Advice on upgrade or new system.

[texasbiggs]

I currently own a homebuilt P4-2.4 with intel 845 board and a very poor video card by todays standard Ti4200 series. 512 ram, 2 hard drives, DVD burner, and cd, Antec 350 power supply . The built was my first and the system has worked great for 2-3 years.
Recently I have gotten into some FPS games, Doom, Serious Sam 2, Far Cry, Battlefield, etc... and really can't play these games at a decent video level.

Question.... Should I upgrade video card on current system or purchase new system with better performance. Would I be OK on current system with new video card (APG) ?

I was thinking a gaming only machine could be had cheap. I am not current with latest parts etc.... Trying to catch up by reading as much as possible.

Thought---upgrade current system to a APG 6600GT or 6800GT based card.
Cost $200-$300 Downside is spent money on older APG technology.

Thought 2--- build new low cost game system. Use AMD chip and motherboard $150-$200 ??? low??
Video Card $200 PCI-e solution
Get to try new SATA drives...Larger power supply, etc.

Budget maybe $500-600.

I would keep old system as is and use it for video, music, word, surfing, etc... and new system just for games.

Does this make sense? Would I see significant performance improvement in this price range over P4-2.4 with new APG card?

Any suggested AMD choices, motherboard, video, is greatly appreciated.

The last factor to consider...joy of build new computer and play with overclocking --priceless.
Thanks in advance...
Texasbiggs.

 

[bourgeoisdude]

I would build a new one. GeForce 6 series cards seem to have compatability problems sometimes with older mobo's, and the 4200 is already quite an impressive card for its age. Heck I played games with my old 64MB PNY GeForce4 Ti4200 that had better framerates than my brother's GeForceFX 5700 128MB card using the same mobo. Yep, may just need a new system.

Little experience from mobo manufacturers here though. I can say I have an ASROCK 939 dual SATA mobo that was only about $60 and it works great for me.

 

[cleeve]

Don't bother with the 6600GT if you're coming from a Ti4200. It's notably better, but not nearly worth the cash.

Besides, X800 XT's can be had around $250 after rebate, and they will absolutely destroy the 6600GT.

In AGP, Ati is the way to go. At least until 6800GS' show up, and even then they had better be well below $200 because the X800 XT would kill them as well.

Your system will play all the newest titles quite well with an X800XT, although your CPU is going to limit you soon. Play with overclocking in the interim, and start planning an upgrade path...

 

[ToxicCow]

After the previous persons comments about the X800XT I searched around for prices and saw this: http://supercheappc.biz/site/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=x800

And X800XT priced at $949(NZD)(639.431 USD) and it was just so hilarious i just had 2 post.

 

[texasbiggs]

wow, what a deal....

Thanks for the suggestions.

Any other suggestions welcomed.

 

[RichPLS]

I just bought the best! HiS X1800XT from NewEgg... $549 delivered.

 

[lakedude]

I was thinking a gaming only machine could be had cheap....

Thought 2--- build new low cost game system.

Gaming and cheap do not really belong in the same sentence. Gaming is one of the most stressful things you can do to a PC. I think an OK game system these days would cost about $900. If you do go new the PCI express nVidia 7800 GT is selling for under $300 these days and is by far the best card for the money (IMO).

If $900 sounds high the good news is that a nice AGP 256MB x800-GT is only about $175 at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102619

This card would be a nice not too expensive upgrade and would keep you going strong for a year or two.

Everybody please notice that I suggested both an ATI and a nVidia card!