Upgrade, what do you think?

Hi,

I'm thinking about doing an upgrade on my computer. The max I want to spend is $300. I use my computer mainly for browsing the internet, video encoding, and LIGHT gaming (like the original UT, or new games on low settings).

Here are my current specs:



Athlon XP 2200 rev.A throughbred
Asus A7V333 (via kt333)
512MB DDR333 Corsair XMS memory
Leadtek GeForce4 Ti4600
Enermax 350Watt Power Supply
NEC-3500a DVD burner
Creative Audigy XGamer
3Com Ethernet Adapter Card
Leadtek TV2000 Expert Tv Tuner
2 * Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X 60 GB Hard Drive


So...the system is kind of aging, and I thought now might be a good time to start upgrading with the prices that are out there (what do you think?).

Since it seems like every part of my computer is obsolete (processor, platform, gfx interface), I was thinking about doing the following, then saving up monies for a better graphics card in a year or two from now:



79.99 [ZipZoomFly] Chaintech VNF4 Ultra ZENITH VE nForce4 Ultra
92.00 [NewEgg]

146.00 [ZipZoomFly] AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor (Venice) Socket 939 Retail
146.00 [NewEgg]

53.99 [ZipZoomFly] Sapphire Radeon X300 SE 128MB HyperMemory(tm)* PCI Express 32MB VRAM Video Card w/TV-Out & DVI
48.00 [NewEgg]

Total: 279.98 [ZipZoomFly w/Shipping], 292.49 [NewEgg w/Shipping]


And I'll keep the rest of my components for now, upgrading ram in maybe half a year.

What do you guys think? I know i'm gonna get nailed on the graphics card, but I'm just looking for something that will have about the same level of performance as my Ti4600.

Thanks for the help.

I've decided to change the Gfx card to this, which has 128mb onboard, but has a 64 bit memory interface:

Sapphire Radeon X300 SE PCI Express 128MB DDR Video Card w/TV-Out

It's actually cheaper too.

well i'm only playing ut, and new games at the lowest settings.

anandtech reviews show the cards are usable even in HL2 at the lowest settings.

Will the prices for the 6600Gt come down anytime soon?

Your second choice is even worse. It has a 64 bit memory bus instead of the 128 bit bus.
Your 4600 is a better card than both of the 2 you have mentioned. They are newer and DX9 compatable. But at the same time are too slow to show the DX9 effects at reasonable frame rates. So they would be slower than the 4600 in almost all games.

I aint signing nothing!!!

A good mobo and CPU won't let you enough money to buy the video card, try to save a little more money, because I would say to get a socket 939 mobo for upgradeability but then you'll have to buy the PCIe card if you buy one of the good mobos, (DFI, Epox nforce 4 ultra chipset).

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This may work...
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103452" target="_new">A64 2800+ Retail $120 Shipped</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152043" target="_new">Chaintech VNF3-250 $60.50Shipped</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102362" target="_new">Sapphire 9800Pro $126.50Shipped</A>

It's $307shipped....and this will be faster then what i listed above. If you have this and then in a couple months save up 80bucks for 1GB value RAM this will be way faster then what you have now. and also with this, you have a lot more upgrade options then keeping your Socket A board......Granted you have limited options for upgrades for GPU and CPU which to most of us seems weird to go this route and limit yourself. but you can always get to the 3700+ for CPU and a 850XT PE and with those two upgrades you could run all games at highest res settings. So you do have options down the road with this setup and you can keep that low-end websurfing and light gaming computer rockin for another 2-3years with minor upgrades.

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<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135160" target="_new">AOpen 6600gt $139 after $20 rebate</A>

And if you have the revision 2.0 version of that motherboard.
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103381" target="_new">AthlonXP 333 3000+ Retail $111</A>

$250 (6+ shipping and tax in California) and should sustain 100+ FPS in unreal and you don’t have to rip your motherboard out or reinstall you OS.

Dichromatic for your viewing plesure...

X600 Pro is OK. Should be about the same performance as your current card, but with DX9 features. And the rest of the system will be faster.

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

I thought i'd give an update.

Here's what I ordered:

Chaintech VNF4 Ultra $79.99
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor (Venice) $146.00
ATI RADEON X600 XT PCI EXPRESS 128MB $72.60

For a grand total of $298.59...almost on the button for my budget.