Which Upgrade Path?

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TheQuad

Weaksauce
Joined
May 6, 2006
Messages
85
Hello all,

I really respect all of the Hardforum members opinions, and I was hoping that you all could help me with an upgrade decision I'm thinking about. To start off, my current rig is:

AMD X2 +4800 @ 2.6 MHz
Nvidia 7800GTX
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
1 GB Cosair XMS DDR 400

My first Idea is to purchase an 8800GTX of some kind, and just plink it down into my current setup.

My second idea was to go for a new setup, switching to a core 2 quad processor when the price drop happens. I was thinking about the new Gigabyte board that allows DDR2 and DDR3 memory:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128048

Some new DDR2 memory:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820220144

And the Q6600 after July 22:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

I believe that in the end, both ideas would end up costing about the same. Any opinions or recommendations about which setup would be the best would be appreciated.
 
An X2 4800+ should be plenty fast, so of the two I'd say the GTX will show you a bigger boost in the short to mid run. That said, even though I bought one a month ago and am hoping and praying they'll do well, no one knows what it'll really take to run UT3 engine stuff, Crysis, etc, and it's all still several months away, so replacing the CPU and motherboard now, and saving up for a new GPU around the time G92 hits might be a better choice long-term.
 
Best idea is to just buy a 8800 GTX and enjoy its current speed benefit. When games like Crysis,UT3 come along and you have the cash just get another and SLI. Best way to cover your bases right now.. you could also play the waiting game but thats pointless as G92 is still a ways off. Playing the waiting game also makes it impossible to upgrade cause there will always be something around the bend ready to be the latest and greatest.
 
TheQuad said:
Hello all,

I really respect all of the Hardforum members opinions, and I was hoping that you all could help me with an upgrade decision I'm thinking about. To start off, my current rig is:

AMD X2 +4800 @ 2.6 MHz
Nvidia 7800GTX
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
1 GB Cosair XMS DDR 400

My first Idea is to purchase an 8800GTX of some kind, and just plink it down into my current setup.

My second idea was to go for a new setup, switching to a core 2 quad processor when the price drop happens. I was thinking about the new Gigabyte board that allows DDR2 and DDR3 memory:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128048

Some new DDR2 memory:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820220144

And the Q6600 after July 22:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

I believe that in the end, both ideas would end up costing about the same. Any opinions or recommendations about which setup would be the best would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

IMO, you're half-assing. Getting a new video card OR a new foundation is nice, but you're missing out on the full deal. Yugo with a Hemi or a Corvette with a small 6?

A 8800GTX will need the information thrown into it. it doesn't just process directly from the hard drive. My e4300 at 1.8GHz and then at 3.33GHz have vastly different FPS with my 8800gts 640. Remember, it's a SYSTEM. It all works together.

What's your total budget, period? SLI GTX's? If he has the cash, upgrade the CPU/mobo AND the single GTX will get more performance than that AMD and SLI GTX's.

Anyway, for now.... get a single GTX if you really want it and then upgrade the CPU/mobo/RAM when you can.

IMO, I'd do it all with a 640MB gts and a dual core Intel and OC the shit out of both. I haven't seen anything that sells me on a Quad Core, what benefit will it be giving you? Especially when the Duals will be even cheaper and have the same if not better FPS?
 
It depend on your resolution, if you play at a high resolution like 1920x1200, I doubt that you will get a fps difference with a faster CPU but if you play at a lower resolution like 1280x1024, you will get a difference in FPS with a faster CPU. However at a lower resolution, let say that the 8800GTX can give you 90 fps with your 4800 X2 and it will give you 120FPS with C2Q, will you notice it in games? I doubt it. I think that it is better to get a single 8800GTX now. Maybe you can add another one in the future when the price drops but make sure your PSU can handle your cards.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. To answer the budget question, I will probably have around $500 or so to spend, so getting a new C2D setup and a 8800 series card would probably be out of the question. I was just thinking that with a new base, I would have a lot more future expandability, such as compatibility with Penryn and with DDR3 memory whenever it becomes viable. Another question I have is that since I'm running vista, and I only have 1 Gig of memory, should I be looking to add more DDR memory? I just feel that with my current setup, any money I put into the 939 platform other than with a video card would be a wasted or misused investment. Thanks for all of your help.
 
Based on how cheap RAM currently is if you were ever going to put 2gig into that machine now would be the time to do it. If I were you I would keep the 939 and upgrade your ram to 2gig then buy a 8800gtx.
 
So should I just buy another gig of DDR ram and wait for later when Penryn rolls out?
 
Dude trust me on this pick up a matching 1gig stick of ram to make a total of 2gigs and also an 8800gtx. My plan is to build a totally new rig around penryn/barcelona and the g92 come this novemeber/december. I game at 1920 x 1200 and I can tell you for a fact when I went from 2 7800gtx's sli'd to 1 8800gtx in december the difference was amazing and this system still hangs with anything I throw at it maxed out and at my native res 1920 x 1200.

At higher res's the difference between what you have now and any C2D (even OC'd) isn't worth the upgrade imo. Now when Penryn's out that will probably be a different story and thats why I will be building a completely new rig then.
 
Savoy said:
Dude trust me on this pick up a matching 1gig stick of ram to make a total of 2gigs and also an 8800gtx. My plan is to build a totally new rig around penryn/barcelona and the g92 come this novemeber/december. I game at 1920 x 1200 and I can tell you for a fact when I went from 2 7800gtx's sli'd to 1 8800gtx in december the difference was amazing and this system still hangs with anything I throw at it maxed out and at my native res 1920 x 1200.

At higher res's the difference between what you have now and any C2D (even OC'd) isn't worth the upgrade imo. Now when Penryn's out that will probably be a different story and thats why I will be building a completely new rig then.
Click to expand...

What he said. :D
 
Thanks for all the help guys. I think that I have run into a problem when it comes to my memory. I have a 1 Gig kit from Corsair that it called the TWINX1024-3200XL, which Corsair apparently no longer makes. Can I buy a similar pair of memory from Corsair, or will I run into compatibility problems?
 
TheQuad said:
Thanks for all the help guys. I think that I have run into a problem when it comes to my memory. I have a 1 Gig kit from Corsair that it called the TWINX1024-3200XL, which Corsair apparently no longer makes. Can I buy a similar pair of memory from Corsair, or will I run into compatibility problems?
Click to expand...

Yes but you could have a problem with dual-channel.
 
What do you mean? would I have to purchase another matching pair? How do I make sure that it would be compatible with my current memory?
 
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