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Valset

Supreme [H]ardness
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Apr 4, 2008
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I am new to this board and have been out of the loop for a while so if you guys could forgive a newbie question here is my situation.

My viewsonic is about to give out. I am looking to replace it with a nice 24’’ lcd monitor. Problem is that I am currently running a DIY rig with a socket 939 athlon 64 @2.2 with 1 GB ram on an A8N-E motherboard (n-force 4 chip set) with a nvidia 6800 card. I am currently kicking myself for not getting an SLI motherboard as the upgrade would have been very nice here. The other limiting factor here is that I have a 420 watt PSU. (turned out to be a good one though no fault of my own)

Due to current financial considerations (I have some medical bills) I am not ready to build my new rig for a while (what I want to build would run around $1800, and I want to see how the 790i turns out). Getting a newer processer for this has been a bitch, 939 dual cores are rare and some of them have gone for over a buck fifty on ebay. If I can get a dual core for under 50 bucks I do it otherwise I will just scrap this motherboard.

So my question is given that I can get a replacement CPU what would be the best video card I could put in this rig? The A8N-E has one PCI-e true 16 so most anything will “work” in it but what can reasonably put in it that would let me run a nice 24” for the time being?

It would be nice to keep my investment in this if the card was SLI capable later on when I could move it to my new rig. I would however use a single card solution if it is reasonable on the price.

TIA
 
I would recommend the Nvidia 9600GT. I just got the MSI 9600GT (Overclocked 100mhz faster than stock) for $144.99 after rebate from newegg for my cousin. AWESOME card for the price, he has a 24inch monitor runs most games in max res (except crysis obviously). It is SLI capable
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127333

You will definatley be happy with that and you cant beat the price/performance for a strict budget!
 
Are you thinking of upgrading that Socket 939 cpu on your AMD system? It's really not worth upgrading that mobo cpu. If you had a Socket 940 which is the AM2 socket then you should upgrade that cpu to a dual core. Also, you can put together a decent system for under $1,000 that will be able to handle that 24" You also don't need SLI to run games on that 24"
 
HardwareGuru said:
Are you thinking of upgrading that Socket 939 cpu on your AMD system? It's really not worth upgrading that mobo cpu. If you had a Socket 940 which is the AM2 socket then you should upgrade that cpu to a dual core. Also, you can put together a decent system for under $1,000 that will be able to handle that 24" You also don't need SLI to run games on that 24"
Click to expand...

only if I can get it cheap. otherwise I am just going to replace the motherboard. but if can find an opt X2 or ath X2 dirt cheap I was thinking that it would prolong my system for a few months. the reason I want SLI has more to do with upgrading then anything else. If I can't get a cheap or if you guys think this isn't feasible / cost effective up grade then I may go half way, get a new MB and a Q6600. but I would really rather wait and build what I want (it would last me a long time I think)

I have been out of the loop for a while, hell I can remember when OCing involved using a soldering iron
 
sanitarium16 said:
I would recommend the Nvidia 9600GT. I just got the MSI 9600GT (Overclocked 100mhz faster than stock) for $144.99 after rebate from newegg for my cousin. AWESOME card for the price, he has a 24inch monitor runs most games in max res (except crysis obviously). It is SLI capable
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127333

You will definatley be happy with that and you cant beat the price/performance for a strict budget!
Click to expand...

II was looking at those, and how well they SLIed together. I wonder if there is any future benefit in getting the 1 GB versions, they are only a little bit higher.
 
Lemme ask you this, do you plan on running games at the full 1920 x 1200 res? Or... it doesn't need to be and settings like AA and AF you don't really care to have these cranked up. Also, what type of games do you play? The graphic intensive ones? People nowdays are avoiding SLI due to the power requirements and added heat generated in the pc. The ones who do SLI want to run games at the native 1920 x 1200 res with AA and AF enabled. Though...a single card solution is becoming more powerful, that one card can handle a 24". From my experience since I have a 24" and 28" lcds with 1920 x 1200 res, you don't have to have every single game at 1920 x 1200. I know I have some at 1680 x 1050 or 1440 x 900 but, it still looks good the games. Some games I am able to run it at 1920 x 1200.
 
Valset said:
II was looking at those, and how well they SLIed together. I wonder if there is any future benefit in getting the 1 GB versions, they are only a little bit higher.
Click to expand...

Dont waste your money on the 1gb versions. they offer no performance increase
 
HardwareGuru said:
Lemme ask you this, do you plan on running games at the full 1920 x 1200 res? Or... it doesn't need to be and settings like AA and AF you don't really care to have these cranked up. Also, what type of games do you play? The graphic intensive ones? People nowdays are avoiding SLI due to the power requirements and added heat generated in the pc. The ones who do SLI want to run games at the native 1920 x 1200 res with AA and AF enabled. Though...a single card solution is becoming more powerful, that one card can handle a 24". From my experience since I have a 24" and 28" lcds with 1920 x 1200 res, you don't have to have every single game at 1920 x 1200. I know I have some at 1680 x 1050 or 1440 x 900 but, it still looks good the games. Some games I am able to run it at 1920 x 1200.
Click to expand...

I would like to but it is not necessary. I really haven’t liked the LCDs outside their native resolution but I am not that big of a gamer. I am more of what I think of as a media user (games, tv turner card, video editing and such) I can go without if I have to but the question looks like its becoming mute. I am not going to pay what they want for dual core 939 socket processor ($180 for the new ones, 80 to 120 for the used, I cant believe it) I can actually get a new 64 X2 with a mother board cheaper. And if I have to pull the mother board I might as well do it right. For 400 I can get this

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3601833&CatId=2406

though I am going to think twice about a 680i I can’t see spending 200 to 300 dollars less for sub par system. I may well take your advice and settle for a little less then my idea.


sanitarium16, I take it that the consensus is that the extra memory will not add to the longevity or any future upgrading?

thanks for the advice guys
 
You still can play the games you play with that 6800GS card on the 24". Not a big deal if you can't play it at the native res. The monitor replacement is more a requirement than your PC upgrade. Eventually, you will upgrade your PC. I would spend the money on the 24" lcd now, then wait a bit and then upgrade the PC. If you want to upgrade the pc now, you still can for under $1,000 if you choose to do both.
 
HardwareGuru said:
You still can play the games you play with that 6800GS card on the 24". Not a big deal if you can't play it at the native res. The monitor replacement is more a requirement than your PC upgrade. Eventually, you will upgrade your PC. I would spend the money on the 24" lcd now, then wait a bit and then upgrade the PC. If you want to upgrade the pc now, you still can for under $1,000 if you choose to do both.
Click to expand...

good point. also I overlooked my option of just upgrading the power supply. that would remove the need ot upgrade byonded my vid card for the time being.

Thanks
 
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