New CPU and Motherboard vs More RAM.

[deputydoguk]

First of all, hello! I'm new

I've been browsing the 'net in search of a hardware forum that can help me with a problem i have. I don't know which option in the topic title would bring me about the greatest increase in gaming performance (I mostly play Source engined games and Company of Heroes).

Current Rig is:

2.8 Northwood P4 133FSB @ 3.6 ghz 171FSB
512MB PC2700 @ CAS 2.5 1:1 FSB to RAM ratio
MSI Mainboard (don't know exact model, supports 800FSB)
80GB ATA100 hard drive
6800GT @ 400mhz Core 1.2ghz RAM.

I game at 1024x768 on a 15" Relisys TFT.

The options i'm considering for an upgrade are (Bearing in mind i only have around £130 i can spend so it rules out a Core 2 Duo.):

Pentium D915 i'll be clocking from 200FSB to 266FSB to give 3,766mhz with the Asrock dual vSata mainboard:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=114196

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=114742

Or i could upgrade from 512MB to 2GB of PC3200:

Either http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/98690

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/55295

or

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/92005

I would just like improved minimum FPS as in Source engined games the FPS quite often drops below acceptable levels (30).

EDIT!

Sorry this is in the wrong forum, i didn't see the "general homebuilt" one on my first visit.

 

[ajfink]

Your motherboard will not support a Pentium D. Your motherboard is socket 478, Pentium D's require LGA775.

Getting 2x512MB at DDR3200 of good RAM will help out your games considerably. Dropping the cash for 2GB on that system is unwise, but if you REALLY want to, it will work.

You have an AGP slot. That limits your video card choices. The 6800GT isn't the best AGP card available, but better ones will burn your pockets.

 

[deputydoguk]

Your motherboard will not support a Pentium D. Your motherboard is socket 478, Pentium D's require LGA775.

Getting 2x512MB at DDR3200 of good RAM will help out your games considerably. Dropping the cash for 2GB on that system is unwise, but if you REALLY want to, it will work.

You have an AGP slot. That limits your video card choices. The 6800GT isn't the best AGP card available, but better ones will burn your pockets.

I said i'm getting the new motherboard for the CPU if i go with that option and i already have the AGP 6800GT, got it almost 2 years ago now!

So you recommend just getting 512mb more RAM?

 

[ajfink]

Your motherboard will not support a Pentium D. Your motherboard is socket 478, Pentium D's require LGA775.

Getting 2x512MB at DDR3200 of good RAM will help out your games considerably. Dropping the cash for 2GB on that system is unwise, but if you REALLY want to, it will work.

You have an AGP slot. That limits your video card choices. The 6800GT isn't the best AGP card available, but better ones will burn your pockets.

I said i'm getting the new motherboard for the CPU if i go with that option and i already have the AGP 6800GT, got it almost 2 years ago now!

So you recommend just getting 512mb more RAM?

Oops, missed that part. Honestly, upgrading to a Pentium D system now is a little silly. Getting that motherboard to reuse your video card and RAM isn't a bad idea, but get it with a C2D. Buying a Pentium D is a bad decision. If you are going to be buying a new motherboard, you might as well make the jump to some decent DDR2 as well.

I'd say if you're not willing / financially able to go for a complete system overhaul, grabbing 1GB (2x512) would do well for you.

It all comes down to how much you can afford.

 

[kona]

If what you play is mostly source engine games then your 6800GT is fine and so should be your processor especially with the overclocking that you have going on. With that said and considering the cost vs benefit of getting a whole new rig including RAM, processor, vid card etc....its not worth it to do any more of an upgrade than what you have already considered and I would not even do that much. I would simply get the RAM and try to run it as close to DDR400 speeds as possble. If I am thinking correctly, that 133fsb and the 1:1 divider on your bus means that the RAM is only working at DDR266 speeds! Am I correct in that thinking? If so, that is a huge bottleneck man! Get more RAM (1gb is fine....no sense on getting more for an aging rig especially when source is what you're playing and it does fine on one gig) and run it at DDR400 speed and you should see a considerable improvement.
Let us know what happens with it and what you decide to do

edit: I see that your bus is 171...only saw the 133 before..but that is still going to go from DDR342 to DDR400 plus there would be more of it so that should be a good improvement. I would try to borrow some RAM from a friend and see what happens with it.

 

[fredgiblet]

I would say that the most you should do with that system is toss in another 512 of RAM anything else and you are just wasting money.

You should save up some more money and look to spend what it takes for the following:

Decent Socket 775 Mobo ~50 pounds (too lazy to figure out the symbol)
CPU for 775 ~45 pounds for a PD 805 ~70-80 for a E4300 (coming soon)
1GB DDR2 RAM ~40-50 pounds
7600GT PCI-e ~60 pounds

If you spend money on a DDR/AGP/S478 system now then you are just wasting it, the parts for those systems are having premiums put on them which make them more expensive then newer better parts.

Just my opinion though.

 

[powerbaselx]

I don't know which option in the topic title would bring me about the greatest increase in gaming performance (I mostly play Source engined games and Company of Heroes).

Current Rig is:

2.8 Northwood P4 133FSB @ 3.6 ghz 171FSB
512MB PC2700 @ CAS 2.5 1:1 FSB to RAM ratio
MSI Mainboard (don't know exact model, supports 800FSB)
80GB ATA100 hard drive
6800GT @ 400mhz Core 1.2ghz RAM.

