ArtisticallyChill

I could’ve waited a bit longer. But after a near fatal BSOD while doing a routine Photoshop exercise, I decided that a mere reformat and re-install of the OS and drivers would not be enough. I spent a few days assessing the my upgrade options. Here’s what I came up with:

Option 1: Minor Upgrade

MSI K8T Neo-V Socket 754 VIA K8T800 ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Sempron 3300+ Palermo 800MHz FSB 128KB L2 Cache Socket 754 Processor
OCZ Value Series 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)

This would allow meet to reuse my current case, power supply, hard drives, dvd/cd drives and my Nvidia based 5500 AGP video card. Even though the board is a socket 754, this board supports both the AMD 64 and Sempron class CPUs. So if I wanted to save for a kickass 64 class CPU, I wouldn’t have to get another board. The Sempron 3300 and the OCZ value RAM became the obvious choice for a budget processor and memory with excellent performance and speed without breaking the bank.

Option 2: Mid-range Upgrade

ABIT KV8 Pro Socket 754 VIA K8T800 Pro ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 2800+ ClawHammer 800MHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 754 Processor
CORSAIR XMS 512MB (2 x 256MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory

Again, still re-using my current case, power supply, hard drives, dvd/cd drives, and video card, I have a board that is a bit more trusted, a nice 64 class CPU (running at 1.8 Ghz) and 512MB dual channel memory. Not too bad of an option but I’m kinda limited in terms of RAM slots on the mobo and the possibility of getting a PCI Express video card or delving into the socket 939 series CPUs later on.

And finally the Major Upgrade option. This option allows me to have the flexiblity of possiblity getting SATA drives, running dual PCI Express video cards in SLI, and having an AMD X2 (dual core) CPU. With parts like these, hopefully I won’t have to upgrade for another 4 years.

Option 3: Major Upgrade

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 1GHz FSB 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory
BFG Tech BFGR6600GTOCX Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
THERMALRIGHT XP-90 Multiple Heatpipes Cpu Heatsink
ZALMAN FB123 92mm Sleeve Cooling Fan (0nly used the fan, though)

The case and all the drives would be re-used. The board was recommended for its versatility in terms of being able to use all socket 939 class CPUs (Athlon 64 FX/Athlon 64/Athlon X2), allowing for SATA drives with or without IDE drives present, and running two like PCI-x16 video cards in SLI. Also, the board supports up to 4GB of Dual Channel memory, and has Dual 10/100/1000Mbps LAN connections, which I consider a bonus. The added power supply, heatsink and fan to the list were all recommendations to make sure there was adequate power for the build and to make sure that the CPU would be kept from overheating. Although it is an expensive list, it would keep me from just replacing old parts one at a time, and get this upgrade over and done with.

I consulted with Jason, another computer geek like me (and cousin), on these options and he gave me some good advice as to what option to go for. In other words, he was my “enabler” and I went with Option 3. See it, on my Flickr.

~ LoneWolf