Author Topic: Poor man upgrade (Married guy if you prefer :)) (Read 802 times)

straffo · « **on:** May 11, 2005, 03:05:22 PM »

I've a Barton 2500 + 1GB DDR333 + a 9600pro.
Having not followed hardware actuallity for 2 years

I'm quite lost.

A friend told me to take X800 SE 256 Mo but I think with a weak processor like mine it's not a good idea.

My budget is 300€.

Help please !!!!:D

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 11, 2005, 03:17:35 PM »

Straffo, what exactly is wrong with your current computer that you want to replace it? It all really depends on what it is you want to improve.

straffo · « **Reply #2 on:** May 11, 2005, 04:02:37 PM »

well I've bad framerates especially on the new map Frac 3.

At 1024*768 my FPS in the Tower are at 50 and over forest it's drop to 25 and lastly at the 1st sight of smoke it's look like those old black and white film.
I'm not Buster Keaton !

I wonder if I should upgrade the mobo + CPU or change the graphic card.

eagl · « **Reply #3 on:** May 11, 2005, 04:06:30 PM »

Straffo,

You're pretty high up on the scale with the last gen hardware, so you're probably only going to see big gains with big bucks.

I think you'd be disappointed with anything less than a 6800 or 6800GT vid card, and if you go for a new cpu and mobo you'd be crazy to not go big for a socket 939 nforce4 PCI-x solution so you can take advantage of the new dual core cpus when their price drops.

If I were you, I'd hold out until you can get a dual core A64, and then go big. You're just not going to get much improvement without spending a bunch of money. You could get a new vid card or cpu, but neither will transfer to your next system.

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 11, 2005, 04:13:08 PM »

What he said.

straffo · « **Reply #5 on:** May 11, 2005, 04:18:03 PM »

Thank you eagl and SA2.
After reading on some hardware site I've reached the same conclusion.

buzkill · « **Reply #6 on:** May 11, 2005, 06:49:32 PM »

your card is fine...cpu is kinda dated for AH but rest seems fine....what kind of mainboard you have?

schizer · « **Reply #7 on:** May 11, 2005, 07:56:12 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by buzkill
your card is fine...cpu is kinda dated for AH but rest seems fine....what kind of mainboard you have?

Dated for AH

Roscoroo · « **Reply #8 on:** May 11, 2005, 08:15:30 PM »

playing on the same setup basicallly ..

2500+ oced to 2.4ghz
512 ddr 3200
crucial radeon 9600 pro 128

25 fps lowest in buffs/very heavy traffic 50-85 fps the rest of the time.

the next pc update has to be 939 pin amd 64 ... nothing else would be an upgrade except for a 9800 pro 256 .

buzkill · « **Reply #9 on:** May 11, 2005, 09:13:00 PM »

you know what i mean...i had a 2400+ for a while and it just didn't do it for me...then a 3400+ that did just great....then i got a deal on a 64bit rig and now i'm hooked

o and how much of a price difference is there between 9800 pro x800 pro? tested both in this setup and am leaning to x800 (got my 3dmark 2003 score over 10,000)

Roscoroo · « **Reply #10 on:** May 11, 2005, 09:22:24 PM »

Buz you can step all the way up on the vc x800 or so..

Straffo is still using a barton so a video card wont be that much of an improvement compared to a full 64 bit upgrade .

38ruk · « **Reply #11 on:** May 11, 2005, 09:39:57 PM »

Quote

o and how much of a price difference is there between 9800 pro x800 pro? tested both in this setup and am leaning to x800 (got my 3dmark 2003 score over 10,000)

i bought my X800pro about 4 months ago, it was an upgrade from a 9800pro . there was atleast a 10-15 fps increase in a major furball. at 1280X1024 512 textures and 4x AA i see FR drops into the 50's . most of the time its at the vsync cap. If you are looking at the x800pro right now its a bad buy with the x800xl on the market. the XL has 16 pipes compared to 12 on the pro. as for 3dmk03 my scores are 11.8K with everything clocked high. I was kinda mad when i realized the XL was going to be released a couple of months after i bought the pro , only good thing is i can get a overclock of almost 100mhz on the core , and 75mhz on the memory. well enuff of my babble 38

straffo · « **Reply #12 on:** May 12, 2005, 12:44:01 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by buzkill
your card is fine...cpu is kinda dated for AH but rest seems fine....what kind of mainboard you have?

Asus A7N8X deluxe (NForce2 chipset)

straffo · « **Reply #13 on:** May 12, 2005, 11:04:34 AM »

I changed my strategy

Got a new ventirad and now the beast is at 12*200 instead of 11*166 plus I removed FSAA and increased the resolution from 1024*768 to 1152*864.

Now I hope to wait a bit for the unevitable upgrade.

Roscoroo · « **Reply #14 on:** May 12, 2005, 11:12:25 AM »

12 x 200 = 2.4 ghz .. Beshure to check your temps and turn off fast boot so it does the memory check on startup .

other wise step it down to 11x200 = 2.2 ghz (this timing always runs sweet on a 2500+ barton)