Best hardware upgrade for brother's system??

[BlueWeasel]

Here's what he currently has:

ECS K7S5A board
XP 2000+ (not OC'ed)
GF4 Ti4200 128mb
512mb PC2100

It's a great system, but the GF4 and XP 2000+ are starting to show their age. Basically, he's wanting to play some of the newer games like Far Cry, etc. He's currently playing the FC demo on the system, and says it runs fine (but he does admit there are slowdowns).

He's got a birthday coming up soon, and I thought I would upgrade some of the hardware for the computer as his gift.

I really don't want to upgrade the board right now. Yeah, I know the K7S5A is pushed nearly to the limit (it's been an excellent board too), but here's what I was thinking:

XP 2400+ Tbred (not OC'ed and the max chip the K7S5A can support)
9600XT...possibly a used 9800
Additional 256mb of RAM...gives him 768mb total

Money's kinda tight right now, so I really can't afford to do a major upgrade, but want to get something that could last maybe the next 9 or 12 months.

What do you think?

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Money's kinda tight right now, so I really can't afford to do a major upgrade, but want to get something that could last maybe the next 9 or 12 months.

What do you think?

save the coin to upgrade to an A64 based rig ..see if can hold out til end of Nov-Dec ..Xmas is always a better time to upgrade or just grab the vid card..then upgrade to an A64 system..gl

 

[dmw16]

I'd say go with a Radeon 9600XT (stay away from the Pro). Another thought, check here. Crucial has refurb 9700pros for $129 which is a pretty good deal. The reason I suggest the video card is because another 256MB of PC2100 memory, or a slightly faster CPU isn't going to last very long. But if you upgrade to a 9600XT or 9700pro you are getting a card that has plenty of life left and he can then upgrade the mobo/cpu/memory come Xmas.

 

[Matthias99]

For a single short-term upgrade, go with the video card -- I second the used 9700Pro or 9800NP route (they perform almost identically; just don't get a 9800SE). I don't think the 9600XT would really be worth it -- it's not that much faster than a Ti4200.

Beyond that, you really need a whole new MB/CPU/RAM. PC2100 is going to hurt your performance pretty badly compared to a newer system running PC3200, and a 2400+ isn't all that much better than a 2000+. The good news if you can get an AXP 2500+ Mobile (which should OC easily to 3200+ speeds), an NForce2 Ultra MB, and some PC3200 RAM pretty cheap these days...