Upgrading rig . . need MAJOR advice

[jnick]

Hey guys,

I'm currently running:
P4 2.6C (HTT)
1gig of DDR400 3200 Dual Channel
9800PRO 128
Abit IS7 mobo

This system was built in the Summer of '03.

I played Doom 3, and HL2, and have witnessed the drop in frame rate, and lag, due to new graphical engines. Right now I'm gaming Desert Combat at 1280 x 960 with 4x AA and 2xAF, Fast Write on, AGP at 8x, and Vertical sync on (dell 2005FPW LCD monitor). I notice that Desert Combat pushes the card while running at these settings. I do lag quite a bit. Also, with the same settings, though the res is upped to 1680x1050, Source/HL2, is giving me 20-25FPS.

Now, Battlfield 2 is coming out in about 2 months, and I'm PSYCHED. I have already pre-ordered, and I want my system to be able to run this puppy with ease when the on pretty high. I feel my current set up (Video Card), will not handle it.

Now my dad buys all of the parts, and unfortuneately, he games as well. So anything we by, multiply it by two . . .

At first he told me to go screw myself, we don't need an upgrade. Though, that was only until he played source and got 20fps. That was the convincer

So we were doing the research and are extremely confused due to the technology transition into PCI-E and DDR2. Therefore here's my question/what I need help on. Now, I’ll be honest, I don’t care which chip I buy (ati or nvidia). I just want the TOP notch card, that’s going to LAST. So please don’t tell me to buy nvidia because you hate ATI. Please, if you do not mind, explain you’re reasoning to the advice, this way I can learn for the future, and me and my dad wil understand your reasonings.

Now, after all that mumbo jumbo, here we go . .

At first, due to benchmarks, and reviews, I was going to go with the BFG 6800 Ultra 256 DDR3 AGP card. Then, I saw a benchmark that showed that the X800 XT PE was faster. (I know it's virtually impossible to get that card) But the X850 XT PE is top dog, at least that’s what the bench marks at Toms Hardware showed. So I figured we'd go with that. Now I’d have to wait until their available, and that’s not a problem. Except that card is only PCI-E. That means now we need a new motherboard.

So then I was thinking, well if we’re going to need a new mother board, then we might as well as get one with DDR2, since that’s going to be switching in soon. Well now that means we need new RAM . . . well if we need all of this, then it may be possible that I’ll need a new CPU as well. So basically it’s building a whole new machine.

So here is some questions.

1. What video card should I get (that will LAST)?
2. Should I port over to PCI-E?
3. Will DDR work in DDR2 slots? (I doubt it)
4. Will I need a new processor?
5. If so, which?
6. Anything else you want to add.

Just remember, we’d be buying TWO of everything . . .

Thanks a million guys. I appreciate it.

Jnick

P.S. - I forgot, we don't want to go over $1000 each . . and that's PUSHING (that's what the old rig costed, each) it.

If you wish, post what YOU would get, then if you want, what would be your next choice . . basing on price. 1st choice would be top notch, second would be practicality.)

 

[tranCendenZ]

If you really want the fastest video card setup, 6800GT SLI or 6800U SLI will decimate an x850xtpe any day of the week. You could buy a 6800U now and put it in an ASUS SLI motherboard, and then add a second 6800U down the road to double your performance. Not to mention that the 6800U has SM3.0 and FP16 HDR which the x850xtpe does not. Something to consider

 

[INeedAName]

If you really want the fastest video card setup, 6800GT SLI or 6800U SLI will decimate an x850xtpe any day of the week. Something to consider

SLI is still relatively new. Only a handful of games out there run in SLI. What you could do is just get a PCI-E 6800GT or Ultra and get another one later as more games support the technology.

 

[tranCendenZ]

SLI is still relatively new. Only a handful of games out there run in SLI. What you could do is just get a PCI-E 6800GT or Ultra and get another one later as more games support the technology.

The handful of games that support SLI are all the ones that were released this year that everybody is playing... I did suggest the above in an edit as well

 

[xSyzygy666x]

socket 939 3200+ is only like 200$ and the 3500+ is arounf 260$ add 120$ or so for a new mobo..tahts not a bad price for that power ful of cpus....you wont need a 3800+ or fx-53 to not be bottlenecked...pretty much any s939 cpu is powerful enough not to.

 

[Mojo]

I wouldn't get a new CPU just yet. Buy a Zalman CPU HSF and overclock that a bit. Abit lets you set your ram on 5:4 so your ram will handle it I think, then you get the CPU OC to 13 times 250mhz. It will run faster and you don't need a A64 yet.

As for video card, get a 6800GT. BFG or eVGA are my brands of choice, but most are good.

