$600 upgrade advice

O

o0akoni0o

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
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i just got a very generous cash bonus at my summer job and well theres nothing i'd rather spend it on than my computer (don't tell the gf, hahaha) basically everything i have is in my sig and i'm getting a gig of corsair value select or a gig of comparable twinmos soon (can't really decide). plus i just got a new case, psu and loads of fans. i am basically thinking new mobo, cpu, and video card. oh and all my old stuff will go to my little cousin so the $600 is pretty firm.
 
Athlon 64 3200+ * MSI K8N Neo FSR * XP-90 w/ 92mm Panaflo * BFG 6800OC * 1GB Corsair XMS * 2 250GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 * NEC 3500a DVD-RW * Pioneer Slot Loading DVD-ROM * Chenming 602 * Vantec Stealth Case Fans * Nexus Fan Controller * Xclio 450w
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You've already got all this and you want to upgrade? O i see, s754.

Well, if you want to keep your video card:
DFI nf3 Ultra-D $122 + $2.50 (shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136161

Venice 3000+ for $118.95 + $0
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=A64-3000BP
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subtotal: $243.45

and watercooling (~$250-280) - see thread in my sig for what I would get for watercooling.

total: $500-550

-
or, if you want a pci-e board
-

DFI nf4-DAGF $92 + $2.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136160
or
DFI Lanparty UT nf4-D $125 + $5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136159

Venice 3000+ for $118.95 + $0
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=A64-3000BP
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subtotal: $213.45 or $248.95

XFX 6800GT $346 + $5 - $50 Mail In Rebate = $301
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150091

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total: $514 or $549.95


so there you go. Don't upgrade your HDDs, Optical drives, Case, or PSU. Keep the XP-90 if you don't get watercooling

What speed is your RAM? If it can run at DDR400, keep it. Otherwise you'll have to get the DFI nf4-DAGF and two of these:
Crucial 512mb DDR400 $45 + $3.83
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146532

Which will bring your PCI-E total to $611.66 or $647.61 (hence the need to pick the cheaper mobo).

Don't get a 3200+ Venice b/c with either a watercooled or XP-90 cooled setup you will achieve very similar OCs as a 3000+ setup. An X800XL will be worse than a 6800GT. It will probably give you a VERY small improvement over a 6800NU, so I do NOT reccomend it.

Hope this helped. :)
 
I'm going to make another suggestion in case you want dual core. Next month, they will come out with an AMD dual core at $345. So, you could spend $155 for a 6600 GT and have $100 for a motherboard. They say UT2007 will get a speed boost from a dual core CPU. And the 6200 is the minimum to play it. The 6200 kind of lags in games so you should be ready for future games.
I'll admit however that a "lesser" video card and possibly "lesser" CPU might not give you instant satisfaction. However, next year video cards will be so powerful, you might want to replace any video card you get now.
 
forumposter32 said:
I'm going to make another suggestion in case you want dual core. Next month, they will come out with an AMD dual core at $345. So, you could spend $155 for a 6600 GT and have $100 for a motherboard. They say UT2007 will get a speed boost from a dual core CPU. And the 6200 is the minimum to play it. The 6200 kind of lags in games so you should be ready for future games.
I'll admit however that a "lesser" video card and possibly "lesser" CPU might not give you instant satisfaction. However, next year video cards will be so powerful, you might want to replace any video card you get now.
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hmmmm...interesting suggestion. anyone have anything else to say about this? i know while the other suggestions would give me the best possible system for my money now, like any upgrade you make i want this to be pretty future proof and i also know that $600 is still not that much of upgrade money.
 
Russ said:
Don't get a 3200+ Venice b/c with either a watercooled or XP-90 cooled setup you will achieve very similar OCs as a 3000+ setup. An X800XL will be worse than a 6800GT. It will probably give you a VERY small improvement over a 6800NU, so I do NOT reccomend it.
Click to expand...

benches say otherwise.
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/x800xl/Colin McRae.htm

however if you can get them at the same price, the 6800GT is the way to go as it has a nice overclocking ability.
 
o0akoni0o said:
hmmmm...interesting suggestion. anyone have anything else to say about this? i know while the other suggestions would give me the best possible system for my money now, like any upgrade you make i want this to be pretty future proof and i also know that $600 is still not that much of upgrade money.
Click to expand...

Actually, if you want to game and do other things at the same time, you'll be able to do it with an X2. Also, the 3800+ coming out is 2.0 GHz with 512 K cache (actually, times two LOL). I just did an extensive comparison between the 9800 Pro, 6600 GT, X800 Pro, X800 XL and 6800. Unless you go over 1024x768 with AA on, the 6600 GT is a better deal. It can sometimes beat the 6800 (non-GT) and most often matches it while it can sometimes cream the 9800 Pro.
 
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