After 2 years, is this upgrade worth it?

[voodoodrul]

So here's what I've had for the last couple years, minus a few upgrades in that time:

Shuttle SB75G2 w/i875p
P4 3.0C 800fsb
2gb of Corsair XMS (2x1gb) dual channel of course
eVGA 6800 GT AGP
Audigy2 ZS
Plextor PX-716A DVD+/-RW DL
2 x 160gb WD's SATA in RAID0


So here's the situation. I'm itching for an upgrade, but in all honesty, it makes almost no sense. I will notice a performance increase, but no nearly enough to justify the cost.

I would have to buy a new Shuttle barebones setup, so I'd be switching to PCIe, so I would need a new video card as well. And the ram in here is only CAS3 which isn't going to play well with the A64, so I'd need new ram. Basically I'd be looking at a whole new machine.

Here is what I would plan to build to replace this. I've figured from benchmarks it would only be about 20%-25% faster in the best cases.. So not much..


Shuttle SN25P
A64 X2 4200+
2gb Corsair XMS LL
3 x 400gb WD's in RAID0 (1.2terabytes in a Shuttle.. w00t)
NEC 16x DVD+/-RW (no reason to get the Plextor again really)
7800GTX

Comes out to a $2400 machine.

So you guys have any advice? Stick with this for another year or start a new build? My jaw drops everytime I think of the fact that this may be the first processor I've ever kept long enough for the warranty to expire.. Well, except for the 486 I had when I was a kid with no money.. lol

Opinions?

 

[suszterpatt]

I spent an assload of money to build a dream comp that's wrose than your old build. You're more than fine.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

You're fine with your old system. If you have the need to scratch the itch, blow a wad on a top of the line $500 vid card and be happy. Maybe look into just upgrading the CPU on the old system to something faster if you can get a substantial increase without installing any new RAM (I'm not familiar with Intel so I don't know).

 

[woodchuck69]

I think it would be cool to see if the mini 350 watt power supply of the Shuttle would run all that or if it would become a sad, sad panda.

 

[Unkno]

your system could last you at least another 2 years....1 year if your really desperate to play the newest game above 60fps with all max settings...


IMO, wait for a while until your system is no longer able to run newer games, then upgrade.

 

[voodoodrul]

Originally posted by: woodchuck69
I think it would be cool to see if the mini 350 watt power supply of the Shuttle would run all that or if it would become a sad, sad panda.

The 350w in the Shuttle is MORE than enough to power that setup believe it or not.. In fact, my current setup is running on a 220w. Not a single problem. I have a couple friends doing the Shuttle thing. No issues in years that I know of. It's not about how big your PSU is, it's how you use it. ;o)

Shuttle actually supports these configurations.. No reason to do the big tower thing anymore unless you want SLI..
Shuttle SB75G2 FAQ

 

[deadlock]

Originally posted by: Unkno
your system could last you at least another 2 years....1 year if your really desperate to play the newest game above 60fps with all max settings...

I've just finished building a 7800GTX SLI setup and I find that you still cannot max everything out on the modern games - the power is not enough!

 

[voodoodrul]

Originally posted by: deadlock

Originally posted by: Unkno
your system could last you at least another 2 years....1 year if your really desperate to play the newest game above 60fps with all max settings...

I've just finished building a 7800GTX SLI setup and I find that you still cannot max everything out on the modern games - the power is not enough!

Yeah, there are always features that can bring a machine to its knees. Just 'cause they are there doesn't mean I'll use them ya know? I wouldn't want to do SLI personally at this point. Way too expensive and buggy. Plus the Shuttle SN25P is already too big for my liking, so SLI is not really an option. I'd rather just get a new card from time-to-time and get roughly the same performance down the road..

I guess your post made a good point. The best hardware right now isn't enough to run, say FEAR maxed out.. Need to wait for the next set of hardware instead.. and I can play FEAR just fine now, so.. Another year I wait..

 

[stevty2889]

I would just keep what you have now, unless you do heavy heavy multitasking, video/photo editing type stuff, or other things that could take advantage of a dual core, I wouldn't bother upgrading. 3ghz northwood + 6800GT shouldn't have problems with games. If you do upgrade though, you wouldn't really need to worry about the ram, LL ram won't give you a huge differance, I'd keep the 2xIGB sticks.

 

[P4spooky]

My wife has a similar setup in her office. Very fast and works great with some occasional video encoding. Your configuation is VERY good, save your money for conroe

 

[JBT]

What is wrong with CAS 3 and A64's??? I've never heard of a problem eith this.

Also how is PC3200 LL (Low Latency) cas 3 anyways?

 

[Gerbil333]

Stick with what you've got for at least another year. It's all great.

 

[imported_itr]

just curious, what resolution do you play your games at?

 

[Muscles]

I'm in the exact same situation. In all honesty I'm probably going to splurge and build a whole new system. An Athlon 64 4000+ w/7800 GTX etc. I don't know how much of a performance boost I'll get though. I could upgrade my current system's video card to a 6800GT but buying an AGP card for an old system is what's holding me back. I figure I might as well buy everything new. Oh well I just don't know what to do. Here are the specs of my current system:

P4 3.0C
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe
Radeon 9800 Pro
Fortron 400W PSU
OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev.2
WD 80GB SE 7200RPM w/8mb cache
Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-105
Sony DVD-ROM
Audigy2

 

[suszterpatt]

Originally posted by: Muscles
I'm in the exact same situation. In all honesty I'm probably going to splurge and build a whole new system. An Athlon 64 4000+ w/7800 GTX etc. I don't know how much of a performance boost I'll get though. I could upgrade my current system's video card to a 6800GT but buying an AGP card for an old system is what's holding me back. I figure I might as well buy everything new. Oh well I just don't know what to do. Here are the specs of my current system:

P4 3.0C
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe
Radeon 9800 Pro
Fortron 400W PSU
OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev.2
WD 80GB SE 7200RPM w/8mb cache
Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-105
Sony DVD-ROM
Audigy2

A 6800GT would last you quite long, I wouldn't go out and spend hundreds of dollars on brand new parts just yet.

 

[0roo0roo]

only worth it if you have a nice big wide screen to justify it...if u don't..well spending time