OK, I have been trying to get answers @ hardware hell and I thought I would ask here as well. I have an AMD 64 3200+ set up that I am planning to pass to my wife and set myself up a better system.

What i have that she will get:

AMD 64 3200+ Venice
OCZ ocz400256el 2 X 256 DDR400 2-3-2-6 performance RAM
XFX GeForce 6600 256MB AGP video
Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 MB

What I want to add:
A decent PSU that will handle those parts as well as 1 CD/ROM, 1 CD/RW and 2 WD HDD's.
At least 512 MB more RAM for it.

What I want to find:
Somewhat inexpensive MB for either an AMD x2 Or Intel Core2 system
The processor to go with it.
A good PCI-e video cars (Slaymate has offered me a 7800GTX card for $150.00)
A 2GB dual channel RAM kit (hopefully in the DDR2 800 range)
A decent PSU that can handle that as well as 1 DVD/RW 1WD SATA HDD and1 IDE WD HDD

My budget is about $650.00

There is a massive array of stuff I have been looking at and Necro has been trying to help. Sometimes he confuses me though. Everyone seems to say go for a Core2 but I just don't know about getting an E4300 or E4400 and OC'ing the crap out of it to get any real performance. Also, where are the price cuts that were supposed to go into effect on jul 22nd? A E6300 is supposed to be $183 according to a couple charts I saw for the price cuts and I certainly haven't seen that. But, I can get a E6550 for $184 @ newegg. Wierd!

I would like to do this without ending up disappointed in the setup. I don't really need a MB with superduper-top-of-the-line overclocking features. I don't plan on overclocking a massive amount. A few good features would suffice for me. But then if I end up with an E4300 or E4400 that might be a different story. I have no clue how much better is will be at stock speeds as opposed to my current setup.

Please let me know what you think.

Also, as for the PSU's, i really need some that aren't $100.00 each that will do a good job.

For your PC:

Newegg.com - Intel Dual-Core E2140 Allendale 1.6GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

Will overclock to nearly double it's default clock speed, so you can make up a lot of performance.
I recommended an E6550 initially but then realised you had a load of other kit to buy for your wife.

Newegg.com - ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

A good budget overclockers board with some good features for the money. Helped me get my E6300 from 1.86ghz to 3.3ghz.

Newegg.com - Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Only $73.99 with rebate! An awesome deal for good quality desktop memory.

Newegg.com - Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TÃœV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB - Retail

I'm afraid $100 is the minimum you should spend when it comes to PSUs. You must not cut corners here and buy a cheap model because if a power supply is unstable it can cause crashes and reboots, and even destroy your hardware. This is a good quality budget PSU.

= $531, including the $150 if you were to buy Slaymate's video card, which seems a good deal for the money.

As for your wife:

Newegg.com - CORSAIR ValueSelect 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory - Retail

Get two of these, so you have matched memory running = 1GB.

Now you just need to buy the other PSU and data drives. But this is where we run out of money! Do you consider yourself much of a gamer? Are good graphics important? Because we can save a lot of cash on the video card if you are willing to compromise.

Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail = $90

= $523 in total + $100 for another PSU leaves you $27 for buying data drives and shipping. I think you might need to up to your budget to $700ish.

The first unfortunate thing for me is that I wanted to do this and get a significant boost for a change without having to OC the crap out of the chip to do it. Slay suggested the E4400 but I bet it will need some OC'ing to give me the boost I was hoping for.

The MB and RAM you suggested is the same as Slay's.

As for my gaming, I like to play UT 2K4 and I would like to be able to play BF2142 and some of the other games like that. I want to have a fast gaming experience. My current pc runs YT but not as well as other players get.

Thanx for the input.

Edit: I came across something and it started me wondering. Could I not get a PSU a little less expensive that would handle everything except an SLI setup and get one of these, Newegg.com - Thermaltake W0099RU ATX12V 250 Watts (Peak Load: 300Watts) Graphic Card power supply 90 - 264 V CE and FCC certified - Retail, To run the SLI setup later? Something like this Newegg.com - XCLIO GOODPOWER 500W ATX 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail maybe?

