Upgrading

[Terranboy]

I have a AMD Athlon 700mhz with a Voodoo 5 5500. And I looking to upgrade. I asked a hundred people which to upgrade: CPU or Graphics card, and they all say something different. Maybe y'all can help. I found a good price on a Athlon XP 1700 , motherboard, and a fan for $179 (or a XP 1900 for $209) . I could get a Radeon 8500 LE for $199. Which would offer the best improvement?? Thanks

 

[Matisaro]

The cpu motherboard combo.

Your cpu will limit the power of your videocard when you do upgrade, personally though I would get them both.

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[LED]

Mobo and CPU....Not all your software needs that high end graphics card. But all will run quicker w/ the CPU and mobo upgrade.

I sold my sig for $50.

 

[Crashman]

You could get a Radeon 8500LE for about $100 if you looked hard enough. If the only thing your system doesn't do well enough is games, gopher the video card.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Kelemvor]

Here's a combo for you:

$59 Gigabyte KT266A (you can pick a 266A)
$87 Athlon XP 1800+
$61 GF2 Ti (you can overclock the crap out of this if you want, but upgrade the HSF)

If you don't already have DDR SDRAM, get some for the board. I have a PII 450 with a GF3 Ti200. The CPU is DEFINATELY the bottleneck. BTW, to each his own, but I'll preach about why not to go with ATI til the day I die: one word... drivers. Me and a few of my friends got burned until one of us finally screwed our heads on straight and decided that none of us will get an ATI until they upgrade their driver support. But, it's your money, and your choice...

She said "I love a man in tight jeans" and I said "They're not supposed to be tight I just got fat."

 

[AMD_Man]

Me and a few of my friends got burned until one of us finally screwed our heads on straight and decided that none of us will get an ATI until they upgrade their driver support.

ATI just announced the Catalysts! They're absolutely amazing! They have a new driver team too! wOOt!

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[Crashman]

SiS 745 is better than the Kt266A, and the MSI 745 Ultra is only $60 at newegg.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?