty much building off of my mother's HP Pavilion a1253w PC.

Thanks.

Additional details - 11/11 9:38AM

Sadly I've no way to get a Mobo, RAM, CPU, Video Card, Sound Card, etc. And if I were going to get all that, I may as well get a new case, HDD, PSU, etc. to build a whole new comp.

And sadly again, we're on a super tight Christmas budget. Out of the $800 we'll have to spend, we can't use more than $200 on me (Stupid family...).

Accepted Answer

From: hustlin_pimpste 11/11 12:22PM

Ok, well at the moment leave out the soundcard ... maybe save up for that in the future.

But seriously there is NO point getting a substandard processor now that you will just have to replace almost instantly.

But, it is your money and in the end that's what matters. There is a very good forum I use called "Dear Wandy", they have very good "Building your own PC" forum there where there are a lot of helpful and knowledgeable people.

Try there.

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Submitted Answers

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From: hustlin_pimpste 11/11 9:04AM

Answer

The main thing here is not to gag your new upgrades with other lower range upgrades.

That processor would cause bottlenecks with the more powerful gfx card you are looking at, etc etc.

As to the sound card, it is always a good idea to get one, as it frees up power that would normally be used on running the integrated.

Look around for a Gigabyte mobo, an intel e series dual core and maybe even the fantastic Radeon hd4850/4870 range of cards. The 4850 offers fantastic value for money.

Just remember, a powerful gfx card is cool, but if you have a low range processor, it will just hold it back and you will see hardly any improvements.

Good luck.