Slow upgrade advise please

bloodline76

bloodline76

bloodline76

Soldato
Joined
7 Feb 2004
Posts
9,511
My current build is:

AMD 3400+ 64
Radeon 9800XP AGP
1gig memory 4400 (Matched)
17" TFT monitor

All the rest I am happy with!

I can only upgrade a bit at a time. So what would be worth starting with. I know I would have to virtually start again, but some advise on where would be nice.

And how much could I get for the parts which i replace?

Thanks!
 
bloodline76 said:
My current build is:

AMD 3400+ 64
Radeon 9800XP AGP
1gig memory 4400 (Matched)
17" TFT monitor

All the rest I am happy with!

I can only upgrade a bit at a time. So what would be worth starting with. I know I would have to virtually start again, but some advise on where would be nice.

And how much could I get for the parts which i replace?

Thanks!
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Id say you could upgrade the graphics card (you mean a 9800XT yes?).

The 7800GS and ATI 1950 pro are the best cards for AGP. At present both cards are in the this week only offers.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-137-SP

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-045-GW&tool=3

In all honestly although your rig is still pretty respectable, It might be best investing the money into a entire new system build. (Core 2 Duo, PCI-Express.. etc) This way the money would probably be better spent because it will be better in the long run and youll be more futureproofed. However, if you must upgrade it now, go for the graphics card as that will give you the biggest performance boost.
 
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If you want to upgrade in stages then an ASRock Dual-VSTA motherboard is perfect for it as it supports Conroe, DDR + DDR2, AGP and PCI-E. It should set you back around £40 and the cheapest Conroe (the 6300) will come in at around £110 + CPU cooler (Arctic Freezer 7) for ~£15.
 
semi-pro waster said:
If you want to upgrade in stages then an ASRock Dual-VSTA motherboard is perfect for it as it supports Conroe, DDR + DDR2, AGP and PCI-E. It should set you back around £40 and the cheapest Conroe (the 6300) will come in at around £110 + CPU cooler (Arctic Freezer 7) for ~£15.
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I wouldnt recommened an Asrock board to anyone. I know a quite a few people who have had problems with them and they are useless for overclocking, and with a core 2 duo, your going to want to try out overclocking.
 
XtAsY said:
I wouldnt recommened an Asrock board to anyone. I know a quite a few people who have had problems with them and they are useless for overclocking, and with a core 2 duo, your going to want to try out overclocking.
Click to expand...

In all fairness to them they are about half the price of most competing motherboards, they offer innovative technologies and most of the time are the only possible solution for upgrading in stages. For what it is worth I have used a couple of ASRocks in builds for other people and they are fine provided you don't expect to be as fully featured or overclockable as more expensive motherboards. I understand your point but I still think it might be the best solution here if a full upgrade cannot be afforded at once.
 
semi-pro waster said:
In all fairness to them they are about half the price of most competing motherboards, they offer innovative technologies and most of the time are the only possible solution for upgrading in stages. For what it is worth I have used a couple of ASRocks in builds for other people and they are fine provided you don't expect to be as fully featured or overclockable as more expensive motherboards. I understand your point but I still think it might be the best solution here if a full upgrade cannot be afforded at once.
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yes I can understand that the Asrock boards do have their advantages in these particular kind of scenarios, however, if he is unable to upgrade everything at once anyway, and needs to alow time to raise the necessary funds, he may as well wait that extra bit longer in order to purchase a better motherboard. I guess its all down to how soon he wants his new parts.
 
I am ok to wait for a while. My system doesnt have any real problems although it would be nice to run ME2 on full settings but I am not sure just a new graphics card will do that anyway.

How much better is the ATI 1950pro compared to my 9800XT?
 
Hey bloodline -

I'm just about to receive my X1950 pro (agp). I'm upgrading from a 6800 (regular).

My other specs are:

A64 3400+ (754)
DFI Lanparty UT 250gb
2x1Gb Geil Value RAM

Pretty similar, so I'll let you know how much better it is in a few hours. From what I've heard/read I imagine you'll see a pretty big increase in FPS - and of course you'll be able to turn on the goodies as well.
 
well ive been doing the same.

First thing i got was the ASrock board above and a 6300. made a good difference.

Next i got a new more powerful psu. Then some ddr2 ram.

Next one will be new mainboard and a 8800gts and will sell the asrock on as was a good temp board for a few months but want to overclock when am all sorted.
 
Bloodline, what socket is your CPU? (s754 or s939)

I would be tempted by the ASrock mobo and C2D CPU solution tbh. You can stick your current RAM and gfx card in there and then upgrade those when you get a chance. Altho the x1950pro is a lovely card for AGP (and seriously so much more powerful than your 9800XT) it will most likely won't be able to perform at it's best due to the rest of your system, and spending so much on an AGP card just seems silly to me. I'd put the cash into getting the newer technology, rather than scraping by on the old.
 
My MB is 754.

What did the 1950 do for you fishbox?

This is definately something I would consider. Plus throwing in some more ram.

Would 1 gig stick me compatiable with 2 matching 4400. As I have only three slots on this MB.
 
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