bjackson

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I've been an Oblivion addict for a few weeks now, and I've been playing it on my Apple Macbook Pro as it's the fatest computer I own, however, I'd like to upgrade my desktop, so that it can play it better, and have a few new techs in it.

It current has a Athlon 1800, 1.5gigs PC2100, and a Radeon 9600 (This was a sweet machine back in 2001! LOL). I have a nice coolermaster case, and my SATA drives/power supply/etc will be staying.

I only want to upgrade the mobo, videocard, and processor. I am hoping for 600 for all of it. I assume that my ram will not work in a new mobo. What I'd like to stress is not a short term goal, but that it will be upgradable as much as possible for the future. (I'll be with this mobo for 3-4 years probably).
 

sandmannight

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Asrock mobo- about 70 bucks
amd athlon 3700- about 230 bucks
2 gigs of ram- about 140 bucks
7900gt- about 320 bucks

Although this does put you a bit over budget but this hardware is very nice
 

DDay629

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What I want to ask, as a mac user, what kind of frame rates do you get and with what settings in oblivion using Boot Camp.

DDay
 

bjackson

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On the Macbook pro (X1600 "over" clocked to 400/400, (apple underclocks it stock), with the 1.83, 1.5g of ram, and the 128 video card, I get around 40fps inside with bloom/HDR off, in 1280x960. It varies heavily by the content obviously. It's definatly playable, but I just want it to look nicer.
 

bjackson

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Don't forget new mobo's take a 24 pin ATX connection and old PSU's run 20 pin connections. Crying or Very sad

That's very sad... My case (Coolermaster Cavalier) does not accept new power supplies (non standard size IIRC), and it's 20 pins.

Maybe I'll just give up on this idea and buy an xbox360..... :(
 

bjackson

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Well, I wanted to upgrade my old husk of a computer in the corner that is currently my file server, but the costs are getting so high....but then the mobo is starting to go out...

Hmm..
 

DDay629

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Ehh, computer is much more versatile. I mean, can you play the "REAL" BF2 on a XBox360. NO. I don't know if you want to do this, but to just get an XBox in order to play Oblivion isn't the greatest purchase decision. I would say stick with the MacBook, and wait till you have a bit more money. Also, wait till AM2 comes out, and the 939 chips go down in price.

DDay
 
I only want to upgrade the mobo, videocard, and processor. I am hoping for 600 for all of it. I assume that my ram will not work in a new mobo. What I'd like to stress is not a short term goal, but that it will be upgradable as much as possible for the future. (I'll be with this mobo for 3-4 years probably).

If you want to build a PC that really is upgradable over the next 3 or 4 years, then you should wait until either Conroe or AM2 comes out.

Intel's new CPU Conroe is expected to be on sale in July. It is socket LGA775 just like current Pentium 4s, but it may not be compatible with the 975X chipset. You'll need to wait for either the 965 or 975XBX chipset to ensure 100% compatiblity.

Socket AM2 is AMD's next series of Athlon 64 coming out on May 23rd. It will offer 0% - 5% increase in performance for the current generation of S939 Athlon 64 at best. It also add DDR2 RAM. The purpose of AM2 is to lay the ground works for AMD's next CPU, the K8L which is coming out next year. S939 CPUs are slated to end production at the end of this year.

You can upgrade to a S939 Athlon 64 now, but you will not be able to upgrade to the K8L CPU. Also, once S939 production ends, AMD may raise prices of S939 CPU, to encourage more people to switch to socket AM2. They raised the prices of Athlon XP to encourage people to move to S754. By the beginning of 2008 I would expect new S939 CPUs to be pretty scarce.

