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Upgrading my gaming system, suggestions greatly appreciated

Forum Homebuilt Systems : General Homebuilt - Upgrading my gaming system, suggestions greatly appreciated

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dan107   10-01-2006 at 02:41:48 AM

Ok, here's what I'm planning on getting (prices from Newegg):


ASUS M2N4-SLI Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $94.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4200CUBOX - Retail - $183.00
CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail - $148
eVGA 256-P2-N554-AX Geforce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $132.99
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail - $79.99
Maxtor DiamondMax 17 6G160E0 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $59.99
Total: $700


The main reason I'm upgrading my system is to play NWN2 which is coming out October 31st, but I want to be able to run all the games that are coming out in the next few months at 1280X1024 with all the special effects on.

The secondary goal is to be able to upgrade the system cheaply to run all the 07-08 games with good graphics. (That's why I want to go with AMD as opposed to Intel since AM2 mobo will work with AM3 CPUs). I figure my first upgrade will be to pick up a second 7600GT (hopefully it will be around $70 as soon as the DX10 cards come out) for SLI. Then towards the end of 07 I should be able to pick up a mid-range DX10 card, more RAM and an AM3 CPU if I need it.

So anyway, that's what I'm planning -- I don't really have a hard budget, but I'm always trying to get the absolute best value for my money without spending any more than I have to. Any critiques or suggestions are greatly appretiated. Specifically I'm curious what you guys think about my choice of AMD over Intel, and what you think of this mobo and graphics card.

Thanks a lot!

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djplanet   10-01-2006 at 03:14:02 AM
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I suppose you didn't know that most Core 2 Duo mobos will be compatible with upcoming Core 2 Quad Kentsfield processors at the end of this year (Not all of them, check here for a compatibility list). How Kentsfield will do against AMD 4x4, AM3, etc. remains to be seen, but for superior performance right NOW, Core 2 is where it's at.

If you do go for Intel however, consider ATI cards (X1800GTO is at the 7600GT level), since Crossfire is supported on all 975X mobos for Core 2 (even some P965 mobos now), though SLI is not. SLI is only supported on a few Core 2 mobos, they're okay but don't overclock well and I don't think they're on that Kentsfield compatibility list.

To ensure good framerate on NWN2 (Neverwinter Nights 2, right?), you might consider upping the video card ante to the 7900/50 GT, X1800 XT, X1900 GT/XT 256 MB. These are $200-$250 range cards.

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parge   10-01-2006 at 04:13:19 AM
- 0 +

hello, i think my problem falls under a similar topic,

I have a p4 3Ghz, with a X800XT PE, and 1Gb of RAM, I was wondering if adding more RAM would have a significant effect on my games performance, I would probably just get another 512mb. Let me know!

Reply to parge
djplanet   10-01-2006 at 06:32:57 AM
- 0 +

It would help a little, but only on some games that demand a lot of RAM. Besides, these are the games (such a Battlefield 2) that would benefit a whole lot more from a better Graphics Card or CPU anyway.

On the other hand, more memory is by far a cheaper upgrade.

Reply to djplanet
The_Prophecy   10-01-2006 at 05:30:07 PM
- 0 +

Quote :

hello, i think my problem falls under a similar topic,

I have a p4 3Ghz, with a X800XT PE, and 1Gb of RAM, I was wondering if adding more RAM would have a significant effect on my games performance, I would probably just get another 512mb. Let me know!



Actually this would really hurt performance because you would lose dual channel operation. If you're going to get more ram, get 2 x 512MB sticks.

Reply to The_Prophecy
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