I'm trying to upgrade a slightly older computer, but I'm trying to see if it's worth it. My goal is to get it to play Star Craft 2 (I am assuming Q4 of '08) decently, and my given budget is about $300, thoughts?
Specs right now:
AMD 64 3800+ XP
MS-7184 Motherboard (939 socket) (1 PCIe slot)
2x512MB Ram (four slots)
Internal 256 ATI Radeon 200 Express
300w single 12V@19amps
Additional info: 2 HD's, one is sata. 2 optical drives.
What I'm thinking of doing:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
^ Upgradeable to X2 4800+, but hard to find anything new other than the 4200's and don't know how long those will last (due to 939 MB)
2x WINTEC AMPO 512MB
^brings total to 2 gigs, but cheapo ram
VGA GeForce 8600GT 256MB
^Draws power from the MB, no PCIe connector
Rosewill 500W, Dual +12V@ 15A, 16A
Total: $320ish (+arctic silver), with $35 in mail in rebates
My main concern is the power supply, however, I'm having trouble finding one that will fit my budget. My second concern is where the 8600gt will be a year from now.