I need computer help :o

[Maxi]

Right, so my current computer is almost dead. I need a replacement.

I'm on a somewhat tight budget. I've chosen the AMD Athlon 64 3700+ as my processor. Is it a wise choice?

Motherboardwise I'd like integrated audio and a network card. I'd like it VERY much to have an agp slot, as I wouldn't fancy spending monies on a PCI-E card(how much is a decent one, anyway?)

And is it possible for me to use my 333mhz DDR memory that I currently have?

I don't need a case/hdd/dvd as I'm re-using the ones I've got.

 

[D4RK3 54B3R]

Well... you get more bang for the buck with PCI-E graphics cards.

Sapphire X1600pro 256mb AGP on Newegg goes for $120

Sapphire X1600pro 256mb PCI-E on newegg goes for $99

About the ram, I think socket 939 Athlon 64 (That doesn't mean you need to get socket 939. I read somewhere that AMD is discontinuing socket939 in favor of socket AM2) requires PC3200 RAM... Check it out with the new motherboard's website first.

 

[giant384]

what do you mean by your computer is "dying" as in its outdated or its just showing age? it would be cheaper if you could upgrade what you already have

 

[Maxi]

Can't really upgrade anymore.

I'm on an asus a7n8x and an XP 1700

 

[mr spoon]

I'm a big fan of the ASRock Dual SATA2 motherboard, which has a proper AGP slot and a PCI-E slot. It's a good budget board, nicely made, reasonable feature set, and cheap. It has network and audio, and is Socket 939 with upgrade capacity to AM2.
It would be possible to use 333MHz memory, it'll slow it down a fair bit. I'd upgrade that. If you sell the board, processor and memory on eBay as complete and working you'll get some money back too. The AMD 3700+ is a good processor, should be 1MB L2 cache, prices are falling. 3800+X2 is slower in single thread, more expensive, but is dual core and overclocks well as an alternative.