9800pro ago to what?? total system upgrade or just vid card?

[BigL]

Hi, well.... my 9800pro is finally crapping out on me. a capacitor or something just fell off it and one of the power connections is burnt out... lol. Should I upgrade just my video card to something better (AGP) or just upgrade my entire system? I have an xp2700+ with 1gig ram.

 

[cleeve]

Is this system just for gaming? And do you have the cash to upgrade your CPU/mobo?

A good video card will make your XP 2700+ game much faster than it does now. For under $100 you can usually find X800 XLs on ebay...

 

[BigL]

Pretty much all I do now is game... but I really only play WoW and Battlefield Vietnam lol. So, not too pressing. Maybe I should just get an x800? Or, instead should I upgrade to a core2duo/2gig ram/x1950pro? I might be playing Quake Wars in Spring but I'm really not sure yet.

 

[SciFiMan]

Then an x800, x1600, 7600GT at the most, and just enough to get your system to spring. Don't invest more than $150 in that system, just start saving for the next build.

 

[BigL]

Well, part of me wants to get a budget upgrade and get a core2duo 6300, 1gig ddr2 dual channel ram, and a x1900gt + video card. Would I be better doing that and selling my current parts? Or just getting a newer agp card?

 

[Anoobis]

Just throw down on an eBay special for about $100 like Cleeve noted and upgrade in the Spring. Newer video cards will be out by then and the PCI-E options in your price range might even include a few cards with unified shaders. An X800 series or 6800GT (maybe an Ultra) can be had for under $100 bucks on eBay. Just make sure the card you're looking at is an AGP card.

 

[cleeve]

Well, part of me wants to get a budget upgrade and get a core2duo 6300, 1gig ddr2 dual channel ram, and a x1900gt + video card. Would I be better doing that and selling my current parts? Or just getting a newer agp card?

A core2 duo, 1 gig ddr2, and an X1900 GT will be a quantum leap ahead for you. If you can do it on a reasonable budget, EVERYTHING will be much faster... especially games.

 

[HowdyDoody]

NewEgg special till end of the year. BFG 7600GT for 79 bucks after rebate.

BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

 

[BigL]

Cool, thanks a ton for the help. And damn, that 7600GT price just looks too good to pass up... $80 vs. $140 for the x1900gt... and performs very well vs it... of course the x1900gt is better but for what I'll be playing I don't think I need that extra performance.

Basically what I'm looking to do is play mostly World of Warcraft, and other current titles and maybe some future ones in 1280x1024 at anywhere from medium to max settings... if you guys think that a...

E6300
1gig ddr2 pc 677 or 800 ram (what should i get for an e6300 677 or 800?!?)
7600GT

will do this that'd be p i m p.

 

[BigL]

wow thx cleeve for the info and howdy for the 7600gt link... so far I've chosen to get an:

e6300 core2duo - 180
7600gt - 80

I guess that I need to decide on a motherboard and memory now. How about this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130052R

and, I'm still unsure about memory, pc800 or 667? : ( Thanks : )

 

[Anoobis]

Your current system along with any of the upgraded AGP cards mentioned will handle that fine and at a minimal of cost.