 

[poach]

Cpu: 939pin 3200+ 90nm Winchester core(best value for money, 64bit future proof, overclocks to 3800+ speeds on stock!)
Mobo: Asus an8 product line (not to expensive, easy to find, will run your existing ddr ram, some models do support sli)
Gpu: good luck trying to find a x850, 6800u, 6800gt on pci-e bus - my suggestion is a x800xt unless you want sli.(easier to find *in-stock* than x850, 6800u, 6800gt, runs all current games like a champ)
Ram: on a 64bit - pci-e mobo you dont need to upgrade your existing ram, but if you do get low timed tccp brainpower chipped ram like OCZ EL Platinum revision 2 or for something cheaper get Patriot XBL ram (a64's thrive on low timings, if you are serious about gaming get no less than 1gb.)

That is my unbiased suggestion.
Have fun

 

[jacuzz1]

socket 939 3200+ is only like 200$ and the 3500+ is arounf 260$ add 120$ or so for a new mobo..tahts not a bad price for that power ful of cpus....you wont need a 3800+ or fx-53 to not be bottlenecked...pretty much any s939 cpu is powerful enough not to.

thats the route i am taking, I am going two 6600gts until the 6800 gts are in good supply (reasonabley priced) then i will do the step up program. Gotta love eVGA

 

[altec_tech]

Don't mean to go off topic but what is this eVGA step-up program you speak of?

And I also have the same question as the thread poster but I was wondering what the difference was between 939 socket and 940 socket? They both run at the same speeds. Is one more efficient / more OC ability / draws more power?

Don't mean to hijack thread so I will keep on topic.

I would suggest an Nvidia if you want something to last simply because Nvidia support 3.0 shader while ATI doesn't. I was a big ATI fan for awhile, but if I can't even run 3dmark 05 that has 2.0 as the standard shader (current card does not support it) then how will you feel in about 3 years when you can't run something that uses 3.0 shader, and I know you don't want to buy a new card JUST for that. And since you can use Nvidia for SLI, you can just buy another one (probably cheaper as time passes) and you could run at most likely run around 50% faster than the newest cards in 3 years, even if the newer card is OCed.

Processor, I'd get a 3500 instead of 3200, so you can possibly oc it to 4000+, which scores VERY closely to the FX-53 processor.

 

[jacuzz1]

940 is for the server chips (opteron)

Step program allows you to get full credit trade in wthin 90 days of purchase toward a better card

 

[mulpsmebeauty]

Here's a "budget" suggestion, in that it doesn't blow all your cash:

1. Go to local computer shop and speak to the salesman. Buy ONE 6800GT and obtain agreement that you can return it the day after if it's not suitable (this might be more a UK thing).
2. Run driver cleaner and install card. Run the games you want at the resolution you want and see if you are happy with the performance. I notice you play at high-ish resolutions and with AA enabled - both of these put more strain on the graphics card than the CPU - your CPU will be the bottleneck with this card if you don't crank the settings right up to strain the GPU.
3. If you're happy, go out and buy a second AGP GT. If not, you can look to spending the whole $1000 with other solutions.

 

[GregP24]

I would suggest an Nvidia if you want something to last simply because Nvidia support 3.0 shader while ATI doesn't. I was a big ATI fan for awhile, but if I can't even run 3dmark 05 that has 2.0 as the standard shader (current card does not support it) then how will you feel in about 3 years when you can't run something that uses 3.0 shader, and I know you don't want to buy a new card JUST for that. And since you can use Nvidia for SLI, you can just buy another one (probably cheaper as time passes) and you could run at most likely run around 50% faster than the newest cards in 3 years, even if the newer card is OCed.
.

What do you mean ATI cards can't run 3dmark05? I scored 6115 at stock GPU clocks on my X800XT PE before she died. That's faster than my UEE can manage(5911 best score).

IF you can get your hands on an X800 XT PE, DO IT. Having used one and now having a 6800UEE, I can honestly say the XT PE was the better card. Faster in synthetic benchies, and according to FRAPS faster at high res with AA/AF than my UEE is.

I would get a PCI-E board. ATI's R520 should be out in the spring sometime and that thing will be a MONSTER. I'll be getting one.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

You should't upgrade your CPU/Mobo/RAM yet. The increase in framerate definitely won't be worth the upgrade cost. In your situation, I would OC the CPU and get a 6800GT and overclock that a bit as well.

Sell 9800 Pro -> +~$125 or so
Buy 6800GT -> - ~$400
Buy good heatsink (if you don't already have one) -> - ~$40

Total - ~$315 and you should see a pretty nice improvement.