DFI or Asus for a P4

[jcurry5]

I'm looking to upgrade my system:

CPU: P4 3.0gGhz w/ HT
MB: Asus P4C800-E Deluxe
RAM: Corsair TWINX1024-4000PT 1GB DDR500 XMS4000
HD: Western Digital 120GB SE 7200+ RPM
GFX: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
SC: Zalman External 5.1Ch Sound Card
CD/R: Lite-On 48x12x48
DVD-R: Lite-On 16x
Case: Cooler Master ATC-201
PSU: Antec TruePower 550W
Speakers: Klipsch ProMedia 2.1
O/S: Windows XP Professional

And am hearing a lot about these DFI motherboards. What I'm looking for is a PCI-Express board and a PCI-Express graphics card. What would compliment the two and what would be the better choice between DFI and ASUS? Main use would be for BF2 and WoW. Thanks a lot, sorry if I'm in the wrong forum or my post is too vague.

Jon

 

[Aenslead]

Well... Its not really an upgrade to change your motherboard...

And if you wanted PCIe, you'd have to get DDR2, the PCIe card, a new processor, and... obviously, a new motherboard. That is, of course, if you want to go the Intel route.

DFI Lan Party series are really good. They live up to the expectations and are certainly more enthusiast oriented.

Should you want another upgrade path, I would suggest you take the AMD route and keep that nice RAM you have and investing the rest of the money on:
a.- a larger/faster disk array
b.- better video card
c.- faster processor.

If you wish to go the Intel route, it would even be better for you to consider a Pentium D and a motherboard with Intel i955X chipset.

Good luck.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Do you really need to upgrade? I'd get a 6800GT AGP card and be all set, because seriously your setup is fine. Just overclock your processor (hopefully it's a northwood and not a prescott) You won't see much difference upgrading to LGA775. I'd just upgrade your graphics card that's all.

 

[stevty2889]

Thats a bit tricky, since you have a socket 478 CPU, I've only seen one or 2 socket 478 boards with PCIe, and they aren't anywhere near as good as the board you already have. PCIe graphics cards are no faster than their AGP equivilant anyway.

How much are you looking to spend? You could get anywhere from a 6600GT to a 6800Ultra depnding on your budget, without having to swap out your motherboard.

You aleady have one of the best P4 boards for overclocking, and should be able to get that 3.0 to 3.4-3.6 easily depending on your cooling, and you have ram that will take you up to 250fsb at 1:1. Prescott or Northwood? I would just get a better video card and overclock.

 

[jcurry5]

Thanks for the comments. Sounds like it's not worth upgrading just yet so I'll hold off. But I am an dire need of a new video card. How much better is the 6800 Ultra than the 6800 GT?

Thanks again.

Jon

 

[stevty2889]

Almost all 6800GT's will OC to 6800U levels anyway, so I would just go with a 6800GT. BFG comes factory overclocked with a lifetime waranty, so thats who I recomend. I have a gainward 6800GT that has no trouble with ultra speeds.