500 hundred dollars for an upgrade

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lozaning

2[H]4U
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Mar 30, 2005
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my birthday is on the 2nd and my dad said i could have 500 dolars in computer stuff.
what i have now is

amd 64 3200 @2.4
1 gig corsair xms 2 x 512
gigabyte ga k8nf 9 (nf4 with pci-e slot)
a tnt riva 64 with 16 mb of ram

so my question is what would give the best proformence

i dont knowif is should get a 7800gt or x1800xl and more ram. or gtx or xt and keep mt current ram. or get a new x2 cpu.
 
You definately need a video card over anything else, id get the 7800gt.
 
Your CPU is fine, your memory is fine for the most part. Could bump up the memory to 2 gigs but you will see the biggest difference by upgrading your video card.
 
what do you guys think is better the x1800xl or 7800gt i looked at some benchmarks, but not a whole lot. if i get one of those gfx cards they are like 300 ish and i would still have like 200. 200 for some more ram maybe?
 
If you get the RAM, you should get 2x1GB because the AMD64s don't like 4x512 or 4xanything for that matter. You could get a nice set of G.Skill 2x1GB DDR 500 for 199 which might increase your overclock. It kinda depends what games you play on whether or not you should go for 2GB. I know BF2 and a few others make use of it.
 
hero i am well aware of the a64 4 dimm slot problem, i dont want to run at 133 or 2t so 2 x 1 gig is the only way to go.
 
Firebat said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102612R


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145579

My two cents worth.

Your motherboard's AMD so it doesn't support speeds above pc3200.
Click to expand...

I second this the x1800xl is exactly the same as the 7800gt it beats the 7800gt is some games the 7800gt beats it in some games plus this x1800xl is vivo. Also 2 gigs of memory is really a must to have the best performance in games.

x1800xl + 2gigs of ram = teh win

You could also sell your current 2/512 and raise a little extra cash and go for a refurb gtx or something which would murder the x1800xl or look for computer stuff on the FT/FS forum I am sure 2/1 gig sticks and a gtx can be had for 500$.
 
PRIME1 said:
The 7800GT is the best bang for the buck.

It's faster than a XL and it even passes the XT sometimes.
Click to expand...

Get real. :rolleyes:

7800GT is for all intents and purposes on par with an X1800XL.
Although the XL has better AF and can do HDR+AA.
For that and better overclocking, I think it's worth an extra 30-40 bucks over the GT.
If that is a lot of money to you, than yeah the 7800GT is best bang for the buck
but I think the vivo and other features from ATi more than make up for the slightly higher cost. :)


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142053

Either way it doesn't really matter. He's upgrading from a TNT and probably hasn't
played anything new in at least a couple years. UT2003 put my Geforce 1 DDR in
its grave, can't even imagine what the last game a TNT could play was.

Even a 200 dollar card from last generation would likely be fine considering where he's coming from. Which surprises me he's willing to replace his old memory just to
not run 2T command rate. Who gives a fuck about memory timings? That's for hardcore computer geeks that run benchmarks all day. CPU, VIDEO, and quantitiy of RAM is the only thing that matters when playing a game. :D
 
lozaning said:
hero i am well aware of the a64 4 dimm slot problem, i dont want to run at 133 or 2t so 2 x 1 gig is the only way to go.
Click to expand...

You can get the X1800XT 512 from newegg for $489, anyway that is what I paid for mine, much better bang for your buck than 1 7800GT. :cool:
 
jgdiaz said:
You can get the X1800XT 512 from newegg for $489, anyway that is what I paid for mine, much better bang for your buck than 1 7800GT. :cool:
Click to expand...

Yeah RAM is cheap. I'd go for the XT and buy some more memory later on.
Spending 200 bucks just to have a pair of matched 1 gig dimms is not smart -
when you only upgrade your computer once every 6 years. LOL
 
Don't forget about a good PSU if you don't already have one.



I would say 7800GT, another 512, and a PSU if you need it. If you don't need the PSU, get a couple games or some nice headphones.
 
