Greetings! I've been out of the loop as far as new hardware innovations for a few years now because I've been working hard in college. I'm graduating in the spring, however, and I really want to start gaming again. I need to upgrade my computer, but I'm sensing that technology has come a long way since I built my system back around 2002. After doing only some basic research, it doesn't look like any of the hardware I currently have at my disposal is salvageable if I want to play current games on high settings, so help me build a new system! My budget: $400-$600. In addition to the standard computer innards, I'd also like to get a new monitor. I have a case, keyboard, and mouse that should work. Any suggestions? (I find it interesting that I spent $2k total on building the system I'm currently using, and now it's a boat anchor. lol... I hate how fast technology moves sometimes... I was a dumb kid.)
I'm pretty tired to think rationally but 2002 was eight years ago, technology has come a long way since then and that's a very, very good thing. I don't really understand why you're being critical of it when everything you use depends on the forward movement of technology. Anyway your $2000 system has served you well for a long time, if you'd been a dumb kid you'd have spent a lot more on rubbish that wouldn't have lasted as long.
*sigh* ... I was only being half serious. Of course it's frustrating that my $2k system doesn't play new games, but I also understand that is a small complaint considering all that the forward movement of technology does for us. I was a dumb kid to spend that much on a system because, 1) it is very difficult for a 13-15 year old to save up that kind of cash and 2) there are far more useful investments I could have made. Anyway. Back to the topic at hand... bump. I have $500-$600 to spend. Any suggestions?
As u say in topic so $600 is about £450 here so ur looking at probs getting something on 775 socket or amds equiv (black?) ram look at 2gb 800/1066 psu a good 450/500watt antec gpu get yourself an ati 5 series case ur choosing and ur need a data hdd but their about £30. It's a tight budget but can be done I know the i3s have just come out but getting mobo,CPU and ram on that socket might just blow ur load. IMO look at tech from a year ago and see if u can pick some stuff up secondhand and ur have a nice nice system that al tho won't b up to date will def be better then what u have!
AMD Phenom II 720 ($109.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103652 Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro ($27.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185125 ASUS M4A79XTD EVO ($119.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402 Corsair XMS3 2 X 2 GB DDR3-1600 CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 ($94.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260 HIS H577FM1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 ($162.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161317 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s ($54.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181 Subtotal: $570.94 All prices listed in US Dollars and are current as of January 16, 2010 from NewEgg.com. All applicable shipping and taxes extra. Prices subject to change without notice. I also have a feeling that you need a PSU upgrade. I'm not sure if your current PSU has 24-pins for the motherboard. The older boards dating back to 2006 and earlier used only 20 pins. So here's what I suggest for PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 deltatux
Great system but I, as always, will recommend Gigabyte GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P. It's the same board as the Asus, just Gigabyte and slightly cheaper by $10. Motherboards is usually the only area's where Delta and I differ on.
Delta's suggestions are good, as always. Tough to do a good gaming build for $600, but that's a solid system for the price. Don't forget the OS is another ~$100. I can vouche for the x3 720. It's a fantastic cpu for the money and a very capable gamer. Easily overclocks to 3.4GHz minimum.
