Need help, really lost.

[MrJangles14]

Hey everyone, Id like to start off by applogizing if this is a repost, or already covered material, however i've been out of the loop for a little while and Im confused on whats new, whats coming out etc.

First off im looking to upgrade. Currently im running a P4 2.8 @ 3.2 with stock cooling, 1gb of Corsair value select ram, ABIT IC7-G mobo and an ATI Radeon 9800 pro. Those are the only 4 things I want to upgrade to, however i've been reading the forums and have read about the new Core 2 Duo. My question is, what should I upgrade to? I want a solid computer, but I dont want to go spending a ton of money when my shits gonna be out dated in a few months. Well any and all help is appreciated.

 

[muffins]

well if u upgrade to a core 2 duo yer gonna need a new mobo, and if u upgrade your vid card yer more then likely gonna need a new PSU, as for ram with the new chip and mobo youll need DDR2 ram....so yer pretty much gonna new a new system...minus yer HDD and cd-rom drive

as for what exactly u put in theres about a million diff post about diff combos and how they work so i suggest read through and see which one floats yer boat

 

[AeroEngy]

Well how much do you have to spend? How are you going to use your new PC (photoshop, encode DVDs, gaming ect)? What components specificly do you want to reuse?

 

[tekzor]

if your computer is adequate for what ur doing now then why upgrade?

wait a year and get an incredibly cheap amd dualie or save up for a nice core 2.

 

[ethel]

You haven't given us any parameters to work with.

What will you do with the machine?
If it's gaming, what games will you play? How important is sexy graphics?
How much are you prepared to spend?

Answer the above and advice will be easier to give.

 

[bliq]

well if u upgrade to a core 2 duo yer gonna need a new mobo, and if u upgrade your vid card yer more then likely gonna need a new PSU, as for ram with the new chip and mobo youll need DDR2 ram....so yer pretty much gonna new a new system...minus yer HDD and cd-rom drive

as for what exactly u put in theres about a million diff post about diff combos and how they work so i suggest read through and see which one floats yer boat

If he goes to C2D, he'll need a new motherboard and I don't think any of them have AGP so he'll HAVE to upgrade the video.

But like someone said, unless you're playing pretty graphics demanding games, why upgrade now?

 

[noobtastic]

MrJangles,

I am in a similar situation as you in that I am/was looking to upgrade my system;

P4 2.6
2 GB Ram
9800 Pro, burned up (I don't wanna talk about it. LMAO)(It was purchased off of Ebay)

I was seriously considering building a new system, soup to nuts with the following;

D 805
Asrock mobo with Crossfire
2 GB DDR2 400 Mhz Geil ram
Thermaltake bigwater system
Cooler Master Ammo case
2 WD raptors
1 ATI x850 Pro PCI-E Crossfire, then add a second shortly afterwards
and I have gone back and forth on the PSU

All in all this system would run me about $1200. Then after reading a bunch of these threads, I asked myself if there was anything that my current rig was preventing me from doing. Other than crappy graphics while playing BF2, and other games my current system is fine for what I do with it. I then read posts about ATI's clearance sales and found the X850 Pro AGP for $139 (which I ordered 2 days ago and they dropped the price to $119). From what I have read I should be able to see a noticable difference in graphics performace, and basically for now that is all I need.

I think the system I was gonna build would kick a** for a little while, however, you have to remember that next year (maybe) Vista will come out and so with it DX10. I have heard that Vista will not support SLI or Crossfire, don't quote me on this, but it wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't supported at Vista's release.

So my question to you is what exactly do you hope to get out of your next system? If you are anything like me, (if you have waited this long to upgrade you probably are) you might just want to wait it out.

 

[MrJangles14]

I use my computer for gaming primerily, but Im usually multi tasking while im gaming, listening to music, browsing the internet. I play World of Warcraft at the highest settings so i guess its kind of demanding. Im not really sure right now much I have to spend, I dont want to go nuts, but I want some decent stuff. My main question was should I go AMD or should I go Intel.

The only things im looking to replace are the mobo, ram, graphics, and processor. My PSU currently is an OCZ Modstream 520w, I think its pretty good. So like I said, the computer is going to be used for Gaming and partial multitasking, let me know what you guys think.

 

[MrJangles14]

Thanks for the replies guys, there were alot of replies made inbetween me posting my last post, I didnt see them. Pretty much im looking for less frame rate lag in the game I play. Perhaps ill just upgrade my memory and maybe my graphics card and call it a day.

Edit: Anyone know where I can get these ATI graphics at the previously stated clearence sales pricing?

 

[noobtastic]

Edit: Anyone know where I can get these ATI graphics at the previously stated clearence sales pricing?

http://shop.ati.com./searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

Good luck.

peace

 

[ethel]

Like your name, noobtastic - made me chuckle

 

[ethel]

Pretty much im looking for less frame rate lag in the game I play. Perhaps ill just upgrade my memory and maybe my graphics card and call it a day.

You've got a gig of ram, which should be enough unless you run games at very high settings, or leave loads of other stuff open when you game. Your processor is fine - and it'll be expensive to get a much faster one (new mobo + processor + perhaps ram).

So yeah, get a decent gfx card. If you can afford it, get a X1900XT - it's the best single card around (except the X1900XTX which is ridiculously expensive).

If not, get a X1800XT or 7900GT. These are both very good value for money at the moment, and are much, much better than what you have now.

Enjoy!

 

[Wolfshadw]

Ok. Without going nuts, you're going to have to upgrade your graphics and add a Gig of RAM. The power supply you have is enough to handle any single card graphics, so you're good there. Since you're currently running a 9800Pro, I'm pretty sure you're stuck with AGP.

With that said, I'd recommend adding a Gig of RAM first and then the ATI Radeon X850XT for AGP or the NVidia 7800GS. If your budget isn't that extensive, then go with adding a Gig of RAM and an X800 series or the NVidia 7600 AGP.

If your budget is somewhat larger than that, you might want to look at some builds listed here.

-Wolf sends