What do I upgrade first?

[Ratboy]

Going from Socket A, crappy vga, to a 939 pin and single video card. Do I:

A: Buy a 6800GT AGP card and in a few months get a Venice and DFI NForce 3

B: Buy the Venice and Nforce 3 now, upgrade the video card in a few months

C: Suck it up and put away the cash until there is enough for a single PCI-E card, processor, and mobo all at once

EDIT: Mind you my current config I can't use at all, and I have no idea why it won't boot. Yes, it is a hardware problem. No, I don't know which part.

 

[-zax-]

Wait and save up for PCI-E..

Reason why is because as of late you've probably noticed that the higher end video cards are not coming in AGP anymore... It'd be a shame to buy a new system, and then realize if you want to upgrade video again from something like a 6800GT in AGP... you'd have to get a new motherboard anyway... which would end up costing you 2 motherboards instead of 1 in the end.

 

[forumposter32]

Something to consider: ULi chipset that allows you to use both AGP & PCI-E.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2471

I'd start with a nice juicy Athlon 64 3000+ and top if off later with a delicious 7800 GT.

I'm starting to sound like a salesman.

 

[MrSlacker]

wait and get a brand new rig

 

[E4g1e]

I disagree with the recommendations to wait, in this case. The OP does not have a usable system at present. Heck, his only PC won't even boot at all right now.

That said, I cannot vote for either the first or second choice. That's because whichever component he ends up picking first, he will face a dead-end as far as upgradability is concerned. Therefore, my recommendation is to get an entire new system at once (that choice is not in the poll) -- even if it's a cheap pre-built by the likes of Dell -- as soon as possible. (Or at least replace the video card, the CPU and the motherboard all at the same time, and immediately -- another option not on the list.)

 

[phungilax]

I certainly agree with Eagle. With the current parts that you have and the system you want to upgrade too, you would just hit a dead end. Even if it is not a full system build, I would atleast upgrade the CPU, mobo, ram, and video all at once.

 

[E4g1e]

I certainly agree with Eagle. With the current parts that you have and the system you want to upgrade too, you would just hit a dead end. Even if it is not a full system build, I would atleast upgrade the CPU, mobo, ram, and video all at once.

The 1GB worth of TwinMOS SP memory which the OP currently has can be carried over into a new Socket 939 AMD Athlon64-based PCI-Express system -- provided that he has a matched pair of 512MB sticks. (But if he really wants to be sure that they'll work, he will have to obtain a CD-bootable copy of Memtest-86 -- and then run the test with one stick at a time.) There is currently no AMD-based system which supports anything other than regular PC3200 DDR memory.

On the other hand, if the OP wants an Intel-based system, then he will likely have to replace his current PC3200 DDR memory with DDR2 memory. That's because the majority of Intel-processor-based mobos currently on the market require the use of DDR2 modules.

 

[Russ]

how much cash do you have right now? I need that information to make a decision.

going pci-e would be ideal.

TwinMOS SP is sweet stuff paired with a DFI mobo.