Need upgrade advice.

[jchahn]

Here is my system.
Abit AT7-Max2
512 mb Corsair cas2 memory (1 stick)
Geforce FX 5900 256 mb
SB Audigy
Athlon XP 2600+

When I run some of the newer games (ie: Far Cry or UT2k4) I get low framerates at times. Especially on Far Cry. It will run perfectly smooth until I turn on night vision, then the framerates become catastrophic to the point of being unplayable. Maybe I'm being overly picky about it because I'm running it at 1280x1024, no aa or af. I have all the details cranked to the max except for water and shadows I have set all the way down to the lowest levels. Are my expectations too high for a system of this caliber?

Anyway, looking at the specs above, what is the first and most important thing for me to upgrade? Would a newer video card help more, or a faster processor? Possibly more memory?

I'd like to hold off until some motherboards come out that have 2 16x pci-e slots. That way I can buy 1 geforce 6800 pci-e, and then down the road buy another one and run them in SLI. Do you think it would be worth the wait?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[DermicSavage]

video is definetly holding you back, and youre trying to push it a bit far

also i would recommend a gig of ram, but it wont help you much in your problems(so dont bother till you need it i guess)

if you want to wait, just run the games at lower resolutions
just because u spent some 400 bux on a vid card doesnt mean its going to be good. especially with a 5900 NU