Upgrade now or Overclock my current system?

[starmanwarz]

I wanted to built a new system to replace my current one(AMD 64 3500,ATI X800XL,2Gb Ram,ASUS A8N-E)so I can play upcoming games (Crysis,MOH:A,COD4,UT3)but I dont know if its a good time to upgrade.Right now I would get a Q6600/E6850,8800 GTS 640 2 gigs of RAM and a new mobo,but there are lots of people saying that the DX10 cards aint that good.
Do you think that I should wait?And if I wait,is it worth overclocking my current system(note that I havent O/Ced before)?

 

[Maziar]

Here is a nice review of DX10 cards in dx10 games :
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3029&p=3

 

[ethel]

My advice would be to:

1) Get an Opteron 170 and overclock that. This will take you to dual core and you should be able to get it to 2.7GHz. This is a cheap upgrade and will tide you over CPU-wise for some time.

2) Get the best DX10 card you can. The cards to look at are the GTS320 and above - don't bother with anything less. Personally I would look at the GTS320 (good value and virtually same performance as the GTS640) or the 8800GTX (best value high-end card).

3) You might need a new PSU to power your new graphics card.

 

[Maziar]

939 are very cheap and rare now , u can even get optie 185 or fx60 (if u find them)

 

[airblazer]

Would go for the upgrade.
A quad-core process Q6600 is yours for the measly sum of €300 and it's highly overclockable..
Would go for the 800GTS 320mb and change the card at the end of the year.
According to the crysis developer there is no video out there for the next 2-3 years that will run this game at it's highest settings but then again we've all hear this before anyway.
Or you could always get the 8800GTS 640mb and use that for about a year and upgrade.
What it basically boils down to are you currently happy with your pc? If so hang off for another 6 months or so and then upgrade.

 

[Craxbax]

I agree with the OPTY or a dual core for now and OC it. Maybe a X1950XT if you are having problems with any current games. The tech world still has some adjustments for DX10 and you may benefit from waiting until the dust settles abit. Aside from the relative economics, you can also gain some experience with OCing before stepping up to a high dollar rig.

 

[mactronix]

Yea dual core now quad core same story as dx10 really not enough stuff using it properly to benefit yet.
some thing cheap and cheatfull like a E4300 would be good to learn OCing on before you spent big bucks and the 7900s are suposed to be good at OCing also.
Mactronix

 

[cristip60]

I would wait if i were you.

 

[sailer]

Do you think that I should wait?And if I wait,is it worth overclocking my current system(note that I havent O/Ced before)?

I agree with Ethel. Get an Opty or other dual core and overclock it. You're base system may be getting a bit old, but its not that bad. A good video card will do more for you than a complete hardware renovation at this time.

In the next few months, there will be radical changes in computers, some having already started. Whether its Intel's X38 and DDR3 ram or AMD's Barcelona, Phenom, etc, the change in platforms is coming soon. The next generation of video cards isn't that far off either. I'm not trying to preach the "wait forever for the next best thing". If you need a computer now, then buy now. But if what you have is basically satisfactory, then keep using it and do upgrades that will be useful six months or a year from now, like a good video card and a larger psu. For my part, I don't like to upgrade every time something new comes along, but wait two, maybe three generations between upgrades.

I originally planned a major upgrade a couple months back, but my machine still operates well enough for what's out there, the move to Vista and DX10 games which require Vista is slow, and the major hardware changes are a bit slow, so I choose to wait and save my money. But in the end, its your choice as to what you do, not mine or anyone else's.

 

[starmanwarz]

I am checking the prices for the 1950PRO,they are pretty cheap but there is something strange,the 256mb version is more expensive than the 512mb,is this normal?If I get this card,it will be bottlenecked by my current CPU(AMD 64 3500 Venice)?Am I going to see a big boost in perfromance with this card?

 

[sailer]

I don't think the 1950 Pro will be bottlenecked with your cpu. Yes, sometimes a lower memory can be priced higher than a larger memory. It may happen because the card with lower memory is clocked higher, uses a better type of memory (GDDR3 instead of GDDR2 for instance), or simple market forces of supply and demand. That's where you need to stop and make a full comparison of all the card specs to know the real differences in the cards.

 

[starmanwarz]

I can only find 1950PRO,no XT,no XTX.What should I go with?Is my psu enough for this card(450W coolermaster)?

 

[demowhc]

i upgraded from an x800xt to a 1950pro and the performance improvement was great! so yer id grab one of those if they are cheap, and if you dont notice much improvement then yes you must be bottlenecked by something else like ur cpu..

also i think that psu should be fine but if it starts randomnly rebooting or no screen etc then you may need a new psu.. the 1950pro generally requires a psu with 30 or more amps on the 12v rail, you can read the sticker on the side of your psu to see if it is up to the job, but it would run on a slightly lower amount of amps, they just say 30amps to cover thier own arse..

 

[sailer]

I can only find 1950PRO,no XT,no XTX.What should I go with?Is my psu enough for this card(450W coolermaster)?

Newegg lists 1950 Pro and 1950 XTs the last I looked. It would appear at first glance that the 1950 Pro is the better value for the money. Your psu should power the card fine, depending on the overall hardware that you have, any overclocking, etc.

 

[ethel]

Get the X1950XT if you can, it can be got for not much more than the X1950PRO and is much faster.

Do bear in mind though that these cards are pretty loud ...

 

[starmanwarz]

Well,if I find the XT im going to get it.But Im pretty sure that it will be bottlenecked by my cpu