I wasn’t sure which section to post this in so ‘Gaming’ is closest to my thinking, and apologies for the length of this post.
I have been very happy with the performance of my machine over the past 4 years.
I have however been considering an upgrade to my comp for some time now and recently, an impending hard drive failure has prompted the need for a definite replacement.
I am with the thinking that I might as well update some of the other areas.

I am an amateur filmmaker/animator, but enjoy online FPS gaming.
So am trying to find some way to fit both areas into one machine.
I am also looking for components that will keep me going for another 4 years
(Enough money only comes around that often!)
(Btw I’m based in the UK)

Current Relevant Specs: (according to Belarc)
Make: Evesham Axis series (bought when it was ‘top end’)
CPU: 1.40 gigahertz AMD Athlon (Want to upgrade)
MB: ASUSTeK Computer INC. A7A266 REV 1 (Dated?)
HD: Maxtor 5T060H6 (Failing!)
GC: NVIDIA GeForce3 64mb (a legendary card in my opinion! But showing its age)
RAM: 512mb DDR Installed Memory (Sufficient)

Possible Replacement Specs:

The hard drive needs replacing and fast, as I have an essential deadline to meet and am currently working from a loaned 40GB external drive. I have been looking at the: MAXTOR Hard Drive DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA 160GB, which is more ‘speed over capacity’ I won’t need anything larger than that for the moment. Est. £59/$112 would this be a sensible buy?

I’m quite prepared to pay for a good solid graphics card around £200-250, I have found this one: PNY GeForce 6800GT AGP 8X 256Mb (has S-video output for PAL/NTSC TV connection) for est. £265/$505 but has anyone seen it cheaper, or recommend something better (I’d prefer to stick with Nvidia)?

I haven’t got a clue about Mobo’s I would like to know if I could get away with merely replacing the 1.40 AMD chip on the mobo with a newer one something like XP 2800-3000 AMD Athlon?

Could my Mobo and my current power supply (I think about 300W but can’t seem to find it anywhere) handle a 6800GT? And if not, recommendations of compatible components would be welcome.

Reading other posts here leads me to think that a new mobo is necessary as well as a new fan and casing! Which, with the exception of the sound card would be pretty much creating a whole new machine!
Awaiting any possible insight with trepidation
Thanks
Electricleash

All your thoughts are correct. you will need to replace your mobo if you are going with a 2800 or 3200.

Your choice of video cards is also just fine but that video card should have more juice than what your current power supply will give considering all the other components in the pc.

I recomend a 500 watt power supply by Ultra. They are not the best power supply out there but the specs are pretty close to the top of the line power supplies without a top of the line price.

I also recomend that your new mobo should have an nforce chipset.

Good luck with your build.

Ultra power supply specs.
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_info.php?products_id=272

Have the lambs stopped crying Clarice?

Thanks for the rapid response it was very helpful. I have just ordered said hard drive; I just hope it works out. I have been investigating your suggestion over the PSU, I think it’s just a matter of making a decision, so thanks for that also.

However there is so much to consider with regards to the mobo:
I looked at the nforce2 based boards, but I'm not sure as to whether I should be looking more at the nforce 3 or 4 ranges and for that matter considering the AMD64 technology (maybe overkill? price-wise it certainly is!)

Anyway I singled out two boards in my price range (-£70) ASUSTEK A7N8X-VM and the ASUSTEK A7N8X-E both using nforce2.

ASUSTEK A7N8X-VM - Socket A AMD - Chipset Nvidia nForce2-IGP - ATX first appeared a good 'price effective' buy, at est. £55 but on closer inspection the -VM or the IGP on the end seems to make a difference to what you get. (there’s me thinking it was jargon!) a lack of expansion possibilities seems to be its weakness

At a similar (cheaper) price: ASUSTEK A7N8X-E Deluxe - Socket A AMD - Chipset Nvidia nForce2-ST - ATX. It seems to be a better choice with room for expansion. I don't understand why it’s priced lower than the –VM.

Slots-wise, I have a SBLive card for one PCI slot and a emergency 56K in another, supposedly the graphics card often is large enough to block off one of the PCI's so with only three PCI slots the A7N8X-VM just doesn't cut it. I currently have: x2 sticks of 256mb DDR 184 pin (PC2100 I think) which i wish to keep for the moment but I wouldn't mind being able to upgrade to 2 sticks of 512 next year. I have heard tales of the A7N8X series boards having trouble accepting older memory sticks or being 'very picky' about the RAM they accept.

