Pimp my rig: An upgrade question

trailstar87 · 13 Sep 2006 at 14:32

Hi all,
I'm looking to upgrade my system a little to boost performance in games such as HL2/BF2/Oblivion/FF7. I considered getting a brand spanking new dual-core, triple chocolate super processor with a new mobo and a couple of SLI cards, but I reckon I'll wait till Vista/DX10 and do a big upgrade then...for now i'll get a 360.
My current rig is as follows:
AMD64 2800+ scoket754
128mb 6800 gfx
2x512mb PC3200
Which bit is in most need of an upgrade? I was thinking about getting a 3400/3700+ on this socket, but they seem so damn expensive on eB**.

Any advice would be really appreciated. I'm looking to spend no more than around £100. Obviously if it wouldn't be too much more to get a new mobo/cpu (was looking at PD805) then I'll go for that, as long as the increase in performance is worth it.

Thanks

bliss · 13 Sep 2006 at 14:35

Is that 6800 the vanilla? If so then a 7600GT might be a good replacement. Either that or upping your RAM to 2gb. Or maybe both

Virdi · 13 Sep 2006 at 14:35

TBH Mate - You'd be better off saving the money and putting it towards a new rig.

The amount of performance you get from the new Intel Core 2 Duo's is amazing!! and they are not very expensive

trailstar87 · 13 Sep 2006 at 14:51

Yeah its just the plain 6800, no GT or anything. Thanks for the advice guys. I don't really know much about the core 2 duos, or their price, so I'll look into that.
Say I got an E6300 and board, what would be a nice (read: better than my current card), but not too expensive PCI-E card to go with it?

bliss · 13 Sep 2006 at 14:58

Probably my above suggestion. Or if you can stretch a little further go for the x1800xt. All depends on your budget really.

trailstar87 · 13 Sep 2006 at 15:23

Ah ok, didn't realise that was PCI-e. I think I'd better set myself a limit to how much I want to spend for a few more fps, or I could end up going a but mad. Thanks again for the quick replies.

pastymuncher · 13 Sep 2006 at 17:13

I just built my sons a rig based around a socket 754 A64 3000+, an Abit NV8 mobo, an XFX 6800XT with 256mb of GDDR3 and a 1gb stick of pc3200. It may not sound much but it all cost less than £250 and the cpu was £25 brand new. It is a Clawhammer that runs at 2ghz which is just 200mhz faster than your 2800+ if i remember rightly. The mobo is a very good clocker though and only cost me £15 also brand new from the auction site. I have got this 3000+ running at 2.4ghz memtest and prime stable. On top of that the graphics card overclocks from 350/1000 to 476/1300 which overall gives the pc a huge boost. If i could have found one at the time i would have gone for one of the agp 7600 series though.

I think this could be a viable route for you. The 3700+ and 3400+ are as you say going for silly prices and the 3400 is'nt a great clocker (mine was'nt anyway) so maybe you could get a 3000/3200+ and clock it. Even better try to find a Venice which clock even better and pair it up with a 7600 series agp card. That should see you ok for another year or so by which time you could have saved up for a new rig altogether and also AM3 or whatever it will be and the quad core Intel cpu's will be out.