Date:
Monday , May 23, 2005
Author:
Keith Dugger
Editor:
Sean Meuller
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[H]ard|OCP 1000 Q2-05

Is your computer’s gaming ability not quite what you would like? In this HardOCP System Upgrade guide we take a $1000, spend it at Newegg, and build a SLI ready gaming computer that will make you proud. And give you lots of room to upgrade.

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Processor & Motherboard

Processor

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We all are waiting on the dual-core offerings from both AMD and Intel camps to fill the channels; however, it will be some time before these new silicon brains come down to a price that would fit into our $1000 budget. While I like new technology as much as the next person, if upgrades are continually put off, they will never happen.

Regarding the CPU for our system, we have selected the AMD Athlon 64 3500+ at $267. This is a Socket 939 chip and maintains AMD’s reputation of producing low-temperature CPUs. For gamers, Athlon 64 is still a hands-down winner in most gaming categories due in large part to the on-die memory controller. For non-gamers, the Athlon 64 is still a strong contender even in light of the smooth application switching of Intel’s Hyper Threading Technology. We feel that the 3500+ will satisfy most users from both the gaming and non-gaming crowd.

To squeeze out every hidden dollar from our budget, we’ve included the retail version of the Athlon 64 3500+. It is only a few dollars more than an OEM CPU and it includes a heat sink and fan (HSF). These retail HSF units are more than capable of removing heat even in overclocked systems.

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Newegg Link

Motherboard

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After deciding on a CPU, we turned the next few hundred dollars of our money toward a motherboard. There are several boards on the market that could fill our needs for out-of-the-box usability, stability, and performance, but future upgradeability is also a top requirement for us. It is important to target purchases that maximize our investments. A motherboard should have a robust feature set and allow for at least two upgrades in the future. As you’ll see, the board we chose will allow you to upgrade the CPU and even the video card at a later date.

ASUS has consistently met the needs I’ve just mentioned. For this guide, we’ve chosen the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe. With a current price of $175 at Newegg, this board meets our requirements and will become the home of our Athlon 64 3500+. As socket 939 is still in AMD’s plans, this board will allow you to upgrade the CPU relatively easily in the future. Furthermore, a bios update should allow you to run a dual-core CPU when they are released. So as you can see, this motherboard should have a very long life in terms of upgradeabilty. And certainly do not forget that you can add another video card later to take advantage of SLI in games.

The A8N-SLI Deluxe is powered by the nVidia nForce4 SLI chipset and can support up to 4GB of DDR 400 (PC 3200). ASUS has also included support for Serial and Parallel ATA drives with SATA RAID options. With 2 Gigabit network interfaces and 8-channel Realtek audio, this board has plenty to offer.

On the slot front, the A8N-SLI Deluxe comes complete with 2 x PCI-Express x16 slots; 2 x PCI-Express x1 slots; and 3 x PCI slots to satisfy practically any expansion needs. With 2 x PCIe slots, this board allows you to upgrade to an SLI configuration in the future.

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Newegg Link