Upgrading my comp

[Kama]

A short list what a new system would cost;
Asus A8N5X NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID $114.99 (Good mobo, my brother got the same one)
Athlon 64 3200 $133.99 (Enough for what you'll do with it)
Corsair Value Select Dual Channel 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory ( 2 x 512MB ) $120.99 (My brother got the same, so no compatibility problems with the mobo here)
XFX GeForce 7600 GS Extreme Edition / 256MB GDDR2 / PCI Express / SLI / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card $158.99 (Faster then the 6600GT, without the pricy price tag )
Thermaltake / PurePower / 430-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm LED Fan / 20/24-Pin / SATA Ready / PCI-E Ready / Power Supply $ 54.99

Which makes a total of $583.95

Anyone else agree with this or got more info to add? Such as how long it would last? I'd probly be able to spring the $600 as long as itll last me a few years.

And sorry for all the questions, I just wanna make sure I get good things and don't get screwed over by some chain store.

 

[|Overlord|]

You should get a dual core chip rather then a single core chip for when Multi-threaded games come out, espeically get one if you plan on using vista in the near future. As far as graphics cards go, vista will also introduce dx10, and sadly there are no DirectX10 Cards on the market atm, and both ATI and Nvidia will probably release their uber expensive top end cards first. The thing I would change about a setup like that is probably getting a dual core processor rather then getting a single core processor, especailly for when multi-threaded games start appearing, I'd also go for a 7600gt rather then a 7600gs since the price difference is only $40. Also, AMD is not going to release any new socket939 parts since they have moved to socketAM2 (AM2 is a new processor socket, the mainboards built around this chipset also use DDR2 memory), so in a sense you would be shooting yourself in the foot if you got a setup based on socket 939 when the time comes to upgrade again, atleast as far as processors and memory go.

I'll go through and find some specs for you and post them later. What is the maxium amount of money you are willing to spend on a new setup, or can?.

 

[Devion]

You should get a dual core chip rather then a single core chip for when Multi-threaded games come out, espeically get one if you plan on using vista in the near future. As far as graphics cards go, vista will also introduce dx10, and sadly there are no DirectX10 Cards on the market atm, and both ATI and Nvidia will probably release their uber expensive top end cards first. The thing I would change about a setup like that is probably getting a dual core processor rather then getting a single core processor, especailly for when multi-threaded games start appearing, I'd also go for a 7600gt rather then a 7600gs since the price difference is only $40. Also, AMD is not going to release any new socket939 parts since they have moved to socketAM2 (AM2 is a new processor socket, the mainboards built around this chipset also use DDR2 memory), so in a sense you would be shooting yourself in the foot if you got a setup based on socket 939 when the time comes to upgrade again, atleast as far as processors and memory go.

I'll go through and find some specs for you and post them later. What is the maxium amount of money you are willing to spend on a new setup, or can?.

Actually, there isnt 1 game in the making right now, that will specialize in dual cores cpu.

AM2 is more expensive, because of two things;
1. Motherboards are more expensive.
2. DDR2 is more expensive then DDR

Furthermore, AM2 holds no advantage against 939.

The 7600GT is a better choice, if Kama is willing to spend 50-80 CAD more.

@Smith, thats bull**** tbh.
First of all the 9600XT vs Geforce 3 Ti isnt a huge improvement.

Secondly I know it makes all the difference because of my Athlon XP 2000, that I upgrade from 9250 radeon to a 6800GT.

He will CERTAINLY notice a very BIG FPS gain in games.

6600GT is hardly bottlenecked by a Pentium 4 2.0GHZ, but the Pentium 4 2.0GHZ is very much bottlenecked by a Radeon 9000.

 

[Kama]

You should get a dual core chip rather then a single core chip for when Multi-threaded games come out, espeically get one if you plan on using vista in the near future. As far as graphics cards go, vista will also introduce dx10, and sadly there are no DirectX10 Cards on the market atm, and both ATI and Nvidia will probably release their uber expensive top end cards first. The thing I would change about a setup like that is probably getting a dual core processor rather then getting a single core processor, especailly for when multi-threaded games start appearing, I'd also go for a 7600gt rather then a 7600gs since the price difference is only $40. Also, AMD is not going to release any new socket939 parts since they have moved to socketAM2 (AM2 is a new processor socket, the mainboards built around this chipset also use DDR2 memory), so in a sense you would be shooting yourself in the foot if you got a setup based on socket 939 when the time comes to upgrade again, atleast as far as processors and memory go.

I'll go through and find some specs for you and post them later. What is the maxium amount of money you are willing to spend on a new setup, or can?.

Basically the only thing I understood about that post was "Wait because soon this will be better and the one now can't do it." And the thing is, if I wait for that, then there will be something else coming out by then I should wait for, and I really don't want to keep waiting.

 

[Smith|]

Actually, there isnt 1 game in the making right now, that will specialize in dual cores cpu.

