Upgrading... need suggestions

[whr2206]

Hey all :)

Its about that time again. I'm going to be upgrading my computer this June because the latest games are starting to overwhelm my "old" machine.

The main things I want to do with my system are:
- Gaming (particularly HL2 Mods CS: Source, Battlefield 2, Rome Total War and its upcoming expansion pack)
- Papers/Internet Research Blah blah
- Maybe some graphic design... not too heavy... just designing logos... and editing pictures for my CS team's website.

Here are my specs. My suspicion is that the motherboard/cpu/memory are main bottlenecks. (lol thats basically the whole computer =\)

Asus a7v8x-x
AMD 2500+ Barton Core w/ Thermal Take Copper HS/F
ATI 9800 Pro AIW 128mb (AGP)
80gb WD 7200rpm 8mb cache hd (not SATA :( )
1gb Crucial PC2700 (i think I can't remember, but I know theres dual channel now so its definately out of date whatever it is)
32x12x40 Lite On CD Burner
Hercules Gaming Theater XP Sound Card
Floppy
Logitech mx510 optical mouse
MS keyboard
Generic Case w/ 350watt Antec PSU
Linksys Nic (I've also got onboard LAN.... is there any noticable performance difference in a pci Nic and onboard??)
Plantronics DSP500 Headset (its got a sound card built in to the headset)
Windows XP sp2

Do you think it would be worth it to basically switch out the Mobo, CPU, RAM, and Video card?? I mean, I know PCI-E is the emerging standard... but I spent $200 on the AIW not too long ago.... Is this summer a good time to be buying parts... or would it be more wise to wait?? I was thinking that if I upgraded I'd just use the older parts for a Linux Machine to mess around on.... What do you think?

thanks a lot!

[Cricket]

How much were you looking to spend? From what's been mentioned here, the Athlon 64s handle the new games very well and you may want to think about upgrading to one of those.

You should be able to sell the parts that are being upgraded in the Trading Post forum if you decide not to build a Linux box.

:) Cricket

[Darien]

Defineately get an AMD 64 platfrom with the nForce4 chipset... I'm an Abit fan... I hear the ASUS boards are great too...

for highend gaming and future upgrading, you may want to get one of the Abit or ASUS baords with SLi so you can run Dual GPU/video cards...

if you're interested in the dual CPU mobo's, you may want to wait abit (lol.. I mean a bit)... of course those are high $$$ options...

to keep it on a budget I'd get on of the Abit An8 series with a Winnie 64 and a descent ATI video card... (I like nVidia better, but Abit doesn't support the nVidia as well as the ATI cards);

[whr2206]

Eh, I'm not looking to spend a HUGE amount of money, but I'll spend whatever it takes for an AMD 64+ Good mobo with SLi+PCI- Express card+ Dual Channel Ram.... (I haven't been keeping up with prices so whatever that equals out to)

I just saw Call of Duty 2 and Battlefield 2 and I was amazed. I was thinking... even though my computer is alright... I doubt it could handle Battlefield 2.... Plus, the Source engine for HL2 mods eats up TONS of cpu power due to the physics.... So it would help that as well....

[Darien]

Well now is the time to buy RAM... the prices have been dropping...

you can find a good set of 2 x 512 sticks of corsair that will be great for dual channel for under $100... that's what I would do

I don't have a link for that, but I saw it posted here the other day... I got my Kingston Hyper-X DDR 400 2 x 512 for about $100 a few months back... but I hear that's not as good as the corsiar.

[whr2206]

WIll dual video cards really give me that much of a noticable boost in performance??

Also, I've got this "old" 7200 IDE hard drive... If I upgrade everything else... will this bottleneck the system? Would you suggest that I get a SATA? Or does it not make that much of a noticable difference? I built my friend a computer with SATA and the only thing I noticed is that his games loaded a bit faster....

[David M]

Dual cards (SLI) do give you a nice bump in performance but its not a 1-1 ratio. It's more like a 50% to 80% graphics performance gain depending on the application...in my experience.

[whr2206]

This is what I'm thinking of so far....

Abit Rx700Pro 256mb PCI-E GDDR3 - $154.50

AMD Athlon 3000+ 64bit Socket 939 - $153.99

Corsair XMS 1GB 2x512 DC - $115.00

Asus A8n-SLI Deluxe - $179.00

[David M]

Just a helpful hint: At this point you may want to change over to the Build Your Own PC forum becuse it sounds more like a new computer than an upgrade with a new mobo and CPU. You might get more attention and help over there. If you ask nicely, :) perhaps a moderator can move your thread over there?

