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Old 11-08-2005, 01:14 PM   #1
drfrink24
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Default Computer upgrade questions, new video, or new mobo/cpu

Here is the deal...

I've become horribly addicted to BF2.

My system is about 2 years old, however, I was running fairly decent (most goodies turned off) with this setup:

Ati 9700pro 128m (actually, its a non-pro, running the pro bios, overclocked as well)
1GB 2700 DDR ram
Asus Mobo
Athlon XP 2800+ "Barton"

So, I impulse bought a really nice AGP video card, a BFG 6800GT 256m card. I'm able to turn on most of bells and whistles, even 2xaa/af, and I'm getting framerates around 30-75 in most cases. Obviously, my mobo/memory/CPU is the bottleneck now.

So, here goes the big question:

I can pickup new CPU/Memory/mobo, lets say, for about $500, but, be stuck with my old ATI AGP card, but, have a better platform for buying a 7800GT in a few months, since i'm stuck with a 6800GT AGP oddball right now, assuming it will perform with similar results to my setup now, with a better CPU/Memory.

-or-

Should I just be happy with the 6800GT, and be faced with an obsolete AGP card in a year, and just eat the $375.

I'm starting to think I should return the 6800GT, and go with a better upgrade path...
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:20 PM   #2
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Depends on how much you want to spend. Also, if you upgrade you PC, don't forget that you can sell your existing setup on Anandtech for some money that will offset your upgrade cost.

Here is what I would do. I can't remember the brand, but there is one board (socket 939) that has both an AGP and PCIx slot. Get that board, it's under $100. Buy a new chip, and upgrade your memory for well under $500. Keep the 6800GT, it will be fine for a lot longer than you think.
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:23 PM   #3
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holy cow OT is the new PC factory !!!

Heres the perfect combo ibought myself P4 530 3.2GHz. Nvidia 6600GT dual SLI or just a single.

Keeps costs down and still plays top games without any lag.
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:24 PM   #4
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Bah, this doesn't look possible. Its this stupid forced upgrade to PCI-X, new mobos don't even have a AGP slot, so, this isn't an option...

I'll just sell some stock, buy a whole new system, not like I don't spend alot of time on my PC anyway...
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:24 PM   #5
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BF2 needs RAM, a lot of it. so dont skimp, and a 939 mobo/proc. would be a good investment.
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:27 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwb124
Here is what I would do. I can't remember the brand, but there is one board (socket 939) that has both an AGP and PCIx slot. Get that board, it's under $100. Buy a new chip, and upgrade your memory for well under $500. Keep the 6800GT, it will be fine for a lot longer than you think.

Hmm.. interesting. My rig is over 2 years old though, I just hate spending nearly $400 on an AGP card, when I can basically get a 7800GT PCI-X for roughly the same price.
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:28 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwb124
Depends on how much you want to spend. Also, if you upgrade you PC, don't forget that you can sell your existing setup on Anandtech for some money that will offset your upgrade cost.

Here is what I would do. I can't remember the brand, but there is one board (socket 939) that has both an AGP and PCIx slot. Get that board, it's under $100. Buy a new chip, and upgrade your memory for well under $500. Keep the 6800GT, it will be fine for a lot longer than you think.
I never even realized that you could sell stuff on there.
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:43 PM   #8
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So how much of an upgrade are you looking for? slightly better framesrates or a big jump? If BF2 is a RAM hog as alluded to above, maybe another 512 MB, but I'd just find the fastest processor that fits on your current board.

Check out for-sale prices of the 9800 to see if it offsets a bit of the impulse buy. Not to mention prices of your current CPU.

Tom
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:43 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcmomentum
I never even realized that you could sell stuff on there.
Yeah check out the forsale forums. That forum moves faster than any I've ever seen, and stuff gets snatched up quickly. You throw a half-decent mobo/cpu/memory up there and it's gone in a day.
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:45 PM   #10
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The board referred to above is the ASRock 939 Dual SATA2 with both an AGP slot AND a PCIe slot and it supports both at native speeds. I plan to use my Radeon 9700Pro with it. The cool thing is when I someday upgrade to PCIe, I can leave my Radeon in the AGP slot (yes it'll run both at the same time) and use up to 4 montors. It also has a "future" slot to accept AMD's next generation CPU. I just ordered one of these myself from Monarch for 68 bucks. An excellent deal imho.

(yes mapplex does both pc and mac).
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Old 11-08-2005, 01:46 PM   #11
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This article talks about the motherboard with both AGP and PCI-X slots:

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20051014/
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Old 11-08-2005, 02:08 PM   #12
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Wow.. So, I could get Mobo/memory/CPU for under $300. I'd go with 1GB of memory though... Didn't know such a cheap MOBO existed.

This could very well tide me over for another year.

Although, ditching the 6800GT AGP in favor of a 7800GT PCI-X, and a whole new rig is still givin' me an itch...
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Old 11-08-2005, 02:10 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drfrink24
Wow.. So, I could get Mobo/memory/CPU for under $300. I'd go with 1GB of memory though... Didn't know such a cheap MOBO existed.

This could very well tide me over for another year.

Although, ditching the 6800GT AGP in favor of a 7800GT PCI-X, and a whole new rig is still givin' me an itch...
You can get a decent upgrade for under $400, but it probably wouldn't be that much better than yours. I think I spec'd out the mobo described above, an Athlon 3200+ and 1gb of 3200 RAM for under $400. That isn't much of an upgrade from your PC.

