Upgrade Dilemma

[RowlandXIII]

Greetings [H], I’m in a bit of an upgrade dilemma…

I’m currently running a XP1700+ and a 9600XT, and I’m looking to upgrade to a dual core AM2 system, but not sure what I should do about the video card. I’m also looking to do my upgrade sooner, rather than later (the AGP controller on this mobo gives me corruption in DX9 games.)

Should I buy a cheap PCI express graphics card so I can at least play my current games w/o corruption, and at a performance similar to my 9600XT? Will something as castrated as this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141034

…give me a fighting chance? I would then buy a REAL card when DX10 is released, and keep the cheapie as a backup.

OR

Should I wait till DX10 comes out before doing my upgrade? (Get a nice cheap dual core CPU and a shiny new DX10 capable card.)

OR

Buy a reasonably priced DX9 card now, and milk it until I’m forced to upgrade to DX10?
Keep in mind that I’d rather not have to buy a $150+ card now, and have to try to sell a used, last generation card to recoup some of my purchase, if the “forced upgrade” comes six months from now. I use the term “forced upgrade” in quotes because I don't know what event will trigger me buying a DX10 capable card.


Many thanks in advance.

 

[AdamNesvick]

Get an asrock 939dual with the AM2 riser card, keep your vid card, and be able to upgrade when possible (this is what I would do, but I'm cheap, I have a 939 4200, and my old faithful x800xl agp)

The motherboard and riser shouldn't set ya back more than $100

 

[quadnad]

That 6200 will give you less performance than your current 9600XT, which is why I'm suggesting two alternatives:
1. Go for something like this and overclock it a bit. You'll get similar performance at stock speeds, and far better once you've overclocked it.
2. Buy a used PCI-E card to tide you over. 6600GTs should be around $50, and check around the FS/FT forum and Ebay for them.

I would only consider the options above if you've decided that the $50 is less than the cost of you not having a proper gaming computer until DX10 arrives (i.e. $50< amount you value your lost gaming time).

 

[RowlandXIII]

Thanks for the suggestion on the Video card quadnad.

I used to be able to justify the $65 purchase by saying I'm going to blow that much on a single game, but nowadays I rarely buy a game at full price. Most of my games get picked up 6 months after their release, or right away if there's a good sale.

Are the DX10 cards really supposed to arrive in fall 06? If so, I might not end up with any true DX10 games until a year from now, and if $65 (or a used card) lasts me a year, then I'll take it.