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It would be cheaper to play Oblivion on XboX 360, but you will miss out on community created mods. I think mods are what really made Morrowind so popular.
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If you were to build a system now with that $600 for CPU, mobo, RAM & GPU it would be very tight. If $600 (before shipping) is all that I could afford then I would get the following components:

ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 - $67

Asrock is the budget division of Asus. This is a rather interesting mobo with lots of good feature and a path to upgrade in the future. First, it has both AGP and PCI-e ports and the ULi 1695 chipset allows an AGP card to perform at least at 95% compared to a mobo dedicated for an AGP card. But you are adding in a PCI-e card anyway so I won't get into too much details, but you can use both AGP and PCI-e cards at the same time for 2 different monitors. The AGP for surfing the net or something else, and the PCI-e for playing Oblivion. Second, and more important, this mobo is compatible with AM2 CPUs and DDR2 RAM if Asrock does actually release and expansion card.

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Here's a review of the mobo.
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AMD Athlon 64 3200+ - $154

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) - $77

So far that adds up to a little less than $300. Your next decision is the graphics card, for which you have $300 in your budget. The Radeon performs better than the nVidia. There are benchmarks that fact. However, you have a problem, ATI card are very power hungry, almost double that of a competing nVidia card when both cards are not overclocked.

SAPPHIRE Radeon X1800XT - $299 this is OEM - Power Consumption = 103w

XFX Geforce GeForce 7900 GT - $299 - Power Consumption = 52w if not overclocked.

The 7900GT is an update of the 7800GT and performs slightly better than the 7800GTX. Because it is shrunk from 110nm die down to 90nm die, it also uses less power, about 5w - 8w but I can't remember exactly were I read it.

GPU Power Consumption

Go for either card, but realise that if you have a weak power supply then you will need to upgrade that.

CPU Power Consumption

Assume the following setup:

Athlon 64 3200+...................................40w (estimate & not overclocked)
Motherboard.........................................20w
RAM (2 sticks)......................................10w
Hard Drive (1)......................................16w
Sound Card..........................................10w
DVD Drive............................................16w
Fans (2)...............................................10w

Total Estimate Power Consumption........122w

This is based on 100% load assuming all your components are stressed at the same time, which doesn't happen even when playing a game because your hard drive and DVD drive will not be spinning all the time.

This leads to the video card:

Radeon X1800.....................................103w (actual)
nVidia 7900GT (stock speed)..................52w (estimate)
nVidia 7900GT (overclocked)..................82w (estimate)

Most 7900GTs are overclocked when sold, the extra 30w is merely a guess. This puts a potential 100% load of 204w to 225w.

Is your power supply (PSU) able to running this updated system? That depends. Almost all power is drawn from the 12v rail in newer systems so you need to check your PSU to make sure it gets at least 20 amps on the 12v rail. There is a sticker on the PSU that will tell you the amps, but you may need to remove from your PC.

If you do not have at least 20 amps then you will most likely need a new PSU.
 

Vile

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Don't forget new mobo's take a 24 pin ATX connection and old PSU's run 20 pin connections. Crying or Very sad

That's very sad... My case (Coolermaster Cavalier) does not accept new power supplies (non standard size IIRC), and it's 20 pins.

Maybe I'll just give up on this idea and buy an xbox360..... :(

What's with all the BS posts ? Dude just get an adaptor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812145002
 

SuperFly03

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Good point, but I never said there wasn't an adapter. I did fail to mention they made one, but I was more implying there is more to the upgrade than meets the eye due to spec changes.
 

radeonninjaxt

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Maybe I'll just give up on this idea and buy an xbox360..... :(

Dont buy a crap box 360! you will be kicking yourself later for doing this and you also need an expensive HD tv to take full appreciation of it!

I will help you come up with a build in your price range if you give me some time. 8)
 

radeonninjaxt

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If all you intend on playing is Oblivion an Xbox 360 would be cheaper. $400 for conslde $60 for the game and your done.

Not that simple, your gonna need a High def TV to take full advantage of it and it will still get PWNED by a high end computer system that will cost less to build when compared to the cost of an HD TV. Who the heck wants to play Oblivion on standered Res TV? :roll:

After all his main objective is to get Oblivion looking nicer, not worse. Plus you have to pluck down $60 per game! Screw that.
 

radeonninjaxt

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I've been an Oblivion addict for a few weeks now, and I've been playing it on my Apple Macbook Pro as it's the fatest computer I own, however, I'd like to upgrade my desktop, so that it can play it better, and have a few new techs in it.

