Cheap Upgrade for an Old System.

[Avenger212]

Here is the summary
I need to upgrade my old AMD Sempron PC from 2006 to either an APU base system or AMD 880chipset with an Athlon II X4 because I want to use it as a Backup/ media/ Light gaming PC. I was just thinking of upgrading this PC so it can support Hybrid Crossfire with my old ATI 4650. I would also like some suggesting with 880 or APU motherboards with 2 IDE ports so it can support my 2 160G HDD and my IDE DVD ROM. If not 1 IDE with Hybrid Crossfire because I don’t like this Asrock Motherboards, I prefer ASUS, Gigabyte or MSI.

Long Version.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for?
Watching media to my T.V from my PC/ Backup files/Light Gaming

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread?
About 300-400AUD I don’t want to spend too much on this system just so it can live for another 6years

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Australia. Although I will be using Newegg.com as reference

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
AMD Processor, But Intel suggestions are welcome

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Seasonic 650watts, 2 160G IDE HDD, IDE DVD Drive, 4gig DDR3 Ram, Antec 300 case

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes but not directly relevant to my topic

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
No. default speeds

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Anything soon, No rush

9. What resolution do you use?
What is the resolution of a 42 inch LED Samsung T.V?

Here is the current parts I have selected. But I really want an APU build with IDE support or a Different Motherboard with Hybrid Crossfire. Is there any other parts I need to upgrade besides from my IDE Drives, because I have no plan on changing them until the Thailand Crisis is resolved and I want to make use of my old ATI 4650.

System Spending
Motherboard: Asrock 880GMH/U3S3 $80
Newegg.com - ASRock 880GMH/U3S3 AM3+ AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 $100
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

Total $180

[Shadowmeph]

Personally I would still go for the APU and just buy a adapter something like this one Newegg.com - SYBA SD-ADA50016 SATA to IDE (IDE to SATA) Bi-Directional Adapter
I think that a APU with a motherboard and new DDR3 ram would be good for now

[Avenger212]

O thank you! I never thought that adapters existed. Do anyone think that APU will support Hybrid Crossfire with a ATI 4650?

[frontier204]

Nope, can't crossfire between generations. See: AMD Radeon Dual Graphics
If you choose faster RAM (i.e. at least DDR3 1600) the APU's graphics is likely to outperform your 4650, at least in DX10 mode.

[Dragonstongue]

Why go for anything less then a discrete card :O

You can get very powerfull GPU for a very resonable cost if you look hard enough.

6850 are excellent price/performance, as the 6950s, but obviously you need a good enough power supply to handle them.

Also, if you were thinking of upping the cpu, none other then x4 955BE, is maybe $5 more then the Athlon you pointed out, and much faster, not to mention can overclock very well, its worth it, but if you want to save the coin, you can go with above suggestions. Why get an Athlon for the same price as Phenom II, Phenoms simply are faster, are better geared for gaming, and overall, clock for clock, will perform faster at the same clock speed compared to Athlon II, so yes, for the same price($109 is what I got my 955 for) its worth it.

[Avenger212]

Well I already have my main gaming rig to do all the heavy gaming. (see system specs) I just simply want to upgrade my very old system just so I can make use of it again. Also I want to use it with my T.V so I can watch movies and play some old games.

[Adzsask]

I'd make a little i3 ITX build with a GT430 to do 1080P videos with no problems.

[Avenger212]

If I was to go with i3 Build what platform and processor should I use. I haven't use Intel for 7years so I am pretty rusty at that area.

[Adzsask]

Originally Posted by Avenger212

If I was to go with i3 Build what platform and processor should I use. I haven't use Intel for 7years so I am pretty rusty at that area.

Intel's 1155 socket is the new price/performance king, and the most popular i3 is the 2120, toss in 4-8GB RAM ($21 per 4GB stick) and you have yourself a nice little machine.