Buying tomorrow, help me decide!

sirp

sirp

sirp

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18 Oct 2002
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off to buy some bits tomorrow, finally decided to upgrade to PCIE..so close to decision, help me make my mind up please :)

currently running a XP2500@3200 and 6800GT AGP :(
GEIL 1gig DDR ram, so will reuse this ram. I have looked at CPU benchmarks for gaming (my use) and there is not much in it between CPUs, where as the GPU makes a big difference.

Thinking of:

Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-131-AM)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940)

OcUK GeForce 7900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

OR

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-121-SP)

regarding the GPU, i was all for the ATI, but not like the threads i have read on the problems people have had, which seem high in s short space of time. Therefore, the 7900GT is pulling me in.

Overall, this upgrade seems to be the best i can come up with for the performance/pound.

cheers, advise away
 
budget, well..that lot is circa 360, so about that really, not wanting to spend much more really.

the 3700 is a better chip yes, but when i have compared CPU benchmarks in gaming, we are talking about 10 percent tops, compared to about 40 percent pound increase; from what i have read. I only game at 1280 res.

is the DFi board better than the ASUS board then, im not an overclocking nutcase, just ocassional one :D
 
Nickg said:
DFI Ultra D £70
Click to expand...

If he gets a 2nd hand board..

Regarding the X1800XT's, it's probably got more to do with the quantity that have been sold of late, what with the special offer being on and all. Apparently if you're running at stock, you're best with the x1800xt, and if overclocking, go for the 7900gt.
 
k go for a;

AMD Opteron 64 146 Socket939 , Venus Core, 2.0GHz , 1MB Cache, OEM

i just think that 1mb cpu cache will be a bit better than 512kb....i havce a winchester 3000+, and i want rid lol. (check the opteron works okay with standard mobos)

i was never sure about DFI, i had a gigabyte before, and an Aboit before that.

the DFI is the bets board ive ever had
 
sirp said:
budget, well..that lot is circa 360, so about that really, not wanting to spend much more really.

the 3700 is a better chip yes, but when i have compared CPU benchmarks in gaming, we are talking about 10 percent tops, compared to about 40 percent pound increase; from what i have read. I only game at 1280 res.

is the DFi board better than the ASUS board then, im not an overclocking nutcase, just ocassional one :D
Click to expand...

The DFI is better if you're overclocking, yeah. It's also just a great board and imo worth the extra cash. The 10% increase when the CPU is running at stock, however when overclocking, some 3700's are hitting 3Ghz.
 
i'd love a 3700, but its 50 notes more :( and my GEIL ram might be cack for all i know :)

im only a part-time overclocker, so im buying with stock in mind really

regarding the XT cards, and issues..i just don't want to end up with a dud ( i know it can happen with any kit). Are the 7900GT easy to overclock a bit, without any mods?

i'm finding this hard to decide, too many opinions eh :)

the opteron, not considered that, but if i was, maybe the 3700 would be better for me at stock.
 
The A8n is more than capable of overclocking and frankly, suits the needs for the majority of ppl.


The 7900 GT was fun to volt mod, but even if you dont do that, you'll still get a large overclock from the OCUK cards. Ridiculously easy to overclock if you're just using software like ATI tool.
 
Quite a few people stating their 7900GT cards are very loud lately.

The X1800XT is quicker & would be the card i would choose.
Great overclocker too.
 
well..i bought the 3200 venice, and the X1800XT in the end, and upgraded to 2 gig ram

almost finished the install..YAWN!

battlefield 2 looks/runs good with everything turned on high, hurrah!

so far, happy
 
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