Quake 4, soon to be HL2, etc, etc.

AM2 is more expensive, because of two things;
1. Motherboards are more expensive.
2. DDR2 is more expensive then DDR

Agreed.

@Smith, thats bull**** tbh.
First of all the 9600XT vs Geforce 3 Ti isnt a huge improvement.

It's quite a large increase, actually.

Secondly I know it makes all the difference because of my Athlon XP 2000, that I upgrade from 9250 radeon to a 6800GT.

Mmhmm, does your computer has SDR or DDR RAM?

He will CERTAINLY notice a very BIG FPS gain in games.

6600GT is hardly bottlenecked by a Pentium 4 2.0GHZ, but the Pentium 4 2.0GHZ is very much bottlenecked by a Radeon 9000.

Aye, it's hardly bottlenecked by the 2GHz Pentium 4 with a 100MHz (Quadpumped D: ) Front Side Bus and SDRAM, which is terribly slow. No, it's severely bottlenecked by that. Personal experience prevails over your opinion.

The best he'll be able to do if he only got a 6600GT would be able to turn up the resolution and details, because no matter what, it'll all be the exact same frame rate from his CPU/RAM bottleneck.

Basically the only thing I understood about that post was "Wait because soon this will be better and the one now can't do it." And the thing is, if I wait for that, then there will be something else coming out by then I should wait for, and I really don't want to keep waiting.

Get everything Devion suggested except for the processor and VPU. AMD will be having some major price slashes soon, and that can be your chance to get a better processor for less. And get the GT instead of the GS, if that's manageable.

 

[Kama]

Get everything Devion suggested except for the processor and VPU. AMD will be having some major price slashes soon, and that can be your chance to get a better processor for less. And get the GT instead of the GS, if that's manageable.

And which are the two you don't want me to include? I don't really understand his list cause of all the slashes and such.

 

[Smith|]

Asus A8N5X NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID $114.99 (Good mobo, my brother got the same one)
<s>Athlon 64 3200 $133.99 (Enough for what you'll do with it)</s>
Corsair Value Select Dual Channel 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory ( 2 x 512MB ) $120.99 (My brother got the same, so no compatibility problems with the mobo here)
<s>XFX GeForce 7600 GS Extreme Edition / 256MB GDDR2 / PCI Express / SLI / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card $158.99 (Faster then the 6600GT, without the pricy price tag )</s>
Thermaltake / PurePower / 430-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm LED Fan / 20/24-Pin / SATA Ready / PCI-E Ready / Power Supply $ 54.99

Wait just a little while before buying and AMD will have a good price drop.

 

[|Overlord|]

Actually, there isnt 1 game in the making right now, that will specialize in dual cores cpu.

AM2 is more expensive, because of two things;
1. Motherboards are more expensive.
2. DDR2 is more expensive then DDR

Wrong, it depends on what speed your'e getting. Am I the only one seeing that I can get a 2GB 667mhz ddr2 kit a little bit cheaper then a simlar priced 2GB ddr400 kit?.(The same would go for 1gb kits, again depending on what speed you are after). As far as AM2 motherboards go, it depends what your'e getting.

Furthermore, AM2 holds no advantage against 939.

There has been some news and some speculatio on reverse hyper threading for dual core AM2 chips to increase the performance of a dual core processor in a single threaded application. AM2 chips are only a tad more expensive then socket939 chips, and socket939 won't have anymore newer chips coming out for it (Really now, during my search I found there was only a $5 - $7 difference in price between a X2 3800+ on both sockets, care to elaborate how it's so expensive when the price difference is very little?).

The 7600GT is a better choice, if Kama is willing to spend 50-80 CAD more.

There is something called a rebate.

Price:
$228.99
Less Rebate:
- $30.00
Final Price:
$198.99*

Secondly I know it makes all the difference because of my Athlon XP 2000, that I upgrade from 9250 radeon to a 6800GT.

Early P4 FSB = 4x100mhz = 400mhz. Early P4 chips like this ran sd memory, rd memory and latter ddr memory but only at 266mhz.
AthlonXP 2400+ and below = 2x133mhz = 266mhz. If you use 400mhz or 333mhz ram, you can run them at these speeds provided you have the mainboard that supprots them.
The fsb clocks are what set some things apart he, he also has sd memory, and you were using ddr memory

He will CERTAINLY notice a very BIG FPS gain in games.

The rest of his system will let him down.

6600GT is hardly bottlenecked by a Pentium 4 2.0GHZ.

Fsb limited + SD RAM. Yeah, it's really not bottlenecked. It could be made more use of in a better pc where it won't be.

One argument though you may want to consider. I have an older geforce4 ti4200 lying in a old Pentium3 933mhz box upstairs in my brothers room with 512mb of pc133 sd ram. This ti4200 use to be in my system when I used my older mainboard. 3dmark2001se would usually score 11,000 on my system, while that system as it is now pulls out 6,100. Walla, there's our difference for you.

