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To upgrade or not?

W

Wetling

Gawd
Joined
May 3, 2001
Messages
629
I'm trying to decide if upgrading would be worth it right now. I'd like to stay as inexpensive as I can.

Mostly I do video work like a bunch of encoding to Divx and some DVD backups. I think I'd like to play Doom III too if I can swing a system that's worth trying with (have you seen those minimum requirements?!?).

Right now I have a 2100+ (at 2200-2400, I can't remember) on an 8RDA with 512MB (2x256) of RAM and Radeon 8500.

I'm thinking of going with the A64 3000+ and the Asus K8N-E Deluxe or Gigabyte GA-K8NS PRO (leaning towards the Asus), an additional 512MB stick of RAM, and a 9700 Pro, 9800 Pro, or 9800 XT. That'll bring me to a total of $665. I could drop the RAM and video card though ($350). I guess I'll also need to buy a new waterblock and I'd probably go with a Danger TDX which is about $55.

At a minimum of $400, is this upgrade really worth it for the performance gain?
 
To make it worth it, i would recommend the extra 512MB of RAM, as well as at least a 9600XT, or a 9800XT. If you can afford it, the X800 will offer a system with the most longetivity, but a 9800XT will do similar.
Is it worth it? Well if you are encoding movies the extra CPU grunt will help, as will the RAM, and if you want to play Doom3 the better CPU, RAM and video card are needed. So i suppose it is a pretty worthwhile upgrade, especially as the Athlon64 will last a long time, 64-bit operating sysems and all.
 
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