Need your help.

[termanator]

Hey, well i can only upgrade one part of my Pc and i was wondering what was slowing it down in the first place? here's the specs:
Winfast PX6600 GTTDH 128mb ddr3 x2 sli
K8 Triton Nforce 4 Sli Amd
1g ddr x2 dual channel 256 x2 dual channel 2.5G in total
Amd Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8ghz (overclocking to 2.1ghz)
can't remenber hard drives but they run on SATA
any thoughts on what i should change would be great

 

[cory1234]

I would recommend upgrading your cpu but that might require upgrading your motherboard..it really depends how much $$ you want to spend and how much longer you want to be able to upgrade your current setup.. You could upgrade to a better 939

$60 gets you an amd 4000+ not sure if $60 is worth .3 ghz to you though
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103037

Anoth er suggestion would be to get rid of those old 6600s in sli..imo completele waste and a newer single card would do much better.
Whats your budget?

 

[termanator]

My budget is around 400$ ( i just wanted to upgrade abit with what i have left over ) but the 6600s aren't that bad, well.... i just thinking what card would be better than the sli'ing in my price range? anyway thanks alot for replying in such detail
oh also why should i upgrade my mother board ? is the 939pin just to old or are you thinking about the intel core duo 2 thing?

 

[lfranklin]

I would upgrade mobo, ram and cpu. you should be able to get all of that for less than 400.

 

[shadowed]

Hey, well i can only upgrade one part of my Pc and i was wondering what was slowing it down in the first place? here's the specs:
Winfast PX6600 GTTDH 128mb ddr3 x2 sli
K8 Triton Nforce 4 Sli Amd
1g ddr x2 dual channel 256 x2 dual channel 2.5G in total
Amd Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8ghz (overclocking to 2.1ghz)
can't remenber hard drives but they run on SATA
any thoughts on what i should change would be great

Your system isn't actually too bad, except for the aging graphics cards.

Check out the vga charts and see what the SLIed 6600s get.

Battlefield 2142 for example, they show 6600sli score at 37.6fps
The 7900gt and the x1950pro single cards are getting in the 60-70fps range.

I only checked on one game benchmark, but it kind of confirmed my suspision. There are lots of other benchmarks to comapre against.
It really depends on what you use your computer for.

Both are very capable cards at good prices now.
Also these cards are not so high end that a 2.1ghz cpu will not hold them back.
The only other thing to be aware of is the x1950pro needs an extra power cable, I am not sure about the 7900s.
You will want to make sure your power supply is sufficient if you go this route.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_sli2007.html?modelx=33&mode l1=819&model2=819&chart=335
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007 .html?modelx=33&model1=725&model2=711&chart=275

 

[termanator]

Lfranklin i wouldn't upgrade my ram because there is nothing wrong with it besides the fact i have 32bit vista and all my hardware is capable 64bit.
Shadowed wierd... the thing i use my computer for IS battlefield 2142 (general games aswell). So it isn't my cpu? wow ... anyway nforce 4 motherboard would not support any ati cards (by that fact i just mean like in future if i wanted to sli/crossfire)
the 7900 sounds nice thanks
Also the main reason i thought it was my CPU was because windows vista rated it at 4.0 and graphics 4.3.
thanks alot for your replys
oh also my power supply is fine i know its higher then 400W and has the rite cables
i have just been checking up and the 7900 is at the same pricing as the 8800 why is this ? and i am talking about the 7900 gtx not the 7950 gx2

 

[shadowed]

To sumarize my long winded reply: All I was trying to point out is that you can effectively double your fps with a ~$150 card if you so choose.

If you want to go into a higher-end graphics card then your cpu will hold it back and your psu would probably need upgrading as well.

Your cpu isn't too bad. Its definitly not the geatest, but for a quick, easy upgrade, the gpu would be my first update choice.

Cheers !

 

[coldmast]

and i was wondering what was slowing it down in the first place?

do you have any malware on it? you can run "spybot search & destroy"
"crap cleaner" seems to be a fair enough registry cleaner, if your not into reading registrys
toms hardware has a great guide for optimizing the old laptop, it works for desktops as well.

 

[termanator]

Nah no spyware at all, i just installed windows vista a couple of days ago.
Shadowed thanks ^^ i'll go for the graphic card change then.

 

[theboomboomcars]

You could also upgrade to a dual core cpu while your at it, since the card is only about $150.

You can get an Opteron 180 for $165 and you'll still be under budget.

 

[coldmast]

i was wondering what was slowing it down in the first place

i just installed windows vista a couple of days ago

sorry misunderstood,

Vista has a update now! I'm sure it will fix everything
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=95709

you can grab them if you are on the Windows 2008 beta on connect.microsoft.com

I was wondering what main component(s) Vista is choking on?

 

[termanator]

theboomboomcars
Opteron i have heard great things about that cpu "cheap and fast" don't think of me as an idoit but isn't it meant for server use ?
coldmast
erm.... that site you are talking about for that update is one:
the update does not address anything "gaming" wise.
two:
it's for windows vista beta i think.

 

[coldmast]

dude: note the sarcastic smile

vista is out of beta? who knew?

938194 Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack

- Improved reliability and compatibility of Vista when used with newer graphics cards in several specific scenarios and configurations.
- Improved reliability when working with external displays on a laptop.
- Increased compatibility with many video drivers.
- Improved visual appearance of games with high intensity graphics.

and so on, once it's done testing I'm sure it will be a hot update.