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Would really appreciate your thoughts.


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#1
jrspie

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I know that upgrading is pretty much personal preference, but i would appreciate some feedback.
I've got a emachines t6212 w/Athlon 64 3200+ and msi ms-7093.
I want to upgrade the cpu and mobo. I almost never use the pc for games, but do a good amount of ripping and burning cd's as well as listening to my music.
My wife will be using it with Windows Office Pro 2003.
I don't need super speed/power but want a half way decent set up.
I'm curious as to how some of you would approach this.
Thanks,
J.
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#2
kidnova

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Here is the link to the specs for your mobo:
http://www.msicomput...odel=RS480M2-IL

It is socket 939 and supports all the way up to the FX55. If you want to stay with AMD, I wouldn't upgrade the mobo unless you are planning on changing to socket AM2 as AMD will not be releasing socket 939 CPUs in the future. If you do decide to go with a socket AM2 mobo, then you will have to change the RAM as well since AM2 requires DDR2 RAM.

So, to make a long story short, if you intend to stay with AMD, then I would recommend only upgrading the processor to maybe the 3800+ (which can be found for a very good price now) and possible increasing RAM (you didn't state how much you currently have). You should see a fairly large change in speed by upgrading these two items.

Now, if you really want to upgrade, then I would suggest going with a Core 2 compatible mobo and a Core 2 6400 CPU. But now we're talking about spending some money and it doesn't sound like you're really looking at spending a load of cash.

Edited by kidnova, 23 October 2006 - 12:23 PM.

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#3
SRX660

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Prices on athlon cpu's has dropped. You can upgrade to a athlon 64 4000 but you may have to update the bios for the 2000FSB. The cost is $150 +tax+shipping.

http://www.tigerdire...e...&CatId=1949

Your old CPU could be sold on ebay for around $40( 1/2 retail is usual) but you would have to decide if this is a worthwhile upgrade. It is marginal if you are thinking about upgrading to a new intel conroe system within a year.

The ATI Xpress 200 graphics is basic at most but will probably do you fine unless you get the itch to try a PCI-E graphics card. I have the same chipset in a intel D101G MB puter and only notice it does not do newer games well, but what do you expect from on-board graphics.

I would invest in more memory as the ATI chipset takes 128 Mb away from you. Another 512 stick of memory would do well.

The one thing i usually replace in e-machines is the power supply. I usually get the $43 thermotake 430 watt PS for the replacement from Newegg. Also, e-machines usually use the cheapest cpu heatsink possible so i usually replace it with a good aftermarket heatsink. You would be surprised at the temp difference there can be on some e-machine puters. A intel celeron e-machine puter i was working on dropped 13° at idle with a zalman 7000 heatsink install from 59° down to 46°. I really would'nt do much more that this.

SRX660
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#4
jrspie

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Thank you both for your advice. I'll probably go with the processor upgrade and heatsink/fan.
If I can get anoth 1 1/2 out of the mobo and pc in general I'll be happy.
Thanks,
John
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