Case Woes/AMD Upgrade
 

I hate my case. It is ugly and not very conducive for heat management and cooling (its a Dell so what can you expect.) I am very happy with the vast majority of my internal components:
1) 9800 Pro
2) M-Audio Rev
3) 1.25G 3200RAM
4) HDD/Optical drives

Because I want a new case, I am caught in a bind because Dell uses their own brand/style of motherboards so I can't just transfer my motherboard/cpu into a another case. Ever since the AMD 64 chips have come out I have been uber intrigued (I am a gamer). My question to this forum is this: Can I or would it be possible to upgrade to AMD 64 system (case/motherboard/cpu) for about $500? I figure $100 for case, $100 for the motherboard and $300 for the cpu. I know nothing about/concerning AMD chips or motherboards so I won't be offended if anyone explained things to me in very basic (hint, hint)terms. Any hints/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

P.S. I forgot to add that my cpu now is a 2.6P4

I think you can easily get those components for around $500, as long as you search a bit for a cheap retail outlet. I'm not from the US so I can't help you with that. Just to compare, I'm in the process of upgrading to AMD64 myself, this is the price list I've calculated, in euros (based on my favourite netstore's pricing. Not the cheapest, but not the most expensive either):

AMD64 3200+ Bulk: ~220e
Ati K8 Pro Motherboard: ~110e
1GB of Kingston DDR: ~220e

Just to make sure, since you asked for simple terms, bulk means that it doesn't come with a heatsink or a fan or any other by-products, since I'll rather buy an above-stock quality sink and fan myself. The 3200+ should be quite good in modern gaming, although you might be able to find 3400+ processors with relatively small price difference. Now, when buying an AMD64, you'll need to check the socket type. AMD has just switched from the old 754 socket to a new model (939, not quite sure), so make sure you have a compatible motherboard and processor. I'm going with the old 754 socket myself, since the prices seem to be a bit cheaper, all of the 939-socket processors are in the upper clockspeed range and thus much more expensive.

As you can see, the processor/mb combination is only around 330e or maybe even less. You can easily get a decent case for 170e, infact with that money you can get an extremely good one. If you want quiet, but still relatively cool, I suggest you take a look at Antec Sonata, it's a mid-tower case with excellent airflow, built-in filters and overall good quality. The harddrives are mounted in rubber pillows, removing all of the resonance from them. I'm running my setup in one of those, with two 120mm slow and quiet case fans and a copper sink/quiet CPU fan. For the AMD64 setup, I'll mostly go for a bit more powerful CPU fan but for the rest I think I should be adequately set up.

You can do that vey easily. You can get a DECENT case, good motherboard, and processor, for probably $350.
$50 - decentcase
$200 - ~AMD 64 3000+ ( That's what I have )
$100 - ~Soltek Mobo ( What I have )

Although, If I were going to spend $500, I'd probably spend most of it on a better processor. I'd probably go with the Socket 939 3500+. You can get a Socket 939 motherboard for around 100 still too. Unless you plan to OC, then you should get a better one. That's just me though. :thumbsup:
I order all of my parts from www.newegg.com, they have good prices.

I agree with JeremyS on that one. If you're looking to use the vast majority of your existing hardware, you should have no real problem hitting the $500 mark or so. If you're looking to go cheap, you can buy some of the older 64 bit processors, but i think it would be well worth your dollars to invest in some of the higher level processors, for example:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_g...sterid=1905397

Any time you can get a meg of L2 cache you're going to see awesome performance increases.

Oh yeah, and i forgot to add that I have been pretty impressed with the Clawhammer cores that AMD has turned out, great benchmarks for the most part

Don't get a cheapo case. Get something good. Lian-Li case $110 with shipping: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...112-025&depa=0

AMD 64 3400 (retail) $295 free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...103-426&depa=0

Soltek mobo SL-K8AV2-RL. $90 with shipping: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...180-056&depa=0

I would of really liked to go L2/1MB, but couldn't afford it, so I had to go with with the 3000+ L2/512KB :| Oh well, It's still better than most processors out there. :crazy:

That's also the exact motherboard I have.

