- Oct 21, 2009
- 22
- 0
- 18,520
I've been contemplating whether or not to upgrade or start fresh, so I'd like to get some input from the community. First, what I currently have:
CPU – AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
CPU Fan – Zalman CNPS 9500
MoBo – ASUS M2N-E nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX
Memory – 2 sticks of 1Gb Dell PC2-6400 - got these for free *shrug*
Graphics Card – GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
PSU – Thermaltake W0093RU 500w
Case – Raidmax Astro ATX-268WB
Optical – Generic IDE DVD/CD burner
HDD – 2x 80GB SATA Western Digital, 1x 80GB IDE Western Digital
Monitor – Dell 17” 1707FPt - I didn't get it from that site, however that's what I have.
OS - WinXP Pro SP3
There are some obvious (*cough* monitor *cough*) upgrades that I can do to improve my rig, but I was wondering if the remaining hardware was worth trying to upgrade or in the long run it would be better to just start up new. Thoughts?
In case you were wondering what I would do if I were to start fresh:
Budget: ~$1300 US (if an extra $25 here and there would make a significant difference, then I'm willing to spend it)
Parts not required: Keyboard + mouse (currently using Logitech Wave), speakers, OS (I own a copy of WinXP Pro, however I'd like to upgrade to 64-bit Win7)
Parts Preference: I've never been a fan of the ATI Catalyst drivers, so I've only used nVidia cards for the last 7+ years. Having said that - if the difference between the 250 and 5850 is significant enough, then I have no issue installing an ATI card. I'd also like to stay away from a full tower (I was actually thinking of picking up this Lian Li case)
Crossfire/SLI:Maybe down the road, for now I'm fine with 1 card
For reference, I typically play FPS (TF2, CS:Source) and RTS (Company of Heros, Warcraft 3) games. I will end up playing Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 when Blizzard decides to finally release them.
CPU – AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
CPU Fan – Zalman CNPS 9500
MoBo – ASUS M2N-E nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX
Memory – 2 sticks of 1Gb Dell PC2-6400 - got these for free *shrug*
Graphics Card – GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
PSU – Thermaltake W0093RU 500w
Case – Raidmax Astro ATX-268WB
Optical – Generic IDE DVD/CD burner
HDD – 2x 80GB SATA Western Digital, 1x 80GB IDE Western Digital
Monitor – Dell 17” 1707FPt - I didn't get it from that site, however that's what I have.
OS - WinXP Pro SP3
There are some obvious (*cough* monitor *cough*) upgrades that I can do to improve my rig, but I was wondering if the remaining hardware was worth trying to upgrade or in the long run it would be better to just start up new. Thoughts?
In case you were wondering what I would do if I were to start fresh:
Budget: ~$1300 US (if an extra $25 here and there would make a significant difference, then I'm willing to spend it)
Parts not required: Keyboard + mouse (currently using Logitech Wave), speakers, OS (I own a copy of WinXP Pro, however I'd like to upgrade to 64-bit Win7)
Parts Preference: I've never been a fan of the ATI Catalyst drivers, so I've only used nVidia cards for the last 7+ years. Having said that - if the difference between the 250 and 5850 is significant enough, then I have no issue installing an ATI card. I'd also like to stay away from a full tower (I was actually thinking of picking up this Lian Li case)
Crossfire/SLI:Maybe down the road, for now I'm fine with 1 card
For reference, I typically play FPS (TF2, CS:Source) and RTS (Company of Heros, Warcraft 3) games. I will end up playing Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 when Blizzard decides to finally release them.
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