Wondering if anyone understood other benefits/detriments between these boards?
Thanks
Electricleash

Hi

having read your proposed system & looking ahead , i would look for updating to somthing with more longevity, sell your current system what ever you can get 'loot'
as spares or thro in 2nd hdd etc,

(now b4 anyone jumps up n down thats not what he meant etc think about it +4 yrs)

have alook here
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MBB-N43251

foxconn mobo 939 , 7 chnl snd etc
512 meg ddr400
3200 Amd64 xp winch'
graphics card;

http://www.pcwcomponentcentre.co.uk/invt/pvt43gndf7

all in approx £416 & you were going to buy a new case with 500watt psu anyway.

watchword-'upgradeabilty'- 939 is probably worth considering as a viable long term upgrade with xp 64, longhorn etc round the corner than the Asus up/g path, with your film/game requirements easily taken care of for easily the next few yrs.

maxtor 160 fine choice , 6800 ? the 6600gt matches it upto 1024x768 performance wise.
i play alot online the 6600gt been best deal this yr :)
ok budget is the restraining factor but the pay back is longevity.

-igp btw integrated mx400 graphics..
basically tat :(

also check out
aria.co.uk
scan.co.uk

Yes agreed that longevity you should go with a 64bit system if its within your budget.

64 bit OS and equipment is not only the future of computing but it is here now. Right now you can trade in your current windows xp home/pro for windows xp 64 bit edition. See the link at the bottom for details.

Once again i stress the power supply, it is very worthy. If you go with a lesser power supply you may be very sory.

https://microsoft.productorder.com/clientx64/default.aspx

Have the lambs stopped crying Clarice?

The current 64-bit AMD might be the best around at the moment, but anything above a 3000+ is still pretty expensive, give it six to eight months AMD and Intel will have launched their dual-core processors and the current single-core 64-bit range will be a lot more mainstream and cheaper. Fortunately, it seems that AMD will use the socket 939 format for its new processor.

I'd reccomend either buying a the best Socket 939 Nforce4 motherboard that you can(perhaps even with SLI, as it's not that much dearer) and sticking with a low-end, reasonably priced AMD 64 and waiting for the prices to come down or performance to go up before upgrading.

Also remember that existing top-end 939 motherboards don't yet support SLI, SATA2 and DDR2 all at the same time, but it'll come soon. Also something worth considering.

AMD Athlon XP2200+
Aero7 lite
1GB Crucial pc2700
Abit NF7-s V2.0
80GB Seagate SATA
120GB Seagate SATA
Geforce4 Ti4200 128mb
Benq FP767-12 17" 12ms
SB Audigy 2 ZS

Thanks for the feed.
This is what I have through investigations/suggestions so far:
Upgrade Costs:

Initial idea:

MOBO: ASUSTEK A7N8X-E Deluxe - Socket A AMD - Chipset Nvidia nForce2-ST - ATX £51.33
GC: PNY Verto GeForce 6800 GT 256MB 8X AGP Retail Box (G66800GA8F26LPB) £284.97
PROC: AMD ATHLON XP3000+ 333MHZ FSB 512 L2 Cache Barton CPU - OEM £79.82
FAN/HS: Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2l (blue Light) (maximum Support XP3400) £8.04
PSU: X-Finity 500W ATX PSU w/ 80mm Fan - Titanium £47.50
HDD: MAXTOR Hard Drive DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA 160GB - 7200RPM - 8 MB - SATA/150 £64.70 ‘BOUGHT’
CASE: Keep my current case

TOTAL: £488.86 + PSU £536.36

Alternative:

MOBO:
Motherboard Bundle - AMD Athlon 64 3200 Winchester Core, Heatsink and Fan, 512MB 400DDR RAM, Socket 939 Motherboard MBB-N43251 £280.82

GC: XFX GEFORCE 6600GT PCI-E 128MB DDR3 TV+DUAL DVI * SLI Ready!* £135.92
PSU: X-Finity 500W ATX PSU w/ 80mm Fan - Titanium £47.50
CASE: needs more investigating

TOTAL: £416.74 + PSU £464.24

My gut tells me to stick with the A7N8X-E Deluxe and the 6800GT as it means I can stick with my current case and set up (for familiarities sake) but my gut is not so well informed and it's probably due to the subconscious marketing. One step beyond’s suggestion works out way cheaper, which is tempting. Then again, going into AMD64 territory opens up a can of more complicated metal worms that maybe I'm not ready for. Looking up the Socket 939 Motherboards out at the moment they seem to be in an almost experimental state (not quite ready for the average user) with which I am not so sure I want to do the whole Guinea pig thing.
I am currently a little more confused than I was before (probably a good thing, no rash decisions here!)

