Lost in the world of upgrades

[GoingNutZ]

let me as this, is there anything wwrong with wanting 3.1 ghz?? im just curious. my total with I listed without shipping was 233.00 and some change. i want a fast processor, lol. games like my tomb raider underword require 2.5 ghz or higher thats is why I ask. btw this forum is more friendlier than the other one I was on. thanks for being so nice

 

[rohan23]

I have picked a few upgrades for my desktop computer. I am not a serious gamer, although I like to play games once in a while. so I will list what I have chosen and hopefully I will get some feedback, good feedback I hope lol

My choices are:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA780G-UD3H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128382

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.1GHz 1MB
Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
(Heatsink & Fan included!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272

Ram: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

I will be purchasing a 500 gig hard drive as well

so please let me know if I did good.

well keeping it low would be good, lol. I dont need high end stuff or top of the line equipment.after all I just wanna play a few games once in a while and be on the net, etc. I would say my budget right now is no more than 250.00 for cpu, motherboard, and ram. but this is only a guesstimate, my budget is flexible though.


my current specs? SUCK!!! lol

My mobo is a pc chips ( i know, i know crap, lol)
processor is 2.2ghz
video card is radeon sapphire 9250
Audio card: Sound Blaster Audigy
hd: 80gig

ps. im not interested in overclocking

im in California, right now my monitor is 17in lcd flat panel, i do plan on upgrading it as soon as I can, but one step at a time. I mainly play tomb raider: Legend and tomb raider: underground. and rollercoaster tycoon 3. simple games really. please be aware: I AM NOT AN EXTREME GAMER

um rohan you havent paid attention to anything I have posted hun. you are assuming i dont have anything. let me be more specific in what I have already:

I have a atx case.
I have a Demon blck chrome 580 watt power supply.
I already am upgrading my hard drive to 500 gigs SATA.

oh and by they i can save my dual layer dvd/rw combo drive

I only need new motherboard, processor, and ram. and possible video card.

I apologize. You never mentioned any of that. What about an OS? If you're running XP, you can go with 2GB of RAM. It will save you a good amount of money, that you can put towards a GPU. Maybe a 9600GT or the ATI counterpart.

 

[GoingNutZ]

and another question what is the difference between 770, 780, 790 chipsets? and how will i know if an on board video card is any good or not?

I apologize. You never mentioned any of that. What about an OS? If you're running XP, you can go with 2GB of RAM. It will save you a good amount of money, that you can put towards a GPU. Maybe a 9600GT or the ATI counterpart.

my os will be vista home premium, i'm sorry if i left out any important info im trying to be thorough

 

[dude_56013]

Onboard video is never great, but it may get you by until you can afford a decent card, if that's the route you want to take. Otherwise plan on upping your budget to $350 to allow an addition hundred for a decent GPU.

And yes Rohan, I understand now how you missed all that. She was updating her posts, and we weren't getting notified...so I'm sorry if I sounded snippy, too. So I missed most of that stuff too.

As for your CPU speed thing, the cpu you listed is a dual core. It's "faster" clock speed-wise, but not necessarily as a whole. The CPU I listed is a quad-core. Therefore, it'll make life easier in other programs that can utilize it. Basically, you want the quad core...that's the easiest way to put it. It'll do fine with gaming...guaranteed!

Oh, and I know nothing about AMD chipsets specifically, but usually chipsets only matter to OC'ers or to people who run SLI or CrossFire (I think). But, basically it sounds like you won't be doing any OCing so it's not a super important factor here.

 

[Prodigy146]

let me as this, is there anything wwrong with wanting 3.1 ghz?? im just curious. my total with I listed without shipping was 233.00 and some change. i want a fast processor, lol. games like my tomb raider underword require 2.5 ghz or higher thats is why I ask. btw this forum is more friendlier than the other one I was on. thanks for being so nice

Its not about speed anymore, he picked out an amazing quad core processor for you. Quad core blows the doors off of a fast dual core processor any day. But since some software cant fully utilize it just yet, it might not be as fast for some apps.. e.g


http://g.imageshack.us/img150/cod4.jpg/1/

See the E8500? its a dual core and running at 3.0ghz. its only a few frames faster. The phenom 9850 is the one dude se picked out for you.. The e8500 is a few frames faster because cod4 doesnt support quad core, but the quad still performs well because of its extra cores taking care of the background processes.. Imagine the performance in games when they support quad core?

Trust me you wont regret getting it

 

[GoingNutZ]

well see this is where i get confused. i only have so much money, and I googled the processors, etc. and like I said I dont need top of the line stuff. I do have a Dell XPS M1730 with a Nvidia 8700M GT card in it and it runs my games perfectly. but I dont want to be using my laptop all the time, so I am wanting to fix up my desktop. so seeing how good my laptop works is i guess confusing me. it doesnt have a high end video card so i think I dont need one. does anyone see where my confusion is comming from?

 

[dude_56013]

See the E8500? its a dual core and running a 3.0ghz. its only a few frames faster. The phenom 9850 is the one dude se picked out for you.. The e8500 is a few frames faster because cod4 doesnt support quad core, but the quad still performs well because of its extra cores taking care of the background processes.. Imagine the performance in games when they support quad core?

It's actually just dude_56013 but it's okay ...haha I know it gets confusing.

And yes, the E8500 beats the quad in that game, but as apps start to utilize all four cores, you are correct that the Phenom would blow the 8500 away...

EDIT:
As for your confusion, yes, I understand it. You are running older, less intensive games, therefore that GPU in your lappy, though crappy for high settings with modern games, is doing you just fine. That's why I'm thinking that onboard may suit you alright until you can get a half-way decent GPU.

 

[GoingNutZ]

here is another place where i am so lost. I have posted on 2 other sites besides this one. and they said I don't need quad core and one even said " I don't even need 3.1ghz" and they even said what i currently have is crappy ( i know it is, but still they dont have to rub it in). so I have gotten alot of negative. Tomb Raider: underground is a brand new release. tom raider legend was relased before it. and the graphics are in high and they are amazingly very sharp and very very clear. of course this lappy is a gaming laptop sent to me by Dell corporate ( long Story)
so I can't complain too much about it, lol. i just feel so whats the word "Dumb" I guess, lol when it comes to the newer technology. I guess i am just looking for something that is in the middle. not top of the line, but not the lowest on the totem pole either, if that makes since. I sincerely apologize if I am sounding difficult in anyway. all of this is just a little confusing, emabassing to say since i built what I have now, lol.

 

[dude_56013]

Well, the first fact is correct...you probably don't need a quad-core. You could get by with a dual core, but why limit yourself...you'll just need to upgrade in the future anyways, and for a few dollars more, why not do it now?

Secondly, you don't need 3.1ghz. We've discussed that already. 3.1Ghz on a single core cpu is pretty normal-to-high (depending on age). 3.1Ghz on a dual-core is average..my E8400 is at 3.2Ghz right now. 3.1Ghz on a quad is a little higher than other cpu's, but many quads OC to upwards of 4.0Ghz. In the end, don't worry about Ghz. As long as you are getting some form of a quad-core cpu, the clock speed won't matter as much as if you were getting a dual-core. I know the numbers get confusing, but basically you are looking for a quad-core because you will get the best for your money...so you can forget about other single and dual-core cpus.

Make more sense?

 

[GoingNutZ]

not so much limiting myself, i read that some programs may not work with quad core, is that correct?

now you are seeing all the different things I have been told lately about this stuff. so I hope you can understand why I want to be clear on these things, lol please forgive my stupidity. LOL!