In a big dilemma

[sugi123]

Ok, my friend has a PC with the following specs:
Pentium 530 OC to 3.50 GHz
Gigabyte 8IPE775-G MB w/ AGP 8x
Radeon 9550 SE AGP 8
200 GB HD
350 Watt PS
1.0 GB DDR1 RAM

How should he upgrade. He has $200 to play around with. He was browsing thru the "Clearance" Section of Newegg and saw the Sapphire X800 GTO AGP, and the X800 XL 512 MB PCIe, and this with a cheap PCIe mobo with DDR1 Ram support fro $180. He also found numerous other cards. Should he switch to PCIe with a cheap mobo, or make his final AGP upgrade??? Please Help.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Buy the GTO for AGP, and then save for a switch to a mid-range DX10 next gen card next year, when he'll need it. For now an X800GTO with that rig will play anything out there well enough to tide him over until the next gen are more worthwhile of consideration.

A move to PCIe and a GF7600GT would be OK, but depending is probably still beyond his price range without a great deal.

I'd say those are the two options. Save now for later with the X800GTO or get a GF7600GT and new PCIe mobo to have some added features until the switch, but either way I'd say switch by this time next year.

Also let us know the prices, because if the X800GTO is just a tad under the $200 mark, then it'd be far more worth it to get a cheap $50 MoBo with PCIe and then the GF7600GT;

As long as the X800GTO is closer to the $125 marke that'd be my choice, but anything over $175 I'd go with a cheap GF7600GT + new Mobo.

The X800XL PCIe is a non-starter for me, not worth it in any scenarion now, despite my previous like of the card, now it's just dated compared to the GF7600GT which also benifits from the same 'no external power connector / low temp' features that made me like the X800XL previously.

 

[enforcerfx]

ya i agree with ape, the GTO is a better buy. when u decide to get a mobo for PCI-E though as your next jump, make sure its not a junky 50-60 buck one, or it wont last, ASUS and DFI make great motherboards.

 

[hella-d]

. when u decide to get a mobo for PCI-E though as your next jump, make sure its not a junky 50-60 buck one, or it wont last, ASUS and DFI make great motherboards.

Hey I Resent That!, I Only Paid $65.00 For This Motherboard And Havent Had A Problem, Even Running A 260MHz FSB And Overvolting It A Bit And Its Been Going Almost 24/7 For 7 Months

 

[sugi123]

Thank You very much for the fast reply. Thats what I love about THG forums.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102608R for $130.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

make sure its not a junky 50-60 buck one, or it wont last, ASUS and DFI make great motherboards.

Well my thinking was alog the lines that it wouldn't need to last. I wouldn't suggest getting a really expensive mobo to upgrade, but then again if Conroe is the target I guess he could get a quality board for the future, not like he's on S939 looking at Conroe. So yeah if you can scrounge the extra cash, sure why not.

for $130.

Unfortunately I can't get newegg today, but I assume that's for the GTO, that's a pretty good price. So the question is, can you afford a little more, or can you sell your current MoBo for a little coin and swing a i965/975 MoBo with a GF7600GT?

That might be your best option (then you just need a Conroe and ne DX10 card next year).

Either option is good IMO, but if you can swing the mobo+GT that may give you all the best features and peroformance over the next year, but admitedlly aty a higher price, and slightly more setup work (likely format/re-install).

 

[sugi123]

That seems like a good option. Thanks, but I heard that you can unlock the 4 additional pipes on the AGP X800 GTO, and make it run at X850 XT PE speeds (with Arctic cooling AT5 of course). Would that make it worth more, or would it still be a viable option to jump to the 965 chipset w/ 7600GT.