[Panama Red]

Just a helpful hint: At this point you may want to change over to the Build Your Own PC forum becuse it sounds more like a new computer than an upgrade with a new mobo and CPU. You might get more attention and help over there. If you ask nicely, :) perhaps a moderator can move your thread over there?


You ask, I move! ;) Sometimes I move even if you don't ask! :rolleyes:

[whr2206]

eh, I think I'm probably just gonna squeeze as much juice outta my remaining system as I can... I just cant see paying that much just to be able to run the latest games on high settings lol....

I've still got a few questions, though..

1. My ATI 9800pro is 128mb... would there be a big difference in the 128 version as opposed to the 256mb?? (I've got people who will buy my old 9800 if it makes that big of a difference)

2. THe recomended specs for BF 2 for the cpu is 2.6ghz And mine is a 1.8 2500+, So would it even be worth upgrading that? I think my board can handle up to.... 3000+

thanks

[glc]

1. Nope. The only way you are going to see a difference is with a faster card, more video ram will not do squat for you unless the particular game can make use of it. Are you prepared to lose the all-in-wonder capabilities of your card? You could get a next generation AGP card - a 6800GT is just a hair under $300 now. However, throwing big bucks into an AGP card now is going to hurt you when you DO upgrade the motherboard, because by that time you are going to want PCI-E.

2. The 3000+/333 Barton is $115. Is it worth it? I don't know. Again, not reusable when you get a new motherboard.

[whr2206]

Yeah... Its not worth upgrading AGP or my XP... My best bang for my buck and upgradability would be to get a board with AMD 64, SLI, etc etc

It looks like I'm going to have to... burn another hole in my wallet. I guess I'll update to the AMD 64 the 939 (is that right?) pin. I'm going to get a motherboard with SLI...

A couple of questions... if a motherboard supports SATA raid... then will I be able to use my old IDE hd? I've only built one computer with sata for a friend and his hd was sata so.. never figured that one out. Secondly, I looked on newegg for a while for PCI-E video cards... and its hard to find which ones support SLI... are the TOP tier cards the only ones that have it? (Im not buying 2 video cards right off.. but maybe this summer when I get payed) Because I've got around maybe 600 to spend on this pc... I can't buy like an SLI board + 3400 AMD 64 + 6800gt+new memory for under 600... Unless I can find some insane deal lol. Any suggestions on a bugget build?

This is what I'd like..
AMD 64 3000+
1gb DDR400 Ram
Some kind of PCI-E video card... Nvida or ATI doesnt matter...
AMD 64 939 Socket mobo

This is what I'd like to reuse if possible
19" monitor
mx510 optical mouse
keyboard
Case of course
350watt Antec PSU (will this be enough for amd 64 and new video card?)
Floppy
32x12x40 Lite on CD burner
80gb WD 7200rpm 8mb cahce IDE (will this be ok on a new board?)
Hercules Gaming Theater (probably will work but not a MUST because my plantronics headset has a built in sound card)

thanks a lot!

[glc]

Nope, that power supply is going to have to be replaced for PCI-E. In fact, the *cheapest* power supply certified for SLI is $160. Non-SLI, you can get away with a $60 power supply.

As of now, the only SLI-capable video cards are the Nvidias - 6600 and 6800 series I believe.

[whr2206]

Nope, that power supply is going to have to be replaced for PCI-E. In fact, the *cheapest* power supply certified for SLI is $160. Non-SLI, you can get away with a $60 power supply.

As of now, the only SLI-capable video cards are the Nvidias - 6600 and 6800 series I believe.

Oh... well the 6800 is nice... but I just don't have enough money... so I'll probably just buy a singly ati pci-e card. What wattage psu would I need for my computer? 400 or 450w?

[glc]

It's not the watts that's important for PCI-E - it's the amps on the +12 volt rail or rails. For best results, get a dual +12 volt rail unit.

This is a great power supply, but it's constantly selling out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189003

[whr2206]

alright thanks ;)

[LA22]

try this:
Asus A8N
x800xl
1GB of Corsair Value Select
AMD 64 3200+ socket 939

This is going to need a pretty good psu, and the rest is up to you