AGP MoBo, Upgrade to X1950XT or Swap to PCIe?

[SteelCoyote]

Ok, my homebuilt Intel/AGP-based system seems to be nearing it's end. I built it a few years ago as a gaming rig and it's run WoW, EQ2, BF2 & 2142 very well (except Titan maps).

But System Requirements Lab tells me it won't run Crysis or most of the upcoming games I'd like to play.

(http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest)



System:
Intel P4 3.2 EE
ABIT IC7 MAX3
2g Corsair XMS
ATI Radeon X850 PRO
SB Audigy ZS
Cooler Master 650W Power Supply

Would the $230 GeCube X1950XT be a worthy upgrade or at this point should I take the $230 and invest in a new MoBo w/PCIe interface and get some PCIe card(s)?

IF I should ditch my system and build new, what should I do? The 875 seems like a dead end, and I can't really find many PCIe MoBo that support it.

However, it was a pricey proc in its day and I'd hate to toss it if I could still use it.

Help?

TYIA

 

[chookman]

Id suggest to keep your current rig till the new year if you can last that long.

By then we will see a flood of the new G92 from NVIDIA the RV670 from AMD as well as penryns from intel and hopefully new bacy's from AMD

In this time you can save some more money and by a complete rig and use your old as fileserver or something, if thats not your thing you could look at canabilism for your new system (your current HDD, PSU, CASE, SB Audigy, even RAM) and then go for a eBay of your old parts (not that youll get much for em)

It also depends on what settings your happy running crysis at... if you run 1280x1024 with no eye candy than a X1950XT would prolly be a nice upgrade. But i think the whole new system is the best option

 

[ibleet]

I am in the same predicament right now with one of my systems. I am not putting any more money into the old AGP system. I am going to sell it and buy a PCI-E system. So yes, ditch the old system and build new. Take the $230 plus the money from selling the old system (~400?) and start building a new system. An agp system will never run the up and coming new games that require PCI-E and DX10 compatible hardware.

BTW that PSU is overkill for your old system. You could replace it with a 400w psu and use it in the new build.

As for waiting for new technology, I never recommend it. No matter when you buy, there is always something new on the horizon. Unless its being released in the next few days, like the 8800GT, or even a few weeks, then exercise some patience.

 

[SteelCoyote]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I seem to always build something with technology that suddenly becomes obsolete the day I build it (system before this one had 'cutting edge' RD Ram lol).

I think I'll combine your thoughts and wait until the new year to save up money, then ditch everything (except the PSU) and start over and swap to PCIe.

I'm still hoping to avoid Vista, but even that is looking like I'll have to cave eventually.

I'll pick your brains on what system to build...

 

[spotless]

go http://www.omegadrivers.net/ let the new drivers drives your card, my self i spare my money on Nvidia GeForce 8800GT / better + the 89$ pentium d, + good gigabyte mb that support 45 nm + nice ddr 2 ram with heatspreader.

 

[SteelCoyote]

Well, I bought a new card. http://tinyurl.com/2rbqr7

Newegg had the GeCube X1950XT back in stock after being out, and I think it'll hold me over until I build an OC'd Q6600/SLI rig this summer. If my system runs well enough, I'll hold off until next year and see how the new intel chips are doing...and hit you guys up for help.

Thanks all!