Ok I'm lost, someone spec an upgrade please

[mcast123]

The last time I built a system was 18 months ago and now I haven't a clue what is going on, SLI, XTX, crossfire, dual core, 64 etc etc.

I currently have a P4 2800, asus mobo (unsure of model), 2gb corsair ram, ATI x800 pro, SATA HD, very good case, 500w PSU and a 19" tft.

1. I want the top end ATI card, 1900XTX?, I think crossfire is the dual cards? which is too expensive so I'll stick with one.

2. I need a PCIe mobo and CPU, but here is where I'm totally confused. I mainly play games and want a good CPU + mobo, I haven't a clue if dual core or 64bit is worth it or should I even get a Pentium? I will not be OCing, I just want it stable, is the stock fan noisy?, if so whats a good, quiet cooler for your CPU recommendation?

3. Will my current memory work with an athlon system?

4. Finally, I also need a very good tft, that displays at least 1600x1280 and is good for gaming. I was looking at the 24" Dell 2405fpw, or a good 21", any recommendations?

I'm looking to spend around £1500ish for the GPU\CPU\mobo\TFT. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[benjo]

Welcome to the forums

MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£84.95 £84.95
GX-113-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-113-SP)
£354.95 £354.95
MO-003-BE Belinea 102035W 20.1" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-003-BE)
£279.95 £279.95
CP-127-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4400CDBOX) (CP-127-AM)
£289.95 £289.95
MY-079-CS Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)
£139.95 £139.95
Subtotal £1,149.75
VAT £201.21
Total £1,350.96

You've got the fastest graphics card out at the moment. One of the best PCI-e motherboards, a 20.1" widescreen monitor (i had heard good things about it). A X2 4400 processor. Dual core so it will support future gaming titles, and it also has 1mb cache which will always come in handy. As for the ram, i managed to fit in a 2gb kit, but i'm not sure whether the ram you have at the moment would work

edit: Apparently Nvidia are bringing out their new card soon, so it might be worth a look to see if it outperforms the 1900

 

[semi-pro waster]

Welcome to the forums, I'm assuming that your Ram is PC3200 or better here(if it is it will work otherwise you will need to replace it) and the fact that you don't want to overclock determines some of the components. This could be suitable, it looks like a good monitor with PiP and PbP, none of the monitors that OcUK sell under £1000 have a resolution greater than X x 1200. The stock fans are pretty good but as usual after-market solutions will be quieter.

MB-129-AS Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-129-AS)
£69.95 £69.95
GX-113-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-113-SP)
£354.95 £354.95
CP-127-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4400CDBOX) (CP-127-AM)
£289.95 £289.95
MO-005-NV Neovo X-20 AV 20" LCD Monitor (MO-005-NV)
£499.95 £499.95
Subtotal £1,214.80
VAT £212.59
Total £1,427.39

 

[BigDom]

Good solid setup, for 1500ish I could have crossfired the X1900's as 1500 is a lot for a partial PC. Couldn't find a 1600x1024 TFT so specced the best looking spec. I use the B90A Hyundai which I highly reccomend but that one has a quicker refresh rate and a DVI input. Mines still a very good refresh rate mind.

Rest is a good solid mix of components and Dual core is worth it as games are appearing now that use it.

Added Ram as unsure if yours is DDR or DDR2 or what speed ( needs to be 3200 or faster).

MB-129-AS Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-129-AS)
£69.95 £69.95
CP-127-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4400CDBOX) (CP-127-AM)
£289.95 £289.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£109.95 £109.95
GX-047-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (3056) (GX-047-CO)
£309.95 £309.95
MO-036-HY Hyundai ImageQuest Q90U 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-036-HY)
£279.95 £279.95
Subtotal £1,059.75
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £9.95
VAT £187.20
Total £1,256.90