It current has a Athlon 1800, 1.5gigs PC2100, and a Radeon 9600 (This was a sweet machine back in 2001! LOL). I have a nice coolermaster case, and my SATA drives/power supply/etc will be staying.

I only want to upgrade the mobo, videocard, and processor. I am hoping for 600 for all of it. I assume that my ram will not work in a new mobo. What I'd like to stress is not a short term goal, but that it will be upgradable as much as possible for the future. (I'll be with this mobo for 3-4 years probably).


Is this the case you have? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119075

If so there is no reason why you cannot upgrade the Power Supply to a new one, Also dont forget that I gave you a link to that converter for 20-24pin connector. Check your PSU wattage and 12V rail and give us the specs, that way we can better determine if you need a new one or not.
 

radeonninjaxt

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Well what if he already has a HDTV :wink:

Anyways my friend plays on reg def but he is a poor college student so that is allowed lol :p

Well thats a possibility I suppose but either way I would go with the Computer build 8) I am not the least bit impressed with the 360, have you noticed how blurry the textures are in games like Oblivion when compared to the PC? the lack of Anisotropic filtering really shows and I just cannot stand to play games with muddy textures. Hell all of the 360 games I have seen have had that problem.
 

bjackson

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My case is a cavalier 1, which is exactly the same as that except it has a front dB meter. At any rate, my PSU can only do 16A @ 12V.
 

SuperFly03

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Well what if he already has a HDTV :wink:

Anyways my friend plays on reg def but he is a poor college student so that is allowed lol :p

Well thats a possibility I suppose but either way I would go with the Computer build 8) I am not the least bit impressed with the 360, have you noticed how blurry the textures are in games like Oblivion when compared to the PC? the lack of Anisotropic filtering really shows and I just cannot stand to play games with muddy textures. Hell all of the 360 games I have seen have had that problem.

I am impressed by the 360's value, assuming you already have an HDTV. HOwever, if you plan on buying an HDTV to accompany a 360 then it quickly becomes cheaper to build a moderate PC. I think consoles have their place... but just not in my apartment :lol:
 

bjackson

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That's another thing. I own a 27" HDTV (I live in a small apartment, so it's ok), but only a 15" CRT.

I can't understand why less expensive LCDs do not have a DVI port. Wouldn't it be easier to go digital to digital instead of using a DAC and an ADC?
 

radeonninjaxt

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Here is a nice build that works off a single card solution, I personally do not see a need for Crossfire or Sli just yet and to tell you the truth they still have a ways to go before they are worth it.

First of all if your going to be playing Oblivion then ATI is the obviouse choice here! best framerates and the ability to do AA with HDR is awsome!

Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569 $79.99

Just look at the reviews, I have this motherboard and so do 2 other friends of mine. They work like a charm and are very stable.

Here is a Crossfire board just incase you want the ability to add a second card later http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131584 $96.99

CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103603 $203.00

This is a nice CPU for a good price, if you can afford around $50 more I would go for the 3700+ because of the larger L2 cache.

Video card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102629 $299.00 Sweet deal for a sweet card!

Im not completely sure but I think you can use your current memory in either one of these boards, Even if you can your going to want faster memory so you have nothing bottlenecking your system.

Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146575 2 gigs of ddr 400 for $157.00

1 gig of ddr 400 for $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146577


I use this memory myself and it has been nothing but perfect!

As you can see you can have yourself a new build for only $661.98 if you choose the Single card motherboard which I would recommend and the 1gig ddr 400 memory! You could even spend about $50 less if you got a 3200+ processor!

If you get the 3200+ processor and overclock it you will need to remember that Oblivion is very sensitive to processor overclock so you can expect alot of crashes! I personally would go with atleast the 3500+.
 

SuperFly03

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Hmmm overclocking an RPG's don't seem to mix lol.

I play Lineage II and that sh!t crashes more often than President Bush stutters (I'm from Texas and Republican so I can say that 8O )