I was reading somewhere that with the new DFI UT SLI Extreme mobo could handle 4 dimms at t1 and overclocked speeds or it was the opteron cpu's. I think it was the new DFI mobo that made it possible and if so the get that and 7800gt. Then down the road and 2 more sticks. I could be wrong and I couldn't find the thread. I know the mem controller is on the CPU and RevE..etc but people have gotten past the problems of only using 2 sticks vs 4. Maybe I read it on dfi-street but I would find out.
 
you can't get an x1800xt without first having a decent power supply... it might be smarter to upgrade the power supply and get an x1800xl. i tried running a 6800gt on the 430 watt supply that came built into my 30 dollar case and it blew up in a puff of purple smoke and luckily didn't take all my hardware along with it. an x1800xt is gonna hog a lot more power than a 6800 and a cheap psu wouldn't be able to take it.

my .02
 
rcf1987 said:
I second this the x1800xl is exactly the same as the 7800gt it beats the 7800gt is some games the 7800gt beats it in some games plus this x1800xl is vivo. Also 2 gigs of memory is really a must to have the best performance in games.

x1800xl + 2gigs of ram = teh win

You could also sell your current 2/512 and raise a little extra cash and go for a refurb gtx or something which would murder the x1800xl or look for computer stuff on the FT/FS forum I am sure 2/1 gig sticks and a gtx can be had for 500$.
Click to expand...

According to Anandtech's review of the X1800XL, the 7800GT beats it in everything but Battlefield 2.

I'd get whichever card you can get the best deal on.
 
Shameless Liar said:
Your video card is seriously underpowered for that system.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102629

X1800XT = You win.

Or you could get a 7800 GTX and a RAM upgrade,but I think the X1800XT would be a better choice.
Click to expand...

He needs to beg dad to also get him a good power supply for that X1800XT, otherwise he is gonna have to with the 7800GT or X1800XL. LOL!! I wish him luck!! :D
 
I heard the X1800XL overclocks better and higher than a 7800GT, so I'd go to the X1800XL if you want a graphics card.
 
does anyone know if that deal is still going on whear you buy the 7800gt and get the sli mobo for free, and does any company offer that with the new ati cards
 
lozaning said:
does anyone know if that deal is still going on whear you buy the 7800gt and get the sli mobo for free, and does any company offer that with the new ati cards
Click to expand...

You don't really get it for free 'cause the specific eVGA card that you can combo with the "free" motherboard costs about $400 where you can get other models for like $300 but here is the newegg link
 
I would get the 7800GT, 512mb ram, and the lower Xfi card (~40% FPS Increase they say), Is that in your budget?.
 
mdameron said:
WTF? Can you really not put PC4000 in an AMD board? I hope so, I'm going amd soon...
Click to expand...
you can, that guy doesn't know what he's talking about. The highest speed you can run without overclocking is PC3200, but a lot of people put PC4000 in for overclocking and I suggested the PC4000 seeing as how the OP has a 400mhz overclock that he might be able to get higher with tighter RAM timings with the PC4000
 
yea i am in the middle of readin that article right now. i think im gona get either the 7800gt or the x1800xl. from what i have seen the cards are both very good and they both out do the other on different games. hear is the thing thouhg, the 7800gt has been out for a while and the drivers i would think are thus more advanced. i would think that the x1800xl being newer would have more imature drivers, and thus more room for proformence increase.

unfortunatly yes, i do have an aspire psu and i am ashamed. any suggestion on good cheap powersupplies
 
lozaning said:
yea i am in the middle of readin that article right now. i think im gona get either the 7800gt or the x1800xl. from what i have seen the cards are both very good and they both out do the other on different games. hear is the thing thouhg, the 7800gt has been out for a while and the drivers i would think are thus more advanced. i would think that the x1800xl being newer would have more imature drivers, and thus more room for proformence increase.

unfortunatly yes, i do have an aspire psu and i am ashamed. any suggestion on good cheap powersupplies
Click to expand...

Yes very good point. The 7800 drivers are very mature due to 7800 not being much differant than the 6 series, where as the x1k series is pretty much brand new :p So Im betting the x1800xl will get the performance lead with new drivers. PSU? Antec, fortron, ocz. Few others too, but cant think of them
 
If I were in your situation I would wait for the next gen cards like the R580 which is rumored for ~Jan 06. (I think, so don't quote me)

And nVIDIA usually releases next gen cards at ~July.
 
i dont see how my cpu would really be a bottle neck, maybe at 800 by 600, right now its at 2.4 on air and i am just waiting for the cpu retention bracket for my waterblock
 
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