‘Custom Built’, I was just wondering if you know of any UK sites that might sell those ‘Ultra’ PSU’s? I can’t seem to find any.
Thanks
Electricleash

Oh... one mistake with the totals, I should have left out the hard drive in the first total, it should be £471.66 not £536.36, This makes the package prices closer.
£471.66 to £464.24 a mere £7.42 in it.
Electricleash

Try here: They have a brand called Ultra-x, but they are quite expensive compared to other makes:
www.overclockers.co.uk

I also use www.ebuyer.com (UK version)regularly for cheaper bits.

I bought a 485W Enermax Noisetaker from overclockers a few weeks ago and it's a beast. It's quiet, it has two seperate +12v rails to reduce interference from devices such as fans, Ring Core technology to reduce interference, self-adjusting fans etc.

http://www.enermax.co.uk/product/pow_supp/spec/noisetaker2_ax_series/index.htm

Remember that really cheap PSU's might have the same wattage rating, but most refer to the peak wattage, not the sustained (true wattage under load) as the more expensive ones. Also, the +12v rail needs to push at least 18A to run your system correctly, the Enermax one mentioned above has two +12v rails, both at 18A, so that's 36 Amps in total, which is plenty for future upgradeability.

If your current case is ATX, then the 64-bit motherboard will fit since they are ATX too.

AMD Athlon XP2200+
Aero7 lite
1GB Crucial pc2700
Abit NF7-s V2.0
80GB Seagate SATA
120GB Seagate SATA
Geforce4 Ti4200 128mb
Benq FP767-12 17" 12ms
SB Audigy 2 ZS

Hi again ,
re: "experimental state" ...i like it lol
honest the guy selling you the athlonxp3000
is doing a greeat!! sales job but ....performance vs price the 939 is the winner
4 yrs hence xp athlons will be antiques road show!
heres the comparison charts you need ;)

http://www23.tomshardware.com/index.html?modelx=33&model1=63&model2=77&chart=17

the 'amd 64 opens up >your need for speed!'

can you get to a pc fair ? ask around for opinions
dont get a hang up about the case arrgh !
ppl just do,
just buy one! or up/g your current 1 the fancy psu means very little its purely go faster stripes chav latest fashion item & belongs with furry dice

i bought a ennermax 550 watt ok loads of dosh
then , m8s cried laughing i now use qtec 550
price??

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/products/a559x1y0z1p0s0n0m0

...waits to see if the furry dice award goes EL's way

;) just jking m8

regards

Actually, I bought an Enermax PSU because I was fed up of faffing around with cheap PSU's that kept failing. I have got through three PSU's in the last 18 months,with a combined price greater than the cost of the Enermax one. I either had a PSU that gradually got noisier and noisier or began causing random shut-downs. So I decided that I might as well spend £50-ish on a decent one that will last. The Q-tec ones seemed good value, but they're not much dearer than no-make PSU's, since you don't get something for nothing, I decided to give it a miss to save disappointment. The 550W Q-tec has 16A on the +12v rail, since I had set out to buy one with 18-20A bare minimum, preferably plenty more in reserve, the Q-tec didn't fit what I wanted. I was originally going to buy a Tagan 485w (28A on +12v), but the Enermax 485w (36A) was on special offer at overclockers and therefore cheaper than the Tagan.

I couldn't give a stuff what my mates think of it, most of them wouldn't know what one was anyway. A chav PSU?? Perhaps if you get one of those luninous, clear case ones? perhaps by that logic, a 64-bit processors could be considered chav and overkill too? Especially since Microsoft haven't launched a fully finished 64-bit Windows yet?

