Upgrade advice please!

[The Old Man]

Hi all,
I'm thinking its time for some upgrades given that my PC strugges with COD2 with everything on at 1280x1024. I last upgraded it for HalfLife2 and it played it with everything on full at 1280x1024, super smooth. I didn't play another game due to web design commitments until Call of Duty 2 and I was amazed how it struggled and quite disspaointed with my system as a result.

I have 2 PC's, the second one is usually made up of my 'cast off's' for my son to play on so I'm not sure what to buy and and what to pass on to him.

Current systems:

System One

AMD64 3200 CPU (using 5% overclock motherboard option)
2GB (2x1GB sticks) Crucial DDR400 RAM
Nvidia Geforce 6800GT 256MB AGP (running at 400Mhz/1Ghz)
Asus A8V Deluxe
Antec 480w PSU
160GB SATA HDD
17" AG F-417 TFT
Creative Soundblaster Live Player
WinXP


System 2

AMD Mobile XP2000 CPU running at 2.4Ghz (remember that wierd one everyone was after?)
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
1GB Crucial DDR400
120GB SATA HDD
Onboard Sound
Antec 430w PSU
Nvidia FX5900 128MB AGP
15" CTX TFT Monitor (1024x768)
WinXP

I know if I upgrade the graphics card I need to go for PCI-Express this time which would mean a new motherboard. I'd like a X2 Dual Core CPU, not sure about which graphics card to go for. I want an improvement on the 6800GT but can't go over the top on price and I want to play games in the next 12 months at top quality and smooth framerate. I want to stick with Nvidia. By porting some components over to my sons PC, hopefully we'll both get a boost. I want to keep the monitors.

Do you have any advice on which OCUK products to go for? Is it a good time to buy, are there any price drops expected soon?

I'd be grateful for some options. One suggestion here would be a maintained list of the top 5 graphics cards and motherboards so it would be easier to choose!

Many thanks.

 

[The Old Man]

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

I apologise for not setting a budget, I supose its because I don't yet have one and was wondering which parts I need to get rid of. Looking at me post, I can see it helps to write down what you have. I think £500-£600 at most.
I really want to stick with Nvidia if possible, in the past I've found ATI cards always played compatibilty catch-up through game patches (Medal of Honor) although this may have changed (and the drivers were always ropey). I've found *** Nvidia cards do exactly what they say on the tin.
The 7900GTX is out of my price range this time. I was thinking about £250 mark for the graphics card which is about what the 6800GT cost me 2 years ago, from OCUK of course!

I could keep the RAM and hopefully the PSU's/ Chieftec Dragon cases etc.
So maybe a new mobo, dual core cpu and a £250 card but would it offer more performance than the 6800GT I have already? Or maybe your suggestion about keeping what I have and buying a 7900GTX but this means locking myself into the AGP side of things for another 2 years.

 

[The Old Man]

Interesting, thanks. Shame about the PSU. I'd thought I'd be okay with those for a while. I'll take a look at both of those cards, see if I can find some comparisons.

Thanks for the advice. Does anyone know which AMD dual core compatible motherboard is best at the moment (besides the ATI based one mentioned above)? I don't need SLI but if they all have it these days , its no problem.

 

[The Old Man]

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

I've always bought Asus boards in the past and ofund them to be excellent, but I wondered if there was a better one about these days.

 

[The Old Man]

I nearer buying now and have been looking again the components available. I was going to go for the new AM2 platform but my God, the DDR2 ram is twice the price of DDR so I'm going to keep my 2GB of Crucial DDR400.

Here's what I've come up with and I'd appreciate your thoughts!

1 NZXT Lexa Classic Series Ultra light Aluminum Midtower (CA-000-NX) £88.07 £88.07
1 Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-101-AS) £66.92 £66.92
1 AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4200BVBOX) (CP-126-AM) £246.69 £246.69
1 OcUK GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-038-OK) £317.19 £317.19
2 Akasa Serial ATA 45cm DAYGLO Blue Data Cable (CB-001-AK) £3.47 £6.94
2 Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 NCQ 160GB 6V160E0 SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-091-MD) £44.65 £89.30
1 Akasa AK-178-UV 12" Cold Cathode - Ultra-Violet (CM-011-GE) £8.58 £8.58


Total plus shipping: £823.69

I've copied this from Excel so I hope it posts better than it looks as I type!

Going from the AMD64 3200 to the dual 4200 should be a reasonable boost right?

I'm killing myself with the graphics card but what the hell! This is a rebadged OCUK model I assume, reference board? I have a 1280x1024 display and won't need to play at higher levels but want smooth gameplay in COD2 at this resolution with everything on. My current 6800GT almost manages this but not quite, I have to AA down a little. So I'm hoping to see a great difference in speed given the price and the fact I'm switching to dual core CPU.

I want to stick with Nvida rather than ATI, I don't want SLI and can't see any need for it in the next 2 years for me, so the mobo I found keeps the cost down from the £120-£140 models. Asus has never let me down so I'll stick with them plus I'm not into overclocking and extra cooling, well just a little overclocking?

I've never done RAID, so I'm going to give it a go. My current 160GB Hitachi is about a quarter full so I don't need any bigger than 160GB capacity for a while yet which keeps the cost down. I'm planning the version of RAID which is aimed at performance rather than creating a real-time backup (RAID 1?) so in using Dreamweaver and playing COD2 I'm hoping to see a speed increase. Is it with going the RAID option and buying the 2 new drives or should I stick with SATA? If I go with RAID I'll plan on regular backups to an external HDD of My Documents.

I fancy a new case and love that one. Have I chosen the right UV kit to show of the UV SATA cables? Never bought UV stuff before!

My Antec True Power 480w will have to go to my sons PC, can you recommend an inexpensive replacment PSU for the system above plus my internal DVD-RW?

Thanks for any advice, its more than I was going to spend but want to stick with Asus, AMD and Nvida but get myself a dual core.

 

[The Old Man]

Anyone? Thanks!