Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: ReyPirin on December 10, 2006, 12:23:45 PM

Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: ReyPirin on December 10, 2006, 12:23:45 PM
Sys Specs

Asus A8V
AMD 3500 64
2x512 Kingston ram PC3200(1GB)
SATA drive
ATI 9500 PRO

I'm looking for a mobo combo that has PCI-E and could be upgradable to future Processors(AM2?)  Cus even though AH runs great many other games are well whimpering on my PC (or is it the other way around?)

I know that upgrading to the Same mobo that has DDR1 but has PCI-E is a waste but I'd like to know if my money would be better spent when AMD releases their new line of chips and mobos?

budget is around $600.
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: airspro on December 10, 2006, 02:21:02 PM
Maybe I am wrong but looks like you could use a video card update . You got a pretty good looking sys to me but that card isn't doing you justice at least from what I understand .

newegg has a 7600 gt apg for 178 USDs atm , I almost ordered it , but only have a AMD 3.0 and gonna wait for full upgrade , you should do well with that or ATI one .
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: ReyPirin on December 10, 2006, 02:34:04 PM
That's my deal my Mobo only has AGP and in other games my Vid card isn't  up to task.

So should I wait to Upgrade everything Mobo+Cpu+memory+vidcard? Until Spring?

Or Upgrade everything now?

Cus Upgrading just vid card IMO is a waste as I would discard it when I upgraded later on as AGP is on its way out.
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: Roscoroo on December 10, 2006, 03:25:52 PM
I believe your cpu is a 939 pin so
you could upgrade your mainboard to pci-e  and toss in a new video card ..

that should give you the gain your looking for .

going with just a video card now isnt going to be that much of a improvement as for your 9500pro was a top of the line card .  shure you could add anouther agp card  9800pro , x800, 1600 . and get some gain in graphic quality and fps but it wouldnt be the big "wow" type gain ..

I put a x1950xtx in my work pc  replacing its x800 and let me tell ya that was a "Wow" gain  as in total graphic clarity and speed .. but  man its one power hungry card ... dont attempt one of these unless you have a very good 550watt or better psu .
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: Krusty on December 10, 2006, 03:35:33 PM
The 9000 series is not top of the line. It's a little behind the times, actually. It would be like a GeForce 6600 or so. Even going up to an x-series would be a big improvement, card-wise. Keep in mind the 9000 series cards have been around for years. "Years" and "performance" rarely correlate with each other when it comes to gaming :)

Here's what you do: Look for a motherboard that has BOTH PCIe and AGP. I found one for my LGA775 chip, but I know there are also AMD chipset mobos with the same options. They have both DDR1 and DDR2, AGP and PCIe, but you only use one or the other at a time. This way you can upgrade slowly without having to get a new CPU, a new stick of ram, and a new GPU all at the same time. You can just get the mobo, then when you have some extra $$$ get the vid card, then the CPU, then the RAM, then when you want to go to a proper mobo down the line you have all the parts up-to-date, and can just swap it out (or keep it, whatever).
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: 38ruk on December 16, 2006, 10:43:27 PM
I would say that a X800gto or 7600GS/GT would get you some more life out of that system . I bet you would be suprised how much better your games would be , but if you have the upgrade "BUG" by all means go buy a conroe or AM2 system . I myself would stay away from 939 all together because its a dead end .
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: Krusty on December 17, 2006, 01:37:08 AM
If going 7600, go GT. It's not that much more, and it performs WAY way better.
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: Keiler on December 18, 2006, 05:58:58 AM
Get a gainward bliss 7800 GS+, fastest AGP card there is currently. In benchmarks and gamebenchmarks the gain over a radeon 9600 was 2.5-3 times fps, given your CPU class and mem.

Matt

[edit] it also runs at barely noticable 0.9 sone, you wont hear it when inside the casing.
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: CHECKERS on December 19, 2006, 07:45:24 AM
I have a ATI Radeon X850XT AGP card sitting on my shelf .....
( Built By ATI , not a brown bag knock off ! )
  I'm not using if you have interest send me a PM ....


 Bob/CHECKERS
Title: Upgrade Now or Later?
Post by: 38ruk on December 19, 2006, 09:33:40 PM
Quote
Originally posted by CHECKERS
I have a ATI Radeon X850XT AGP card sitting on my shelf .....
( Built By ATI , not a brown bag knock off ! )
  I'm not using if you have interest send me a PM ....


 Bob/CHECKERS


That is a kick a** card , id jump on that if i needed an agp card