Hi my Dad's old AMD socket A has died. I told him now is the time to upgrade as I can build it cheap as I have an extra unused copy of XP laying around.

Cheap is the main goal, as well as power consumption, as like I said its only for internet browsing. He literally doesnt know how to do anything else.

I was looking at prices and setups(Intel/AMD). I will be reusing his old Matx case/HDD/PSU(oem 250w IIRC).

Anyway I planned on getting an Intel setup but maybe the AMD will be best as far as power consumption. So it's between the E5200 and X4850E, basically it comes down to motherboards which will be the deciding factor


Intel Setup:
E5200 $66 shipped from Dell
TUL TG31-M2 $48 - $15MIR

Total: $104 = $89 AR



AMD Setup:
X4850E $54 shipped from Newegg
Foxconn A74MX-K S 740G $57.58 -$10MIR Is this Mobo any good?

Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 $58 from Buy.com. seems like people love this board for power consumption and i believe the onboard is superior to the G31?



Total: $112 or $102 AR

So it comes down to how much better the 740G is for performance and power consumption. Also I like the idea of a name brand Mobo instead of TUL but I hear that its a Foxcon anyway.

Thanks in advance for the insight

The AMD system will likely have lower power consumption and better IGP.

One thing i would seriously think about is replacing the crappy no-brand PSU. If he got it with the case years ago its a ticking time bomb by now. I would very seriously consider buying something like the Antec Earthwatts, Seasonic S12 II. Both $50 at newegg.

I suspect you won't have much choice in buying a new power supply. The new motherboard will require the four-pin 12V power connector.

I went through a similar situation a few months ago when my surfing rig died. It was a XP2600. I wound up with a Sempron LE-1640, a Gigabyte MA78GM-S2HP and 2Gig of RAM for under $150. I'd been hoping for one of the 45W X2's, but I wanted to get back online. The LE-1640 has been fast enough for my surfing needs. I have no regrets on that choice.

Ultimately, I also upgraded my PSU to a 450W Corsair and Xigmatek 1284. The 1284 may be overkill for the Sempron, but it allows me to upgrade and it sure keeps things quiet. I also added a Green WD500. Each of these components were around $50. All of this was install into an old P180.

The whole system cost $300.

Good luck,
Jan

I ended up getting the AMD Gigabyte setup, well actually 2 of them. I got one to redo my Mom's computer as well which is also a socket 462 AMD. So far I just bought 1 Gigabyte Mobo from Buy.com and signed up for the Visa to get $30 off. I'm debating if I should get another Gigabyte Mobo or to get teh Foxconn mobo for the other computer?? Its cheaper AR, maybe if I hold out I can get FS, but I notice that a few report DOA mobo's on newegg although many noobs post there who cannot trouble shoot, so?

I got the Corsair 2x2GB kit $20 AR so I can use 1 stick in each computer


As for the PSU, well its a Bestec ATX-250-12E(crap) and does have a 4pin connector but only 20pin instead of 24pin mobo connector

I have a Thermaltake 460w psu that I used in my old Socket 939 setup until I grabbed a Antec TP3 550w over a year ago. I can use that if I have to.

In the other computer its an Antec 350w from '03 so its only 20 pin as well IIRC.

The best deal I could find is the Corsair 400w from Newegg for $30 shipped AR.

Just seems silly to use 400 or 460w psu when only pushing 100w loaded.

You probably know already -- 24-pin mobos work fine with 20-pin PSUs, esp when low power is the norm.

I had my suspicions but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the confirmation.

Ok got the parts today and everything works good, even with the crap Bestec 250w PSU using a 20pin connector.

I got Cool N Quiet working, but it sucks! So I went back to my old friend RMclock which is awesome


Anyway I ended up using my old Hitachi 80gb sata HDD. And will for the other setup also(had 2).

So the only prob I have is somewhere along the line My IDE cd drive stopped working. It shows up fine in windows and device manager(along with bios) but with a cd in the drive it acts like its a blank cd.

Bios setup is correct afaik, and mind you I installed XP from this drive.
I reinstalled all the drivers, still doesnt work, so thinking a windows update is the issue?

Anyway so far all I can claim is 50w idle. I'll be building another next week with that Antec psu so we'll see how that goes. Comming from the socket 462 AMD with ~100w idle so it was worth the $95