Go for the Athlon 64 3200+ 1 MB L2 version. It's about $210 at NewEgg. Get ya a nice motherboard (can't remember the good ones off the top of my head, maybe Abit or Asus K8V?) with the features you want for $100. Take the rest of the money and put at least $100 in a new case if you want a quality case. Lian-Li offers the best cases I've ever seen. I'd personally hit one up if I had the money to spend on a new case.

PS: More L2 cache doesn't always mean better performance. Take a look at the later Athlon 64s on the new Socket 939. Why do they have 512kb L2 cache? Because Socket 939 handles memory more efficiently, basically negating the need for more than 512kb L2 cache on the processor. Socket 754 Athlon 64 processors are different, however...1 MB cache will give ya a speed boost (though barely noticeable). It's worth it as the extra cache is only about $15 more.

-Lasereth

THis is what I have come up with thus far. I know its a little more than $500 but not by much. Let me know what you think.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...129-115&depa=0
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...103-426&DEPA=0
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...127-177&depa=0

Does anyone know of any mobos that support PCI-Express? I don't want to do this again in say a year when I want to upgrade to a new video card. Your thoughts and suggestions would be greatly (Greatly) appreciated. Thanks

i just ordered a system.. i got the s939 3500+ asus AV8 mobo, and that antec 1080 case.. i was lookin at the s754 stuff and i found out from a buncha ppl that amd is goin towards s939 as they're new main line for cpus.. its all depending on what you wanna do..

antec 1080 case http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...129-115&depa=0
amd64 3500+ http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...103-463&DEPA=1
asus av8 http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...131-510&depa=1

case 114
mobo 129
cpu 341

total 584

so it all depends if you wanna spend that extra ~100. i just thought that id go that way cuz if need be i could go and get a higher 939 chip later on, instead of going s754 and having to upgrade my board and cpu later on since the s754's are stoping at the 3700+ from what i've read.

no pcix as of yet for amd sorry. Mahlersgod

No AMD boards are out yet (they will be soon), but all is good: AGP won't be outdated for a long time. PCI-E is definitely coming, but it'll be a while before AGP is obsolete.

-Lasereth

I am about ready to order but I have a few questions first. First, I won't have to reformat my harddrives for the new chip will I? I don't think so but I just want to make sure. Second, I need some instructions!!!!! I have performed my own upgrades but this is a whole new ballgame! I have never had to configure a BIOS, place a CPU, etc. I doubt the CPU/mobo will come with instructions so their a place I can download instructions that will take me step by step through the process? Much appreciated.

Actually, your mobo should come with a good booklet of instructions. Usually, these instructions take for granted you're starting with a clean slate HD-wise, so you aren't reformatting your hard drive, prepare for a slew of driver updates and such once you boot for the first time. Windows will prompt you to install most everything, and the bios will probably be installed this way- more or less automatically.

When I rebuilt my computer, I wanted to reformat anyway, so I just booted from my windows disc to format the hd and install windows after I had everything set up, and that worked pretty well.

There are tons of FAQ's out there for seating your CPU and heatsink, etc. (this, for me, was the hardest and most stressful part).. tomshardware.com has a good step by step, it's been posted here a few times.

I will practically guarantee you that your current hard drive will not boot after that many hardware changes.

A manual will come with the motherboardand it will explain a lot... Actually, everything. It's all pretty simple. Just be sure to read the manual for the motherboard and not be in a hurry connecting everything.

Mounting the heatsink will be the only challenge. I thought my motherboard was gonna snap in half the first time I put a heatsink on. :eek:

I just found a pretty good link that shows you how to put on the heatsink:

http://www.geocities.com/amd_info/AM...nk_Install.htm