Even Better GPU for $165 ($135 after $30 mail in rebate)
Newegg.com - BFG Tech BFGR79256GSOCE GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Although, 7800's for 150 Isnt a bad deal...

Why don't you want to OC? Did you mean to enter pcsforwimps.com?

You wouldn't have to OC "the crap" out of the chip, I got 3.2Ghz from my E4300 with a very minor voltage boost.

Newegg.com - EVGA 122-CK-NF66-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i Ultra ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Cheap as chips motherboard that I put in a rig I built for a friend the other week. I managed to get 1600FSB on it, OCing the E6600 to 3.6ghz completely stable first try. Less trouble than a $200 EVGA 680i. This one is only $80.

Wack any Core 2 CPU in there and you'll be fine. Only downside is there is no SLi support, which is fine unless you're looking to put 2 graphics cards in there.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex Why don't you want to OC? Did you mean to enter pcsforwimps.com? You wouldn't have to OC "the crap" out of the chip, I got 3.2Ghz from my E4300 with a very minor voltage boost.

Well, my point is that I would rather buy a CPU that will significantly outperform my 64 3200 without having to OC the damned thing. I don't want to buy a slug that has to be OC'ed to hell and back to outperform it.

By the way, thanks for the derogatory remark. Just because I would choose to run my PC without a $600 PSU, a gigantic heatsink and 200 watts worth of fans to keep the thing cool because I had to push it as far as it will possibly go doesn't really require that.

Just for reference BuffaloChips, I am sure Dex was joking with that comment. There tends to be a "competitive edge" in the nature of a lot of us here, and sometimes that bleeds through into our humor.
I wouldn't take any offence to it, I am sure none was meant.

The man's got a point Dex.

And UT2k4 hates overclocking.

And Dex has a point as well. The Core 2 duo's will overclock extremely with very little coaxing and well within safe tolerances without super expensive power supplies and coolers.

My advice. Put the lion's share of your money in a video card first and processor second. Regardless of any other consideration that will buy you the most performance without big overclocks. And probably with overclocks.

You can find lot's of P35 boards under $100 that will suit your purposes. Cheap out on ram and everything else and get a solid power supply.

If you want to significantly improve performance over your current set-up. Simply moving up to a 7600 or 8600 would probably double your frame rate.

Moving up to a X1950pro or 7900GT would triple it. All without overclocking provided you don't buy a processor/mobo combo that isn't slower than your current rig.

I think I'm going to settle on a couple Rosewill's
This one for my wife's pc: Newegg.com - Rosewill RE502-BLK ATX 12V v2.03 500W Aluminum Power Supply 115/230 V cUL, FCC, CSA, CB, TUV, CE, NEMCO - Retail
This one for mine: Newegg.com - Rosewill Stallion Series RD600N-2DC-SL-SLV ATX 12V V2.2/ EPS 12V Chromed 600W Active PFC Power Supply - SLI Ready Auto Switching ( 90-264V ) UL, FCC - Retail
The east of the stuff for my PC:
Newegg.com - A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Newegg.com - ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler - Retail

It all comes to 560.58 delivered.
Then I buy Slay's 7800 for $150. He even said I don't have to pay it all at once. So, that part is up to the wife. But, If I can bet that stuff from Necro, I won't need one of those PSU's. and maybe I can change to a better supply.

I don't think you could run fast enough to give me a Rosewill psu. If most 600W psu are priced $100 to $140, and you're buying a $50 one, ask yourself what's wrong with this picture? It's really a case of, "you get what you pay for".

For inexpensive quality psu's I usually recommend Fortron. Ultra's new XPro line is good. OCZ's 'extreme line is good. Antec, Enermax etc. You don't have to spend $200 and up, but don't cheap out on a psu either, you're likely to regret it.