 

[Smith|]

You're about 3 posts too late.
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[|Overlord|]

You're about 3 posts too late.
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Iv'e been doing something called sleeping =P.

 

[Devion]

Quake 4, soon to be HL2, etc, etc.

It's supported(Not specializes), but doesnt hold any great advantages.

Of HL2, I'm not sure, links please.

It's quite a large increase, actually.

Look @ tom hardware vga chart, then you'll see the Geforce 4 TI 4200 is a bit faster then the Geforce 3 Ti 200/500 and the 9600XT is a bit faster/equal to the Geforce 4 Ti 4200.

So the performance increase isnt really drastic.

Mmhmm, does your computer has SDR or DDR RAM?

It had both, SD and DDR.(Great mobo, an ECS, cheap and great extra's)

I ran on SD for quite a while and tbh, I didnt notice a big improvement from DDR ram first, expect for faster loading times.

Aye, it's hardly bottlenecked by the 2GHz Pentium 4 with a 100MHz (Quadpumped D: ) Front Side Bus and SDRAM, which is terribly slow. No, it's severely bottlenecked by that. Personal experience prevails over your opinion.

A Pentium 4 2.0 GHZ is fast enough to unleash the full potential of a 6600GT, if you dont believe me, google it.

The best he'll be able to do if he only got a 6600GT would be able to turn up the resolution and details, because no matter what, it'll all be the exact same frame rate from his CPU/RAM bottleneck.

The Radeon 9000 is now bottlenecking him the most.

With the 6600GT he'll notice a great improvement in FPS

Get everything Devion suggested except for the processor and VPU. AMD will be having some major price slashes soon, and that can be your chance to get a better processor for less. And get the GT instead of the GS, if that's manageable.

@24 July the price will drop.

It depends on how long are you willing to wait.

 

[Smith|]

It's supported(Not specializes), but doesnt hold any great advantages.

50% increase in performance isn't an advantage, eh?

Look @ tom hardware vga chart, then you'll see the Geforce 4 TI 4200 is a bit faster then the Geforce 3 Ti 200/500 and the 9600XT is a bit faster/equal to the Geforce 4 Ti 4200.

Mmhmm. If by 'bit faster' you of course mean literally twice as fast in the charts I pulled from the same benchmarks you used?

A Pentium 4 2.0 GHZ is fast enough to unleash the full potential of a 6600GT, if you dont believe me, google it.

A Pentium 4 2Ghz processor will bottleneck that 6600GT when paired with extremely slow SDRAM. If you don't believe me, google it.

The Radeon 9000 is now bottlenecking him the most.

No, the RAM and Processor are. Pentium 4s are so INCREDIBLY bandwidth deprived that any increase in RAM bandwidth and front side bus bandwidth gives great performance benefits.

With the 6600GT he'll notice a great improvement in FPS

He'll notice an improvement, yes, but not nearly as much as with a new Processor/Ram/Motherboard setup.

 

[Kama]

Lemme know when you guys are done debating and tell me what I should buy. All this disagreeing is confusing the heck outta me. T_T

 

[Smith|]

As I said:

Asus A8N5X NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID $114.99 (Good mobo, my brother got the same one)
<s>Athlon 64 3200 $133.99 (Enough for what you'll do with it)</s>
Corsair Value Select Dual Channel 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory ( 2 x 512MB ) $120.99 (My brother got the same, so no compatibility problems with the mobo here)
<s>XFX GeForce 7600 GS Extreme Edition / 256MB GDDR2 / PCI Express / SLI / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card $158.99 (Faster then the 6600GT, without the pricy price tag )</s>
Thermaltake / PurePower / 430-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm LED Fan / 20/24-Pin / SATA Ready / PCI-E Ready / Power Supply $ 54.99

Wait just a little while before buying and AMD will have a good price drop.

 

[Spunky]

Sry. T_T

Windows XP
Pentium 4 CPU 2.00GHz
512mb RAM
RADEON 9000 Series AGP (0x4966)

And, I dunno. Let's just assume I have an average amount of money. I don't know the pricing on anything so I don't know what is a fair price.

Lemme know if you need more.

There's nothing wrong with your system. You should be able to run WoW just fine. Perhaps it's time for a reformat?

 

[Kama]

Just did reformat. Same problem.

What's an AMD? And what exactly do all those slashes mean? Cause i'd look a little weird asking for a "Motherboard slash audio slash PCI express..." thing.

 

[Smith|]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937

You're in Canada, but you should be able to find those on whatever online store you're ordering from.

What's an AMD?

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. They're a company that specializes in the production of processors.

 

[Kama]

What about video card? Or is that what i'm waiting for.

 

[Smith|]

Oh, haha. Forgot about that. Here you go:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130017

If you want more performance for a higher price, entirely your choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130281

 

[JasonX]

and what about alienware ??? you must buy a one