rmur

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Nov 12, 2007
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Hey there,
I'm looking to upgrade my existing hardware on a very limited budget.
Currently I have an ASUS K8V motherboard (with a 550W PSU):
http://ca.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=14&l3=67&l4=0&model=237&modelmenu=1
Hopefully those specs will help in determining if the products I want are compatible or not.

I would like to upgrade my video card, RAM, and processor without having to buy a new mobo (I use my computer for gaming, watching movies, and writing up lab reports).
I'd like some recommendations on what my options are (I know they're limited).
I currently have: AMD Athlon 64 3200+, Radeon 9800 pro 256MB AGP 8x, and (2X512MB) Kingston DDR400 PC3200 RAM

I am thinking about getting: ATI Radeon X1650 Pro 512MB AGP 8x, AMD Athlon 64 3400+, and OCZ (2x1024MB) Dual Channel DDR400 RAM.
I was debating whether to get an X1600 pro or an X1650 pro but I don't know the real differences.

I'm not 100% sure if these are my best options or if they are even compatible with my current mobo.
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help me out, I appreciate it greatly!
 

r-sky

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May 8, 2007
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I would say to not upgrade...

Save your money till you can upgrade the board too.

The price difference for AGP - PCI-E cards is almost the price of a cheap mobo.

AM2 board/cpu ddr2 ram and a PCI-E video card is the way to go.
 

rmur

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Nov 12, 2007
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Well you see, I can get all 3 of the above items for less than $300 and upgrade tomorrow. If I were to upgrade to essentially a whole new computer I'd be waiting 3 years from now and it will cost me a lot more.

I plan on investing in a new computer 3 years from now anyways, I'm just looking for a 'band-aid' :)
 
G

Guest

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You're going to spend $300 to upgrade your computer and you will only see a small performance gain. I was just speaking with a friend yesterday who wants to upgrade almost exactly what you have. I told him he's at the point where upgrading doesn't help too much and there's a much better price/performance gain in building a new computer.

If I were you I wouldn't upgrade at all. Save your money, and try to build in another year or so if you can. That 9800pro was a great card, I'm sure it still has some fight left in it.
 

miribus

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Nov 28, 2006
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Keep the processor, that change won't make a lick of difference, overclock the 3200+ if you can.
Keep the memory too, a bandaid to a x1650, and older processor, isn't going to give you such a technological boost in performance that you'll really need the 2gb as in you'll be playing at relatively less aggressive resolutions of 1024x768.
I would just get the video card, from ebay to save even more cash.
However if you'd rather get "new" get the $140ish 7600gt.
Or, if ATI, one of the GDDR3 x1650 or x1600.