I game at 1024x768 on a 15" Relisys TFT.

(...)

Or i could upgrade from 512MB to 2GB of PC3200:
(...)

I would just like improved minimum FPS as in Source engined games the FPS quite often drops below acceptable levels (30).

Your case is pretty similar to my brother's PC.
Just upgrade the RAM to 2GB or more and buy a new graphic card with 256MB or more (it is probably AGP 8x -- check) like a NVidia 7xxx GS AGP or an ATI X1xxx.

Check the mobo if it supports more recent disk interfaces like ATA133 or SATA. Then try to upgrade to a better/faster disk also.

This should do fine for the next year (at least).

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

I just upgraded from a 6800GT OC (from BFG), and it was AGP, and ran source very well, even played Lost coast "fine". I did have a gig of ram, which helped considerably.

I would recomend, since the rig is a bit older, and DDR is already out dated (meaning you wont carry it over to the next build)... Buy kingston ddr400. Its reliable, cheap, and lifetime warranty.

Spend the extra $150 on ram when you upgrade to ddr2.

 

[deputydoguk]

I would say that the most you should do with that system is toss in another 512 of RAM anything else and you are just wasting money.

You should save up some more money and look to spend what it takes for the following:

Decent Socket 775 Mobo ~50 pounds (too lazy to figure out the symbol)
CPU for 775 ~45 pounds for a PD 805 ~70-80 for a E4300 (coming soon)
1GB DDR2 RAM ~40-50 pounds
7600GT PCI-e ~60 pounds

If you spend money on a DDR/AGP/S478 system now then you are just wasting it, the parts for those systems are having premiums put on them which make them more expensive then newer better parts.

Just my opinion though.

Your prices are wayyy out!

Here in the UK cheapest 1GB of DDR2 is £70
Cheapest D805 is £65, cheapest E4300 i've found is £110.
7600GT cheapest is £90!

If things were as cheap as they are in the US i'd definetly upgrade all that, but i'm thinking of saving and getting the D915 (which is £75 at cheapest retailer) with 1GB of DDR2 (£70) instead. But being a poor Uni student doesn't help matters.

I really can't afford to up to a Core 2 Duo though, with the cheapest E4300 being £110. I could get a D820 as it's only £65 which is about same price as D805, but i don't know if my PSU will be able to cope (think it's a 400 Watt).

 

[sailer]

I would say that the most you should do with that system is toss in another 512 of RAM anything else and you are just wasting money.

You should save up some more money and look to spend what it takes for the following:

Decent Socket 775 Mobo ~50 pounds (too lazy to figure out the symbol)
CPU for 775 ~45 pounds for a PD 805 ~70-80 for a E4300 (coming soon)
1GB DDR2 RAM ~40-50 pounds
7600GT PCI-e ~60 pounds

If you spend money on a DDR/AGP/S478 system now then you are just wasting it, the parts for those systems are having premiums put on them which make them more expensive then newer better parts.

Just my opinion though.

Your prices are wayyy out!

Here in the UK cheapest 1GB of DDR2 is £70
Cheapest D805 is £65, cheapest E4300 i've found is £110.
7600GT cheapest is £90!

If things were as cheap as they are in the US i'd definetly upgrade all that, but i'm thinking of saving and getting the D915 (which is £75 at cheapest retailer) with 1GB of DDR2 (£70) instead. But being a poor Uni student doesn't help matters.

I really can't afford to up to a Core 2 Duo though, with the cheapest E4300 being £110. I could get a D820 as it's only £65 which is about same price as D805, but i don't know if my PSU will be able to cope (think it's a 400 Watt).

This being the case, just get another 512mb of ram and save for a future machine.

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

PSU calculator is your friend.
400watts would be fine if you were not going all out on graphics cards.

 

[AdamBomb42]

For your budget I would say go for the RAM. I just upgraded from 1 Gig to 2 Gig and it made quite a difference in my gaming. If you were to upgrade to a P-D you would be buying new RAM anyway. I expect this will be your last upgrade to your rig as my RAM upgrade was the last for mine. We need to start saving money now for Penryn and a DX10 card. I don't know about you, but for me I have to keep my wife out of my bank account to accomplish my goal of a new system within the next year.

 

[deputydoguk]

For your budget I would say go for the RAM. I just upgraded from 1 Gig to 2 Gig and it made quite a difference in my gaming. If you were to upgrade to a P-D you would be buying new RAM anyway. I expect this will be your last upgrade to your rig as my RAM upgrade was the last for mine. We need to start saving money now for Penryn and a DX10 card. I don't know about you, but for me I have to keep my wife out of my bank account to accomplish my goal of a new system within the next year.

I've gotta manage to pay for tuition fees, feed myself, rent accomodation, my other passion - bass guitars and save for a new Rig.

University can be an arse at times

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

Dump the Bass, and get a better computer.











/no not really

 

[fredgiblet]

Your prices are wayyy out!

Here in the UK cheapest 1GB of DDR2 is £70
Cheapest D805 is £65, cheapest E4300 i've found is £110.
7600GT cheapest is £90!

ouch, yeah then you're kinda screwed

If things were as cheap as they are in the US i'd definetly upgrade all that, but i'm thinking of saving and getting the D915 (which is £75 at cheapest retailer) with 1GB of DDR2 (£70) instead. But being a poor Uni student doesn't help matters.

Hmmmmmmm....I got it! Move to America!