Newbie looking for some upgrading advice :)

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Guest

Guest
Ok, Im fed up of having to play my games in 800x600 and would like a bit of advice on upgrading, I've got some money to spend and want to upgrade, Im not looking for TOP of the line stuff, just hardware that'll let me run my games well with all the bits enabled (max payne, Flashpoint, Dark age of camelot etc)
My current specs are these
ABIT KT7a Mobo
Duron 850
256 133 ram
40 gig 7200 HD
Geforce 2 MX (Think this is where its going wrong.. its a pre 200/400 thing that frankly.. sucks)
Soundblaster Live plat

Ok, any idea's would be great, Anyone know what I could max my processor at? I think it takes Athlon chips? I remember it being a decent mobo when I got it
I was thinking a Geforce 3.. but it might be an overkill? what else is out there

Thanks for taking the time to help a confused new user out.. cheers!

Oh and btw.. Im in the UK if you can suggest a site that has good deals
 
noko

noko

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Since you can upgrade your cpu at a moments notice to a Palomino or a faster T-Bird your setup can be very powerful. TI-200 is the best bang for the buck GF3 card with excellent drivers. The Radeon 8500 OEM or Retail is a superior technology and hardware for around $25 more with inferior drivers at the moment. I would go with the Radeon 8500. I have a MX400 and a Radeon 64 and the shear visual quality between the too is huge besides the performance difference. Still I can't see you going wrong with the TI200. The TI-500 price is just plain ridiculus. The best hardware by far will be the Radeon 8500. The Radeon 7500 will be cheaper then the TI200 (not by much) and it has good drivers but I wouldn't recommend the Radeon 7500 when you can get the TI200. I hope this helps. What operating system are you using and are you planing to change in the near future?
 
G

Guest

Guest
Hmm So my processor can go to what? 1.4?
as for the Graphic cards, Is the TI-200 pretty wimpy like the MX? or can it compare? i mean will I see a big difference? Would I be better off just getting the original geforce 3 or is it still a killer Gcard? as for the Radeon (I have no clue about this card) but its pretty sweet right? seen a few posts comparing them.. take into consideration that I dont run these 3d mark tests.. I just want gaming power lol :)
As for the OS.. 98 SE, is there a more reliable one out gaming wise?

Thanks for your help
 
G

Guest

Guest
So a Geforce TI200 and a 1.4 processor will bring it back to acceptable standards? would another 256 ram help? seeing as its soo cheap these days
 
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SerArthurDayne

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A Geforce3 Ti 200 provides better performance than a Geforce2 Ultra, if that helps your perspective on performance. And a Geforce2 Ultra is probably 150% to 300% faster in high resolutions than your Ge2MX :D

A 1.2 or 1.4ghz Tbird + a Geforce3 Ti 200 will send your framerates soaring. I would recommend either a Geforce3 Ti 200 or a Radeon 8500 for the best price/performance, but unfortunately the Radeon 8500's current drivers are unforgiveable as they are unstable with certain configurations, do not allow you to use all the card's features, and have fairly erratic performance.

If you want a card now and want it primarily for gaming, the Geforce3 Ti 200 is your best bet - Nvidia has the best drivers in the industry. However, if you wanna wait and see if ATi actually produces some drivers that fulfill the potential of the 8500 (it DOES have nice specs on paper), that could be a good choice too.


"Laziness is a talent to be cultivated like any other" - Walter Slovotsky
 
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Guest

Guest
nice! .. Yeah my Mx sucked when i first got it lol
I know what im gonna get then.. Geforce Ti200, and a 1.4 Tbird.. it will work in a KT7a Mobo right? Know any good international sites that sell them? and what make of geforce should i get?

<- is just full of questions heh
 
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SerArthurDayne

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A 1.4ghz Tbird will work in your motherboard, although you probably want to flash your bios to the latest version available.

Make sure you get the Geforce3 Ti 200 and not the Geforce2 Ti 200 :)

As far as the manufacturer.... it's hard to go wrong with either Visiontek or Gainward, although I think I might lean towards the Gainward.

