Desktop upgrading

So, I'm using my desktop, "Rex", right now in place of my laptop while I wait for parts to come in to fix it. I'm thinking I want to also look into updating my desktop to be able to keep using it as a work station after I fix my laptop. It is, after all, perfectly fine. I want to upgrade it, though, because right now it's a bit of a dinosaur (hence the name) and runs like one, even at its best..

Acer Aspire AST 180-UA381B (desktop)
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz CPU
3GB ram
160GB HDD (5400RPM)
NVIDIA GeForece 9800 GT (graphics card; HDMI, DVI, VGA)
Coolermaster 500W PSU

COOLING:
CPU fan (stock)
200MM fan (side; intake)
PSU fan (rear; exhaust)
140MM fan (top; exhaust)

Right now I have my laptop's 750GB HDD hooked into the second SATA port on the mobo and all my libraries switched to that drive so I can keep working on school stuff.

Anyway, I don't have a big budget so upgrades will be coming a bit at a time. But, here are two options I'm entertaining right now.

OPTION 1

Keep the motherboard and graphics card the same, upgrade to a newer dual-core AMD CPU that will fit the same slot on my mobo. Upgrade the RAM to 4GB. Upgrade the HDD to something 500GB 7200 RPM.


OPTION 2

Get a new motherboard, convert to Intel (my personal preference anyway). Intel i5 (quad core) CPU, 6GB RAM (or 8GB), 500GB 7200 RPM HDD, 256GB SSD. Keep the graphics card the same for now.


Obviously, option 2 would be the more preferential option without taking budget into consideration, but my budget isn't very great either. That's why I'm entertaining option one and thinking about it.

What would y'all recommend, and why? If build/price estimates could be included, that would be great. If you have a better idea than what I've listed, that would be great too. I can always plan for a budget adjustment if necessary.


Here's a picture for your entertainment.



PS: Yes, this is the same desktop I posted threads about in 2011 regarding the case modification and fan installation.

PPS: This should probably be moved to PC builds, not hardware... sorry, mods.

Throw me a budget and I'll see what builds I can find for you.

I would go with solution 1 - for budget reasons. I once upgraded a 4800+ to a 5800+. Worked well. A 6000+ is another option. They all have the AM2 socket like your 3800+.

But the main bottleneck is your disk. I would add a 60GB SSD which you can buy for around $70 and a larger 7200RPM HDD.

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com

Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S37A/60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Newegg.com

My TOTAL budget, from start to finish, will be $500. I'd like to keep things closer to $400 if possible, but I understand parts aren't cheap.

I've been consulting some other people as well, and I think I'll just start rebuilding from the ground up.

Here's my PC Part Picker list, so you can take a peek at what I've got so far.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2fEXl

I'm in no hurry to rebuild, either. So I won't start looking into a new case until I get a new motherboard and see if it will just mount into my current one.

Do you have monitor, mouse, keyboard and a virgin OS license key.

Yes to all but virgin OS key. I can just clone my HDD to the SSD to skirt around that issue though, unless doing so would be illegal.

kbronski said:

Yes to all but virgin OS key. I can just clone my HDD to the SSD to skirt around that issue though, unless doing so would be illegal.

An OEM license you could not transfer to a new build.

Oh, it's not an OEM license. The computer came with Vista and I did a fresh install of 7 about 2 years ago... so perhaps it is a virgin key?!

When you updated to Win7 two years ago, did you use a retail license for $199 or an OEM license for $99.

Retail license, I'm pretty sure.