• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Thinking of upgrading...

R

Razer X

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
1,169
I'm considering investing some money into my current rig, probably in the range of $150 - $300 or so. Any ideas on what I should get will be greatly appreciated. I haven't really been keeping up with everything on the market recently, and I always like to get the best possible product for the money.

System specs are in my sig.
 
Another 512 of memory. A faster processor (2500+ are downright cheap). A better video card.
 
What do you think is more important and what do you, more specificly, recomend?
 
It depends on what your needs are and what kind of performance increase you're hoping to achieve. What do you use your computer for mostly? Games? You could get another 512 of memory AND upgrade your processor significantly and still stay way under your price cap. Or you could upgrade your video card to something like a 9800 Pro in the $250 range.
 
Yea, what do you use your computer for? Games? Digital content creation? (^_^)

Like Benny said, the jump upto a amd64 is a good idea... in my mind. If you don't plan on overclocking, then getting the 2500+ won't be much help over the 2100+.
AMD64 3000+ (~223$US), & MSI K8T neo FSR (~86$US).

Then again you could get another 512mb RAM stick ( or just get new PC3200 corsiar XMS 2x512 DDR400 = ~254$US), or get a new video card such as a ATI 9800(~200$US).

Many possibilities, and you did'nt say what hard drive you had, so i won't comment on that.
So, two main things i see can be done right now, you can get a new processor/mobo (if amd64), you can also get a new graphic card and something else for around 100$ (whether more ram, or better amd XP processor).

I would say, if you wanted the best in-game performance upgrade, get a new video card and brand new Corsair XMS 2x512mb DDR400 RAM.... (if you wanted to go a little over your budget, that is)

If you want a better "in general" feel, get the amd64 and mobo.

~Hope this helps
 
Sorry, I should said in the first post what I use the computer for. Pretty much everything, mostly gaming though.
 
Your motherboard supports DDR400, right? I'm not sure how well that board overclocks. Via is not well known for having good overclocking boards. Maybe get a 2500+ and a 9800pro 128mb. At least a 2500+ will take advantage of pc2700. And a 9800pro won't bottleneck your system. If you have cash after that, figure out if your board will overclock a bit. Then you can clock your 2500+ to 11x200mhz. Even if you still are using DDR333 it would be a good performance increase. Then when you get some spare cash later buy 512mb-1gb DDR400.

The above is only really a short term fix. If you want a long term fix you're going to have to buy an a64 motherboard and CPU, or an intel motherboard and CPU.

Suggestions for that:

Overclocking
-AMD Athlon 64 3200+, MSI K8N Neo Platinum, 512mb-1gb Good pc3200 or pc3500.
-Intel Pentium 4 C 2.8ghz, Abit IC7-G or Max3, 512mb-1gb Good pc3200 or another high bandwidth model, however high you think you'll get your FSB.

Note: For both you'll probably need some kind of 3rd party cooling, I suggest the Zalman CNPS 7000.

Not Overclocking
-AMD Athlon 64 3000+, Asus K8V Deluxe, 512mb-1gb Valueram pc3200.
-Intel Pentium 4 C 3.0ghz, Asus P4C800, 512mb-1gb Valueram pc3200.

For any new setup you're going to want at least a 9800pro if you play games a lot. An x800 would be a good upgrade too.
 
Razer X said:
Sorry, I should said in the first post what I use the computer for. Pretty much everything, mostly gaming though.
Click to expand...
You know, if your xp2100 is a t-bred B (AIUHB, JIUHB), you should be able to overclock it nicely. A bump of the front side bus to 166mhz on the A7V8X should keep the PCI/AGP in spec. This would give you a speed of 166x13, which is 2158mhz... typically an easy overclock for t-bred b's. It might need a little extra voltage, be sure to test for stability with prime95 or something.

The speed boost should be noticeable, and therefore a jump to a new CPU/mobo would not be justified anymore, especially anything in the athlon xp family.

If that works out, I would say just get a 9800 Pro, which is dropping in price nicely as we speak, under $200 now I think :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top