What should i upgrade?

Thermite Paste

Thermite Paste

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Title states the problem. My current system is:

Amd Athlon XP 2800
Shuttle XPC
512 mb Kingston Hyperx (256 x 2)
160 gb seagate sata hdd
Sapphire 9800 Pro

Now, i will have around $150 - $200 for an upgrade, so heres my problem. What would i benefit most from upgrading? And could i possibly do a full a64 conversion for that amount of money? or would upgrading to an x800 be a better choice? Or should the ram go?
 
Thermite Paste said:
Title states the problem. My current system is:

Amd Athlon XP 2800
Shuttle XPC
512 mb Kingston Hyperx (256 x 2)
160 gb seagate sata hdd
Sapphire 9800 Pro

Now, i will have around $150 - $200 for an upgrade, so heres my problem. What would i benefit most from upgrading? And could i possibly do a full a64 conversion for that amount of money? or would upgrading to an x800 be a better choice? Or should the ram go?
Click to expand...

I would definately upgrade the memory. The jump in performance from 512mb to 1-2 gig is VERY substantial (You'll get better gaming performance), and you can use that memory in subsequent updates as well. An A64 upgrade, aside from probably not being possible with a 200$ budget, Isn't advisable in your situation. If you're going to get an A64, it might as well be a socket 939 (not a 754 that you *might* be able to fit in your budget)

The 9800pro still has a lot of life in it, and any performance issues you think you have with it will be solved when you upgrade the ram (trust me, I just went from 512 to 1024 and stuck with my 9600). In actuality the AGP x800 is very similar to the 9800 anyway.

You're in the same boat I am, with socket A rigs, our next upgrade will probably be a big one, consisting of a new mobo, processor, hsf, and vid card (we do want pci express, right?). I would upgrade using 1gig crucial value ram and keep the remaining money saved up for the next upgrade.
 
I wouldn't upgrade anything but the ram itself. If not I would suggest you to save up more and get a brand new comp.
 
With $345 US AMD dual cores coming out next month, it's a tough choice.

If I was hot and horny to change SOMETHING and I didn't have a care in the world about dual cores, I'd buy a socket 754 motherboard (maybe Abit KV8 Pro, don't know if it's compatible with your RAM) and an Athlon 64 3400+ (the 2.4 GHz model) ($175 at newegg).

With that video card, upgrading your CPU would give you a real frame rate boost. Going XP 3200+ would suck because socket 754 mobo and Athlon 2800+ would cost the same. Yet, an Athlon 2800+ and socket 754 mobo would still give you a boost.
 
I would do the memory upgrade. You'll definately notice a difference with just 256 more. But another 512 would be the way to go.
 
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