Upgrade options?

James_p

James_p

James_p

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Joined
7 Mar 2007
Posts
123
Hi,

I'm thinking of upgrading my current machine as I've noticed I can't run a few of the new games. The graphics card seems to be the main issue.

The main bits of its spec are:

A8V Deluxe
Athlon 64 3000+ (Retail cooler)
1GB DR3200
Asus ATI Radeon X800 XT PE Platinum 256MB (AGP)
Seagate 160 GB & 80 GB
Antec SLK1650B Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU
combi CDRW/DVD (have a DVDRW on another machine)

The last upgrade was the X800 a few years ago and I'm now totally out of touch with what my options are. I play the odd game but I've started encoding more videos recently.

Is the A8V still usable? I've noticed that they're still making AGP graphics cards and that upgrading the CPU is still available. Ideally I'd like to keep it and save myself some money but not sure how much I'm missing out by not buying a SLi mobo.

Also how much more strain do you think the PSU can handle?

My budget's currently about £300 but it could be pushed a bit further if needed. I'm currently thinking about buying a PS3 so I can't blow my entire bonus on the PC.

Thanks in advance

James
 
That should cope with a lot of the new games on low spec still. the graphics card will serve you still and you will have recomended ram. getting sli you probely wont see much of an improvement.

what you could do is get a PCI-E mobo (maybe the DFI NF4 around £40)
put a X1950 pro in which will be about £130.
and then maybe upgrade the CPU to a 3800 X2 they are £95.

£265

to upgrade to this you will need more than 350 watt. you will probely want a 500w, i use to be able to get a generic one for £20 from my local PC shop.
 
Maybe wait til dx10 comes to AGP and get a 8800gts and a corsair 520W PSU.

If your going to do something like what p1RATE suggests, I'd go the ASrock Dual-VSTA(4core) route with an e4300/e6300
 
Thanks for the advise.

I actually meant to say PCI-E and not SLi in my original post.

When will DX10 becoming to AGP?

If I went for an 3800 X2 and an something like an X1950 pro AGP would I notice much gain over what I have now?

OR and am I going about this all wrong? Should I save for a bit longer and throw a bit more money at it? I only need the barebones as I can reuse the DVD and hard drives.
 
James_p said:
If I went for an 3800 X2 and an something like an X1950 pro AGP would I notice much gain over what I have now?
Click to expand...

Yes you would. With an extra 1GB RAM, that'd make for a really nice machine. Personally I would get £600 together and build a C2D rig tho, selling the stuff you have to make up for it. :)
 
alphaomega16 said:
Personally I wouldnt bother with the whole SLI/Crossfire thing I think personally its just a fad.
Click to expand...
Yeah, pretty much. One card for the total amount of money spent is guaranteed to be a lot better.
 
Right, I go to cut my budget for the time being so I was thinking about the following:

My current RAM's 2 GeIL 512MB PC3200 so I thought I could double up on that instead of a new graphics card and buy a new CPU.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
2x GeIL 512MB PC3200 Value CAS2.5 (GE5123200B) £27.99 £55.98
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail £99.99 £99.99 Sub Total : £155.97
Shipping : £8.00
Vat : £28.69
Total : £192.66

It has crossed my mind to go for the Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 CAS3 or the OcUK Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 and then stick the old GeIL sticks in my brothers comp but would I really notice that much difference?

Good idea?

Thanks
 
I'm sold on 2GB but which RAM setup should I go for?

Also, Is the retail fan enough? I stuck with the retail for the 3000+ and i've never had any problems with that but isn't the X2 3800+ good at overclocking?
 
What's OCZ 2GB (2x1024MB) DDR-400 PC-3200 CL 3-4-4-8 Dual Value Channel Kit like compared to the OCuk Value 2GB RAM.
Do you know if there's any difference?
 
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