What exactly is wrong with your games that you want an upgrade? I think you left that part out.
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Old 11-08-2005, 02:24 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwb124
What exactly is wrong with your games that you want an upgrade? I think you left that part out.
Nothing really that bad. On some 64 player maps in BF2, there is some chugging during intense scenes. But flying is 10x smoother than the 9700pro, and I all of a sudden can actually get head shots with the sniper rifle (honestly, I'm 2x better at sniping now).

I'm looking more at a big picture here. I "invested" $375 in a video card, on a system thats probably worth around $200. I still have a window to return it as well. Also, it is kinda deflating (althought totally understood), that I have a 6800GT and still get slowdowns on a game thats almost 6 months old.

Would it just make more sense to return the card, put the $375 to a $420 7800GT, and then just bite the bullet on a new rig? Heck, I could even spend less on a 6800GT PCI-X...

I fear that I'll be stuck upgrading in 1 year, due to the new titles coming out, and I'm kinda riding an oddball wave here...
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Old 11-08-2005, 03:48 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drfrink24
Nothing really that bad. On some 64 player maps in BF2, there is some chugging during intense scenes. But flying is 10x smoother than the 9700pro, and I all of a sudden can actually get head shots with the sniper rifle (honestly, I'm 2x better at sniping now).

I'm looking more at a big picture here. I "invested" $375 in a video card, on a system thats probably worth around $200. I still have a window to return it as well. Also, it is kinda deflating (althought totally understood), that I have a 6800GT and still get slowdowns on a game thats almost 6 months old.

Would it just make more sense to return the card, put the $375 to a $420 7800GT, and then just bite the bullet on a new rig? Heck, I could even spend less on a 6800GT PCI-X...

I fear that I'll be stuck upgrading in 1 year, due to the new titles coming out, and I'm kinda riding an oddball wave here...
If you have that kind of money, do it. The 7800gt is leaps and bounds better than the 6800gt. I would return the card and get a 7800gt and spend $500-$600 on a new mobo/cpu/memory. I'd get a damn good CPU and 1.5gb ram. Also go SATA if you haven't already.
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Old 11-08-2005, 04:32 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwb124
If you have that kind of money, do it. The 7800gt is leaps and bounds better than the 6800gt. I would return the card and get a 7800gt and spend $500-$600 on a new mobo/cpu/memory. I'd get a damn good CPU and 1.5gb ram. Also go SATA if you haven't already.
Yeah, about the only thing I plan on keeping from my current rig is my soundcard.

I will want to stick to AMD, whats a good value/performance Processor? Should I even consider the X2 dual cores yet? How about something like the 3500+ venice ?

Like most people, I like to ride behind the price point "cutting edge" wave, but, still go pretty nice.
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Old 11-08-2005, 04:39 PM   #17
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I just ordered:

X2 3800+
Abit A8N SLI
XFX 7800GT

In my opinion that's the sweet perfomance/price spot. Only $800.
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Old 11-08-2005, 04:48 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drfrink24
Yeah, about the only thing I plan on keeping from my current rig is my soundcard.

I will want to stick to AMD, whats a good value/performance Processor? Should I even consider the X2 dual cores yet? How about something like the 3500+ venice ?

Like most people, I like to ride behind the price point "cutting edge" wave, but, still go pretty nice.
I don't know...you're current CPU is in no man's land. If you go to a 3200+ or 3500+ you might not see that great of an increase, or maybe not enough to justify the cost. To see some serious difference you'd want to go into the cutting edge territory and spend the bucks. I don't know it's a tough call. Depends on what your budget is. For $40 extra though, the 7800gt is a no brainer, I can tell you that.
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Old 11-08-2005, 05:04 PM   #19
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Remember, I'm not running an AMD 64, I'm running the old school Althlon XP 2800 Barton 333mhz FSB, pc2700 DDR ram, in dual mode config.

Ok, lets say, my budget is $1200. I'd like to avoid any premiums on "cutting edge". I don't need a soundcard, a 80-100GB harddrive is plenty fine, I don't need any optical devices. Anyone care to put together a christmas list for me?

Looks like that other rig for $800 is pretty tight though...

I'm also a sucker for products that can be hacked to be their bigger brothers (like, DFI SLI mobos, non-ultra cards that can become ultra, etc...)

You guys have been great though.. I usually love investigating all this stuff, but, alas, I've been super busy latey.
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Old 11-08-2005, 05:14 PM   #20
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When building a system from scratch never, ever go cheap on the motherboard.
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Old 11-08-2005, 06:06 PM   #21
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All you need for BF2 is more RAM.

My setup:
Pentium 4 2.4B (533mhz fsb)
2 gigs of ram
XFX 6800GT
Creative Audigy 4 (non pro)

I run EVERYTHING on high settings with 4X AA. Hardware rendering and EAX with sound settings on high.
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Old 11-08-2005, 06:12 PM   #22
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Just get better cooling and over clock!

Or get a faster processor, more ram or motherboard wont do that much.
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Old 11-08-2005, 06:14 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wrxlvr
All you need for BF2 is more RAM.

My setup:
Pentium 4 2.4B (533mhz fsb)
2 gigs of ram
XFX 6800GT
Creative Audigy 4 (non pro)

I run EVERYTHING on high settings with 4X AA. Hardware rendering and EAX with sound settings on high.
Yeah, and you probably get 15-20 fps. No thanks. (I know, because my old system was better than yours)
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Old 11-08-2005, 06:17 PM   #24
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Uhhh, try again. What was your old system?
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Old 11-08-2005, 06:23 PM   #25
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same card, 2 gigs of ram, 3.2 p4 with 800 bus, audigy 2...

I guess it's possible if you play at 1024x768...but no way you avg more than 30.
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