Upgrade advice

Current system:
ABIT NF7-S v2
XP1700 (thoroughbred)
512Mb 2700 (single stick)
ATi 9800pro (128Mb)


Want to upgrade, getting pretty sick of HL2 running on low settings, medium would be great

I think my graphics card is fine, and the mobo, just the cpu and ram that let the side down


Thinking about:
_CPU
__XP3200+ 400FSB (barton) - £99.82 - on offer for - £85.72
__XP2500-M 266FSB (Barton) - £70.44

_RAM
__Crucial 1GB DDR PC3200 (2x512MB) CAS3.0 - £111.57
__GeIL 1GB PC3200 Value (2x512MB) CAS2.5 - £102.81

_Cooling
__Thermalright SLK-700 (+60mm fan) - ~ £10


I have around £200 to throw at it, could possibly stretch to £215, but thats got to include shipping, all prices above are inc vat

 

I should add that i couldn't give a monkey about OCing it

 

does that mean u wanna oc or what?

If you are just get a mobile 2400 35w, or a mobile 2600

if u dont just get a 3000 or 3200

 

Dont want to OC

 

Then you dont want an XP-mobile; the only reason people buy those is for overclocking. I would reccomend getting a 3200+ and one gigabyte of the Crucial stuff. That will give you the performance you want in HL2

 

Fair enough

Thanks

 

Or because people want a silent pc and the lower operating temperature suits the operation of a silent pc.

 

Are you implying 2500-M's are hot? You'd get a pretty awsome temperature having one running rock stable at 3200+ speed with that heatsink

 

My god dont you understand english?

"Or because people want a silent pc and the lower operating temperature suits the operation of a silent pc"

That clearly states that the Mobile is better suited for a silent pc because of its lower operating temperature, geeez.

 

Would the 1gb of ram be in addition to your current ram, or would it replace it. If you are adding more ram, get pc2700, all the ram runs at the speed of the slower stick.

 

Replacing of course I have another system I can put the 2700 in

 

Grab the 3200+ and a gig of the Crucial RAM

 

yea what he said

 

Oh my bad mate, i can't read properly

 

I seem to remember that when u OC a mobile quite a bit (3200 for instance) it gets quite a bit hotter. Can't remember figures but I think it was somethnig like 75 watts or something. The 3200+ XP should kick some ass with the 9800 pro mate

 

Thanks guys

 

Basically you'll end up with the same set up as me.

I went the o/c route though - got a 2500XP running at 3200 (11 * 200). Cooling it is a Swiftech MCX462+ which does a very good job.

Also got two 512MB sticks (Crucial, I think!)

And a 9800 Pro, slightly o/c. Runs HL2 very well, every setting at highest in 1280x1024 LCD, apart from no AA or AF. Suits me fine.

I hope to be shifting to w/c very soon. Keep pricing systems up

 

I'd go with the XP-M running at 2.2Ghz 11x200MHz and the 1GB of RAM.
The mobile Athlon is cheaper and will run at that speed with absolute ease, so much so that I would tend not to even call it overclocking but realizing the minimum potential of the chip.
It will achieve that speed without too much excess heat.
You will see an an decrease in game load times with the additional RAM and an increase in game speed with the additional processor speed and increased bandwidth.

 

personally i would recommend a 2500+ Mobile cpu comes unlocked and can be overclocked easy like i have done i am running the same mobo as u and a simple multiplier and voltage change is all thats required to get better than a 3200+ if u dont know how to then i would be more than happy to help u if u PM me etc