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Help me select a Christmas upgrade

ForgetCassettes

ForgetCassettes

Golden Member
I have been given a $700 budget for an upgrade as a Christmas gift. Here is my current setup :

P4 2.4Ghz (533)
Gigabyte 8IK1100 Motherboard
Maxtor 80GB ATA 7200 RPM Drive (6L080J4)
512MB Geil PC3500 Ultra Series Platinum memory (2x256)
GeForce 4 Ti4200
Hercules Fortissimo II Sound Card

My heart is saying A64 but my head is saying this :

P4 3.0C Retail = $280
1GB Geil PC3500 Ultra Series Platinum Memory = $228
2 Hitachi 80GB Sata Hard Drives for RAID = $175


I have never used a RAID setup before so I'm curious. What does everyone think? Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.
 
why don't you upgrade your video card?

everything else seems pretty good to me, i don't know why'd u really upgrade
 
What do you do with your PC? Primarily games? If games, upgrade the video card. I'd look into a new monitor/display if I had $700 to burn. RAID's a waste, IMO.
 
Originally posted by: tizodq
why don't you upgrade your video card?

everything else seems pretty good to me, i don't know why'd u really upgrade
Click to expand...

Well, If I did consider a new video card, what card should I get?
I don't play a whole lot of games. I love the Neverwinter Nights series and I think the card I have is sufficient.
By the way, I already have a new monitor. I bought an NEC Multisync 1560M LCD about 2 months ago.

To answer your other question, I am upgrading really because Christmas is the one time each year I get a chance to do some major upgrading. My wife has considerately saved this money for this purpose. I want to boost the performance as much as I can with the $700.
 
If you have $700, I'd say probably devote ~$200 to finding a Radeon 9700/Pro or Radeon 9800. Circuit City has sold Radeon 9800's for $200 in the past. You could also check the For Sale place.
 
Originally posted by: Ionizer86
If you have $700, I'd say probably devote ~$200 to finding a Radeon 9700/Pro or Radeon 9800. Circuit City has sold Radeon 9800's for $200 in the past. You could also check the For Sale place.
Click to expand...

listen to this man
 
I'd definitly go for a vid card. After that, I would probably save the rest of the cash until you really need more power/storage. (at least it doesn't sound like you need it right now)
 
Umm.. he already has a 15" LCD:

By the way, I already have a new monitor. I bought an NEC Multisync 1560M LCD about 2 months ago.
Click to expand...

Maybe a second LCD? 😛

I'd get a new video card too if you're at all into games. New speakers maybe? How about wireless keyboard/mouse combo?
 
I would not upgrade your current system. IMO, you would not see much of a boost. I would buy a 9800, sell your current monitor and buy a 19" LCD.
 
It still amazes me how people here try to discourage others from upgrading. It's not a question of "needing" to upgrade. It's a "want to" upgrade.

Personally I'd go for that 3.0C processor. Are you going to be overclocking it? I assume that's why you have PC3500 RAM.
The extra RAM helps as well. And if you're wanting to go SATA, don't ignore the fastest SATA drive out there - the WD Raptor. One of those would most likely be faster than 2 Hitachi drives in RAID.
 
Originally posted by: Sideswipe001
It still amazes me how people here try to discourage others from upgrading. It's not a question of "needing" to upgrade. It's a "want to" upgrade.

Personally I'd go for that 3.0C processor. Are you going to be overclocking it? I assume that's why you have PC3500 RAM.
The extra RAM helps as well. And if you're wanting to go SATA, don't ignore the fastest SATA drive out there - the WD Raptor. One of those would most likely be faster than 2 Hitachi drives in RAID.
Click to expand...

Only in seek times, not average transfer rate, but it depends on how you're using it 🙂
 
Well, if you're not going to clue us in to what you use it for and we should assume you just want the most raw power, then go for the P4. Until you do, you're going to keep getting generic responses like "upgrade your video card" even though you don't play 3D games 😀
 
Well, I think I may go with a Gigabyte Radeon 9800 XT and the Geil Memory for a total of $693 nearly maxing out my budget. Perhaps I might be enticed to try some more 3D games with a video card so fast. If there is anyone who thinks I should go for a 3.0C instead of the memory, speak up. I could probably get another $50 to cover the cost of that.
 
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