"Laziness is a talent to be cultivated like any other" - Walter Slovotsky
 
G

Guest

Guest
Well like I said Im new at this so is it easy to overclock? My MX had a little sidebar with sliders, so even I could do that :) and will it require extra cooling?
 
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Guest

Guest
Can you suggest a good fan?
Also :) my final question, can anyone point me to any good online stores that sell these parts?
Thanks for all your help guys, really appreciate it
 
Crashman

Crashman

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Tor future reference, the original MX was the equivalent of the MX400. The MX200 crap. The Ti200 is a great card with a crappy name You would probably be happy with the Cardex GeFroce2 Pro 450 for only $130.

Back to you Tom...
 
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Uncle_joe

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Based on Tom's reviews, vid card upgrade is more important
than CPU upgrade for gamers.
Based on Tom's review, gF3 Ti200 is 10-15% slower than Ti300
and 5-10% slower than 8500, while the costs ~45% less.
To me it's the best deal. I'll by me one soon.
(I also have gF2 MX now)




Breaking news: Intel hit by a SledgeHammer! AMD to blame! More in just a moment...
 
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forgettythatty

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Fan and ram sinks for the leadtek (or even the visiontek) ti200 is a problem if you don't want to use the ones that come with it. Why? Because the leadtek just has one big heatsink covering the GPU and all the ram, and the visiontek has one of the ram sinks connected to the GPU heat sink. I don't even know how to get the old heat sinks off yet. If I were to replace them though, I'd prob just get a blue orb fan and ram sinks from somewhere. Don't replace them though, just overclock it as much as possible with what you got.
 
bront

bront

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I thought the Origional MX was the equivilent of an MX200 and the MX400 was clocked faster?

60 FPS, 70 FPS, 80 FPS Crash!
Daylight comes and I have to go to work :frown:
 
bront

bront

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I would go with the Video card upgrade first, and perhaps the memory (Can't hurt, as you said).

I reciently went from:
AMD Athlon 750
Geforce2 MX /w 32MB SDR
256MB PC133
Asus K7V

to a:
Giga-byte 7VTX-P
AMD AthlonXP 1600+ at 1.4Ghz
256 MB DDR ram
Same Geforce2 MX video card

and went from a 3DMark2001 score of around 1800 to one of around 2200 (I haven't tweeked the MB into a high performance mode, so I can probably eak out another 100 or so with this setup). The video card is the big slowdown in most machines, so save your money on a processor upgrade and first do the video card. That may solve your problem in a much cheeper fashion.

Plus, you can get a better card if you don't need to save the extra 100+ for a CPU ;)



60 FPS, 70 FPS, 80 FPS Crash!
Daylight comes and I have to go to work :frown:
 
Crashman

Crashman

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No. Remember the TNT2 M64? They took the perfectly good TNT2 card with a 128-bit memory path, cut it down to 64-bit, and called it a value card? That's the same thing as they did with the MX to make the MX200.
In fact I have posted a lot of proof on these pages that the original TNT2 is FASTER than the MX200! MUCH faster. I got well over 3000 points with a TNT2 on an old Celeron system in 3D-Mark 2000. I got several hundred less with the MX200. I can look up the post if you need me to.

Back to you Tom...
 
bront

bront

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Doesn't suprise me now that I think about it. I was just regurgitating what I remember reading somewhere. Probably my mistake.

I never watched the TNT2 closely, so I didn't know that -64 part. Thanks

60 FPS, 70 FPS, 80 FPS Crash!
Daylight comes and I have to go to work :frown:
 
G

Guest

Guest
Wow wasnt expecting so many posts :)
So video card first.. then the 1.4, Now if i can find a good site in the UK or ships to the UK then i'd be all set.. I tried searching for a online vendor for the TI200 Leadtek, but I havent seen any.. and the one UK site that did have it had a 4 week waiting period!
Anyone have a few sites I can browse through? I remember.. when i upgraded my computer last I found a UK site that was very much like pricewatch that searches for american retailers.. anyone happen to know the address?
 
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