AMD Athlon XP2200+
Aero7 lite
1GB Crucial pc2700
Abit NF7-s V2.0
80GB Seagate SATA
120GB Seagate SATA
Geforce4 Ti4200 128mb
Benq FP767-12 17" 12ms
SB Audigy 2 ZS

Chav was definately my first thought when seeing those see-through PSU's... Its not like I'm going to invite some friends over for a PSU party! PSU barbeque anyone? Could be the newest craze... you saw it here first! ;)

I take it that my current Windows XP would still be compatible if I were to go for the AMD 64 system? I wouldn't be eligble for the upgrade mentioned in an earlier post.

Back to the great PSU debate. It seems either:
A Cheap 500w PSU (Q-Tec) with a chance it could fail and limited to 16A on the +12V rail. £14.95
Or
The more expensive 485w (Enermax) with 18A on the x2 12V rails. £59.95
Or
The 500w X-Finity (Ultra) with 28A on the 12V rail. £47.50 *which doesn't seem to exist in this form in the UK*

None of these are exactly right: 500w/+12V/18A/Sold in UK/reliable/Cheap
So I need the best compromise really.
How much difference does 500w make over 485w?... *really*?
Will the AMD64 setup above *really* tax a Q-tec PSU?
More importantly would it endanger the more expensive components?
Thanks
Electricleash

The 15 watt difference truly is no big deal, just as you thought. The big deal is that pathetic 18 amps on the 12 volt rail.

The ultra psu had like 26 or 28 amps on the 12 volt rail, correct?

My OCZ 520 watt powerstream has 33 amps on the 12 volt rail.

But you go ahead and build your system with those sh*t psu's and end up in a situation like snoopy104 was in.

You wanted help, i gave my 2 cents and im sure most people here would agree with my 2 cents.

Dont say we didnt warn you.

Have the lambs stopped crying Clarice?

hi all
xp windows will run fine on the Amd64,so will any further releases of this OS so you are in effect future proofing against the inevitable from Microsoft.
I see theres some dilema here heres my 10p;
PSU debate raging again here is nonsense its purely a modders delight (Excluding OC'rs) any good suppler of cases will point you in the right direction of a case & psu to match even dare i say it PC world.

ask the question here Custom built ..
do pcW Dell or any of the other mass producers of pc endorse ocz tagan ? idont think so.. they supply to cost and value and the pcs specc'd here are not monster rigs requireing hi specc'd power just simply a good one.
snoopys experience (hey weve all been there)
while regretable confirms the adage "buy cheap buy twice" it happens, thats not what other ppl here are advocating just buy wisley to budget.
Electric leash could ask a vendor what they reccomend, hey solves the problem in one
statutory rights work here!

for fun
http://www.xcase.co.uk/acatalog/Hiper_Power_Supplies.html
(hyper what? psu , ooh a must have blinging heck!)
but then you would need a window case and disco lights
maybe racing stripe to match ...
and ...
:D

Yes,

but Dell, PCW, Packard Bell etc use cheap bits and charge stupidly high prices for the whole package. That's how they make their money.

AMD Athlon XP2200+
Aero7 lite
1GB Crucial pc2700
Abit NF7-s V2.0
80GB Seagate SATA
120GB Seagate SATA
Geforce4 Ti4200 128mb
Benq FP767-12 17" 12ms
SB Audigy 2 ZS

Well sorry for not getting back to those who advised me on my new comp. I have ordered the key components and they should start arriving in the next week or so.
These are the specs I eventually went with, ‘furry dice’ included I’m afraid ;)

From Novatech: incl. VAT

MOBO:
Motherboard Bundle - AMD Athlon 64 3200 Winchester Core, Heatsink and Fan, 512MB 400DDR RAM, Socket 939 Motherboard MBB-N43251
£280.82

CASE + FAN:
Novatech Zeus 350W Tower PC Case
£25.85 + £3.00

From Overclockers: incl. VAT

GC:
XFX GEFORCE 6600GT PCI-E 128MB DDR3 TV+DUAL DVI * SLI Ready!*
£135.92

PSU:
Enermax Noisetaker 485W EG495AX-VE (G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-007-EN)
£70.44

The total including VAT and postage came to about £532 a little over my budget but hopefully this should keep me going for the next few years.
Thanks to all those who helped me out, much appreciated. I’ll post here when I have it up and running and let those people interested know if it works out ok.
Cheers
Electricleash