Is it worth it?

[ojrules]

I'm planning on getting a new mobo, ( p5ke wifi) and a 8800 gt.. coming to £200... but will it be worth it? At the moment my processor will only go to 2.3 because the mobo is abysmal, and will only take 2gb of ddr2 ram, tho i've actually got another 2gb of ram

so existing specs are:

processor (e2180) @ 2.3
2gb Ram @ 620mhz
x1950 agp

if however i was to make the upgrade the system would be looking like this:

processor (e2180) @ 3.4
4gb ram @ 800mhz
8800gt

that seems a pretty nice boost, but i'm wandering what difference i'l see, of course because it's an ageing system tasks have become slow, and the pc either needs a makeover or cleanout

because i only play on 1280x1024 games still run very well
Call of duty 4 (demo), on full graphics is running at an avergae of 27fps, however in some intense fighting it can droop to 15ish

Newish steam games like portal run well : lowest fps 19, highest 70 odd

Crysis however doesnt run so well, but still reasonably good: with Very high hack enabled on everything, except a few, and motion blur toned down (obviosuly no aa, or af) i can squeeze an avergae of about 17fps, possibly being optomistic....

now i've got a massive summer holiday and this seems to be one of the only chances in the next few years that i'm going to have to properly enjoy a nice system...

but obviosuly i want to know that my monies being spent well, and that i shouldnt wait for prices of better specs to come down, so i want this to be reasonably future proof, keep in mind low res (1280x1024) , so as new games come out am i likely to see my exisiting system struggling even more?, and would a £200 upgrade cure this for a reasonable time?, or would it struggle jusat as much, but with a 6 month delay or so?..

i know i've rambled and i'm sorry but i'd appreciate it if you'd give a response

 

[ojrules]

anyone? please comment

 

[Owenb]

The 8800gt is great card and will be up to 100% faster in a lot of games. Once you don't worry about running games at high settings it should keep you going for a few years yet. Nvidia/ATI are releasing new cards in 2 weeks which might lower the cost of GT, especially 2nd hand.

 

[J.D]

Yes, you will see a good improvement with this new set up. A new 22" screen would be a good option too for later down the line (1680x1050). I'm not saying it's necessary or anything. I'm just mentioning this as I think gaming is better at higher resolutions and I used a 17" CRT reject for a long time before experiencing this. I would find it hard going back.

 

[ojrules]

ok thanks very much; i get the impression all the new cards do is give umph for higher resolutions, so i see the gt as a good value card... (yes i may uprgade monitors some time, when i get off to uni, may use a slice of my £500 laptop budget (not going on expensive laptop, cus i have pc ) to get a nice monitor)

say when i upgrade next (say a year and a half or so) will i regret getting a pcie 1 board, rather than newer 2.0 ? ( oris that inevitable in this world, or is the progress in graphics in games slowing down, as we come closer to photo realism)?..