Quote: Originally Posted by AntiM I don't think you could run fast enough to give me a Rosewill psu. If most 600W psu are priced $100 to $140, and you're buying a $50 one, ask yourself what's wrong with this picture? It's really a case of, "you get what you pay for". For inexpensive quality psu's I usually recommend Fortron. Ultra's new XPro line is good. OCZ's 'extreme line is good. Antec, Enermax etc. You don't have to spend $200 and up, but don't cheap out on a psu either, you're likely to regret it.

I keep having people tell me virtually every PSU sux from one side and someone saying it is a good one from the other side. So, what's your experience with Rosewill's? Hell, I can't seem to find hardly anyone selling the OCZ's and I'm sure the extreme line is the "expensive as hell" line. Fortrons aren't terribly cheap. Slay recommended one, but I'm kinda leary of one that has 4 12v rails @ 15a each. Also I refuse to believe that EVERY SINGLE PSU that is under $100.00 HAS to be crap. It's funny that the most of the reviewed PSU's are the expensive ones. The only reviews I can find for more than half of them are customer reviews @ newegg. It reallt doesn't matter at this point. I'm still waiting to see if Necro is going to send me that one he has. He just hasn't found out how much shipping will cost so I can send him the money.

Edit: OK, How about these two??

Newegg.com - XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P3 550W ATX12V 550W Power Supply 100-240V / 200-240V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail
Newegg.com - XCLIO STABLEPOWER 460W ATX V2.2 460W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail

Quote: Originally Posted by AntiM The Core 2 duo's will overclock extremely with very little coaxing and well within safe tolerances without super expensive power supplies and coolers.

My point exactly, you don't need to go over board with a "$600" PSU or 200w worth of fans to get performance out of a low end C2D and keep it cool.

Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers Chips

Mikes right though, throw most of your money at the graphics. Works for me

Like said previously, Overclocking Intel's core duos, is like using Abits AI overclocking feature, almost easy...

For a PSU, there are affordable PSU's out there. I found out today, I have a nice chunk of change coming in the upcoming months, with a striker extreme and a E6600 coming my way soon, All i need to do is pick up a nice set of ram a few Raptors, and save up for a few 8800 GTX's.

The PSU side, a nice 600w single rail PSU is becoming easy to find at or around 100$, going for sub $100 isn't going to help out any, and for a daily driver, with a few games here and there. A half decent 500w or et yet a 550w will suffice.

Rosewill is NewEgg's in house brand. It's usually lower end stuff. I wouldn't suggest buying a PSU like that either. Fortron makes great stuff for a good price.

Quote: Originally Posted by BuffaloChips It's funny that the most of the reviewed PSU's are the expensive ones.

It's also funny that on the reviews for the second PSU you linked to, some dude says...

Quote: Originally Posted by Some dude on NewEgg Would not put this in any "high end" system. Don't try to "save" money by getting a cheap(er) PSU.

I would never buy anything less than a Hiper or Antec TruePower PSU, and I wouldn't spend less than $100 either. The two components you must NOT skimp on in a system are the motherboard and power supply because they have such a control over how your PC works.

Well, the customer reviews were 50/50 and some that were negative weren't that bad. I wouldn't really consider the pc I am going to set my wife up a "high end" system. More of a lower mid-range type or maybe just mid-range.

Right now I have 2 PSU's running the 64 3200+ set-up. I bought one, in a pinch from Best Buy. It is a dynex brand, p.o.s. It took no time what-so-ever to start overheating. It is a 350w with just 19a on the 12v rail. I am running:

AMD 64 3200+
Gigabyte GA-K6NSC-039 MB
OCZ performance DDR400
Lite-ON DVD/RW
WD 200GB SATA 7,200rpm HDD
WD 200GB PATA 7,200rpm HDD
PCI USB card
And (4 or 5?) USB devices

That PSU was overheating in about a month.

Well how about this one? It's from FSP which makes excellent power supplies. There's also a 450w version that you could use on the wifes computer.

Quote: Originally Posted by eascarface Well how about this one? It's from FSP which makes excellent power supplies. There's also a 450w version that you could use on the wifes computer.

Hmmm, thanx for that!