I have Dell XPS system with a 2.8Ghz Pentium D and 7900GS. I picked up an 8800GTS 320mb for $100 brand new from my uncle who is closing his computer store. Do you guys think that upgrade was worth it? Is there a significant performance gain from the 7900GS 256mb to the eVGA 8800gts 320mb? Secondly, should I think about upgrading my CPU? The games I play are Team Fortress 2 and Unreal Tournament 3. I can run TF2 at all settings max at 1440x900 which I play at and get very smooth gameplay. UT3, however, runs around 28-40FPS and dips into the teens when things are intense. I just want to run UT3 at a solid 40+ fps. Will the new card do that for me? It wont arrive for a couple days, so I'm not sure.
The thing is in order to upgrade my CPU, I will have to swap out the motherboard and the case which is BTX form factor because Im assuming Dell does this so you cant upgrade and have to buy a whole new system so they can rape your wallet. So I'm looking at getting the new cpu, motherboard, and case, which is around $400 all together I guessing. So..should I go ahead and just get all those things?
Also, would it be wise to wait a month or two before new processor chips come out and intel core 2 duo prices would go down or is that not happening?
I'm just kind of nervous spending that much money and maybe messing up in the assembly and destroying the parts. I have changed hard drives, graphics cards and such before but never installed a motherboard or CPU/heatsink. Am I just thinking this task is harder than it is?
Btw... I wouldn't mind processor/mobo recommendations if you guys do suggest that I get rid of my pentium D. preferably Intel processors.
thanks for all the help!
The thing is in order to upgrade my CPU, I will have to swap out the motherboard and the case which is BTX form factor because Im assuming Dell does this so you cant upgrade and have to buy a whole new system so they can rape your wallet. So I'm looking at getting the new cpu, motherboard, and case, which is around $400 all together I guessing. So..should I go ahead and just get all those things?
Also, would it be wise to wait a month or two before new processor chips come out and intel core 2 duo prices would go down or is that not happening?
I'm just kind of nervous spending that much money and maybe messing up in the assembly and destroying the parts. I have changed hard drives, graphics cards and such before but never installed a motherboard or CPU/heatsink. Am I just thinking this task is harder than it is?
Btw... I wouldn't mind processor/mobo recommendations if you guys do suggest that I get rid of my pentium D. preferably Intel processors.
thanks for all the help!
! That system will last you until Nehalem comes out in a year or so, do a full-fledged upgrade then.
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