Upgrade for cheap or get a new one

[brett701]

Currently have an athlon 64 3200 cpu. im not sure of the motherboard. i have 512 ram . 30 gig raptor hard drive and dual monitor video card the geforce 4 mx or something like that.


I used to play cs back in the day and started playing a bit ago. my fps is like 100 in regular cs but floats around 50 - 70 at lowest resolution and with an fps config in cs source. i was wanting to get to 100 fps constant in source and 100 fps in quake live and with decent resolutions.

If upgrading video cards i do need dual monitor video card bc/ i use 2 monitors for work.


So my question is: is it a waste to upgrade? or should i be looking for a new cpu. if getting a new one i was thinking the cheapest one on tomsharddware that is for 500 dollars. Basically ive been out of the scene so logn i dont really know what is good or worthwhile. Any help is appreciated. Thanks alot for your help

 

[groo]

I'm guessing that you have a socket 734 mobo/CPU and an AGP or PCI video card. start fresh.

maybe keep the Raptor and OS, but even then, I'm not sure

a 780g motherboards OBG will blow yours out of the water, and it can handle 2 monitors (1 VGA, 1 DVI). Several lesser OBG chips can do both also.

all video cards have dual monitor suport now, so with OBG and a card, you can run 4 monitors if you want.

 

[jeremyrailton]

i have to agree with the sell-yours-for-parts-and-start-fresh opinion. you won't be able to upgrade your system much, and it would be expensive.

 

[brett701]

I'm guessing that you have a socket 734 mobo/CPU and an AGP or PCI video card. start fresh.

maybe keep the Raptor and OS, but even then, I'm not sure

a 780g motherboards OBG will blow yours out of the water, and it can handle 2 monitors (1 VGA, 1 DVI). Several lesser OBG chips can do both also.

all video cards have dual monitor suport now, so with OBG and a card, you can run 4 monitors if you want.

and the pricing wont be too ridiculous? I have one crt and one lcd. i actually have 2 lcd 24 incheers and 1 21 inch crt . i like the crt for gaming. So if i were to create a brand new cpu thats not too expensive do you recommend the one that toms hardware suggests? thanks! I dont know where it went but i read a couple days ago a cheap cpu competition on amd and they tested one vs the other and overclocked one of them Anyways, any recommendations?

OK i found the thread

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-graphic-game,1810.html

 

[groo]

if you go AMD, you have better OBG options (ATI 780g and nVidia 8200). but if your just using the OBG for office apps, it doesn't matter much.
You could run the 2 LCDs with OGB (1 DVI and 1 VGA) and have a graphics card for the CRT.

At the low end (say sub $100), Intel vs. AMD is pretty much personal preferance. you can justify a few more bucks on an AMD CPU because the motherboards are a bit cheaper. basicly its were are you paying for your memory controler.

if you go AMD, get an AM2+ board that has HT3.0 (the 780 and the 8200 both do). If you go Intel, make sure it will run the 45nm cpus.

cheap graphics cards (130-180) with good performance include Nvidia 8800gs and 9600gt. or if you prefere ATI, look at the 3850 or 3870. both should drop in price with the release of the 4 series.

2 gigs is minimum for RAM these days, but that goes for what? $50?

Any build using any semi modern components will be an improvement. if you want to run 3 monitors, you'll need obg and a graphics card, or 2 graphics cards. basicly you need to come up with you budget and decide if your going to reuse any old pieces, or keep the old machine as is (if nothing else its nice to have a backup in case something goes wrong with your build).

another option. build this computer just for games, and use your old one for work and set up a network. do you have someone to give your computer to? it wont sell for much whole or in pieces.

 

[brett701]

if you go AMD, you have better OBG options (ATI 780g and nVidia 8200). but if your just using the OBG for office apps, it doesn't matter much.
You could run the 2 LCDs with OGB (1 DVI and 1 VGA) and have a graphics card for the CRT.

At the low end (say sub $100), Intel vs. AMD is pretty much personal preferance. you can justify a few more bucks on an AMD CPU because the motherboards are a bit cheaper. basicly its were are you paying for your memory controler.

if you go AMD, get an AM2+ board that has HT3.0 (the 780 and the 8200 both do). If you go Intel, make sure it will run the 45nm cpus.

cheap graphics cards (130-180) with good performance include Nvidia 8800gs and 9600gt. or if you prefere ATI, look at the 3850 or 3870. both should drop in price with the release of the 4 series.

2 gigs is minimum for RAM these days, but that goes for what? $50?

Any build using any semi modern components will be an improvement. if you want to run 3 monitors, you'll need obg and a graphics card, or 2 graphics cards. basicly you need to come up with you budget and decide if your going to reuse any old pieces, or keep the old machine as is (if nothing else its nice to have a backup in case something goes wrong with your build).

another option. build this computer just for games, and use your old one for work and set up a network. do you have someone to give your computer to? it wont sell for much whole or in pieces.

ISn't the 500 dollar gaming pc with intel the cheapest/ fastest deal? How good are the onboard graphics. i know they would handle whatever im doing on dual monitor and i use alot of resources during work. Ive Always liked AMD over intel just bc/ i've always thought they were better deal and faster-baiscally better price for the performance.

One other advantage i could purchase the amd setup and it would be cheaper bc/ i would not be purchasing a video card intially. i could possibly delay on that? Thats not the biggest deal. i just want to make sure that i am making the best long term choice bc/ i am planning on keeping it for atleast 2 years. i know its not a monster compared to other cpu's out there but its all i should get at the moment.

Will upgrades be out of the question or will i be in the same boat as the cpu i have now? lookign for someone to give it to bc it would be a waste to sell.

 

[groo]

I think the Intel G35 chipset is pretty good, just not as good as what is availiable for AMD. the 780g is basicly an ATI 2400. The 780g will be up to the next couple of generations of CPUs, but who knows if AMD is going to get back in the game in that time span. The G35 is also compatible with the good Intel CPUs too. There are guides if you're overly concered about price performance.

As far as gaming with a 780g, my old laptop had what I believe was a slightly underclocked 2400, I managed to play NWN2, a fairly resourse hungry game. Witcher was just a bit too jumpy for me.

If you can find it, a company called J&W makes a 780g with dedicated video memory (suposed to be good for a 10% boost) otherwise the the gigabyte board is suposed to good (but mine arrived DOA)

this looks like a decent Intel board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131237
but its a bit pricy