Well, I was finally talked out of upgrading my existing AGP platform... I was going to upgrade to the new sapphire 1950x pro agp card, but instead I decided to build a budget crosshair system.
My budget is $800, and here is what I have so far:
Used (but in new condition) mobo/video package: ($480)
Brand New Case Combo from Tiger Direct: ($130)
-Cooler Master Ammo 533
-Ultra X-Connect XVS 600-Watt Power Supply
-Lite-on SHM-160P6S 16X DVD Burner
-Seagate 320GB SATA-II $80
-2nd case fan (Ultra 120mm Ball Bearing Fan Blk/Titanium ) $5
So far, this has totalled almost $700, leaving me $100 to play with or save for a better upgrade a little later.
My first question: will this system be faster than the x1950 pro agp upgrade solution? My AGP system is an athlon xp 3200 with 1 gig RAM.
2nd question - what's my best upgrade path over the next couple months? Obviously I should upgrade the video card, RAM, and CPU, but what's the most cost effective method? Should I ditch the vid card and get an x1950 pro, or should I get another identical GeForce 7600GT and run in SLI?
If that's the case, should I use my left over $100 to hunt for a used GeForce 7600GT on ebay and upgrade my video right away? (but I guess that would likely mean upgrading my powersupply too wouldn't it?)
It's good that you're going PCI-e instead of AGP; AGP is simply dead technology. The Athlon 4200 should be fine, but if you haven't already bought it, I would strongly recommend getting an Intel Core Duo 2 instead...
As for future upgrades, all of the DX10 graphics cards are coming out now and next year (i.e. Nvidia GeForce 8800).
You could get a high-end DX9 card now.
Or, you could get a low-end DX9 card now and save up for a mid-range DX10 card. The new DX10 cards are excellent; they outperform older ones that are even in SLI mode! An 8800 performs better than two 7950's in SLI if that tells you anything...
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