Upgrade cpu or videocard

[RajivHighfeather]

Hi there,

I'm planning on upgrading my pc for about €300,-.

My current setup is socket 754 and AGP, I want to end up
socket 939 and PCI-E, but I don't have the cash right now.

So, go for a new mobo + X1800 RX or new mobo + athlon 64 3500+
considering my current setup.

Important is that I will buy both in the end so it might be worth considering
wich of the two will drop in price more over time. Say, 9 months.

Current setup:

Asus K8V-X
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (754 NewCastle)
ATI Radeon 9800Pro
2X 512mb Corsair ValueRam cas2.5
2X 80Gb S-ATA WD800JD, Raid 0
2X M-Audio Delta 44

 

[cisco]

I would get by with what you have until you can afford to replace both at the same time. Your biggest problem is not only changing sockets but going from AGP to PCIe. If I were you I would get the 3500+ 939, mobo and get the fastest PCIE card I could afford.

 

[waylander]

If you aren't interested in SLI then there are some socket 939 boards that have both AGP and PCI-e from ASRock. This way you can upgrade your CPU and MB and use your existing AGP card until you can afford to upgrade it to a PCI-e card. You can then use the AGP slot for a tv tuner card or something.

 

[SidVicious]

An Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 would fit the bill quite nicely, not only will you get the AGP to PCI-E upgrade path, you'll also have the opportunity to use a Riser card if you want to get an AM2 CPU and DDR2 memory.

Unfortunately, the RAID-0 controller on your new mobo may not be able to recognise an array that was built by your current mobo.

 

[RajivHighfeather]

Hmm, would like to have shader 3.0 compatibility soon though..
I was thinking about sticking with my 3000+, oc'ing it, and buying the X1800RX + 754 pcie mobo.
Or would you think this would be dissapointing?

My experience is that with a fast enough video card, games will run fine.
Had a PII 300 once that ran GTA3 playable 'cause of the videocard.
But that was a long time ago. Maybe someone has some more recent experience??

 

[Rall]

I had the 9800 pro card. It is a nice card but won't play the newer games with ease. I would wait for 3 more months and buy a 939 socket motherboard + CPU+ 7900 GTX The processor I would get is 3800 X2

 

[SidVicious]

We're on the same boat as far as the GPU is concerned, I've been delaying this upgrade for quite a while now, I'm waiting to get into Darkfall-Online beta before I make a decision regarding the necessity of getting a brand spankin' new GPU.

I'll most likely settle for an AGP video-card (softmodded 6800GS or a 7800GS) as I hate doing mobo upgrades, my watercooling and cramped case make it a huge timesink to rip everything out, leaktest my loop then putting the system back together.

I know it is'nt very helpful to repeat myself but I think that the best way to do this is to go for the 939Dual hybrid mobo, it allows you to upgrade gradually instead of having to spend a big chunk of money in one go.

Alternatively, you can get an AGP 7800GS, it may not be the fastest GPU out there but it's a worthy upgrade nonetheless.

 

[xwingrogue9]

I switched to the Asrock 939 Sata 2 Dual and paired it with an AMD 64 4000+. I used my old 9800 pro for about 3 months and then upgraded to an x1900xt. (just couldn't stand not playing COD2 ) The motherboard may not be the fastest, but it is fairly decent. Tom's did a writeup on it. It's only about $68 at newegg.com. I did have to temporarily switch back to the old AGP card when my 1900xt died. (waiting for the rma to come back) So it is handy as I'll always have an old AGP card for standby.


COD2 CplPunishment

 

[SidVicious]

Nice ! Have you done any overclocking on your CPU ?

 

[xwingrogue9]

Haven't tried to OC yet. I need to get rid of the Corsair value Ram (2 GB) first and upgrade to some high end CAS 2, and then some decent coolers for the CPU and VGA card. Probably pass the value Ram to my son, but then I'll have to get him a Mobo and CPU too :? Gave him all my old components. I got 10054 in 3DMark 2005 and 4686 in 3dMark2006 at stock speeds and coolers. So it's pretty decent at stock.

 

[SidVicious]

Is that 2x 1GB or 4x 512MB ?

BTW, you can use CPU/MEM ratios to keep your memory within specs while you pump the HTT bus upward, since the memory controller is on the CPU, you don't get any performance hit by doing so.

 

[xwingrogue9]

Yes, two 1Gb sticks for dual channel mode. I'm thinking about adding the Zalman CNP9500LED cooler for the CPU. It's a huge thing but is has great cooling. The stock cooler seems to work OK, but I don't want to fry anything if I'm going to OC. Also maybe the KuFormula VF1 for the VGA card before I OC it. It runs pretty hot and is noisy with the stock fan.

The Bios has some OC features, but not as extensive as other boards.

 

[SidVicious]

You should check out This Monster Thread on EOCF, lots of usefull info to get around the motherboard's limitations, including an extremely simple Volt mod.

 

[xwingrogue9]

Thanks for the link. :!: Looks like some decent info to help me OC.

 

[Jebazor]

If you are going to wait on something, wait on the graphics card, the prices go down faster than the cpu's do.

 

[Rall]

I had the 9800 pro card, and it wouldn't play COD2. God I was so mad!!!!! So I had to upgrade my video card. So I said screw it and built a entirely new pc.

 

[SidVicious]

Always glad to help, thanks !

 

[chuckshissle]

Wait till you get enough funds for the 939. It's not that really good to upgrade with your current board anyways.

 

[Jebazor]

Nothing wrong with 754 at the moment, but a 939 and PCIe motherboard will be a good upgrade for you.