How much $ to go PCI-E

[JamesGold]

Hey guys, I'm starting to feel the age of my AGP system here. I have:
Pentium 4 2.4 GHz processor
1.5 gigs of RAM
Radeon 9700 Pro
I'm able to play most current games on decent settings, but I'm worried about the ones that will come out in the future. How much does it cost to overhaul your comp and go PCI-E (so I can get a decent video card to play Crysis and others Thanks!

 

[Ika]

A lot of $$$. You'd have to at least get a new mobo and a new video card. I'm not even sure if there are mobos that support old Pentium 4s and have PCI-e, so you're probably going to need to get a new CPU and memory as well.

 

[andyperrine]

Funny, I just upgraded nearly the same system as you, after asking for advice, here is what I got:

Asus A8N-E motherboard
Athlon64 3700+ (San Diego)
Powercolor Radeon X1950 PRO 256 MB
500W powersupply

As long as your memory is DDR400 you can keep that, total cost was around $460 with tax and shipping.

Just got it all working, runs great.

Disadvantage is that you'll be socket 939, which means you can't upgrade to the latest and greatest cpu later (new stuff is AM2).

-Andy

 

[JamesGold]

Only $460? I was told it would be around $800 for something decent. What kind of quality is your motherboard and CPU? Mid Range? More info man! I'm excited here....

 

[Markbnj]

I did the exact same thing a month ago. Went from Giga K8NS Ultra-939/6800GT to MSI K8N Neo4F/7600GT. Total cost was around $200 and an hour to make the swap. Big performance boost.

Edit: I see others are assuming you're going to replace the CPU as well. That would add another $150 for a decent AMD.

 

[Sniper82]

Depending on what kinda memory you got you can upgrade for for around $300 including CPU,mobo and decent video card. If you need new memory and want 2gb(which is more future proof) then $450-$500. Whoever said $800 they probably ment for a complete tower.

 

[JamesGold]

New Mobo - how much for PCI-E?
New CPU - about $150 for a decent AMD (?)
New Video Card - how much for something that will hold down the fort decently till directx10 gets fired up?
Keep RAM - its DDR400
New Power Supply?
EDIT: Sorry, didn't see your post Sniper, but would still like some help with the specifics

 

[Sniper82]

Originally posted by: JamesGold
New Mobo - how much for PCI-E?
New CPU - about $150 for a decent AMD (?)
New Video Card - how much for something that will hold down the fort decently till directx10 gets fired up?
Keep RAM - its DDR400
New Power Supply?

Good cheap CPU(newegg doesn't seem to have any 3800+ x2's in stock):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535

Good mobos(Have the DFI and its been a good one for almost 2 years now but can be picky with memory):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130491
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136159

Video(will last you till budget DX10 card come and maybe longer):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130056

PSU(will power everything and should handle future upgrades):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104934

If you can find a socket 939 3800+ x2 for around $150 I would spend the extra but thats something you can go to later. The above parts would make your games alot faster(night and day difference). There are other good PSU's in that price range but probably not any better. Or enough better to spend alot of research on.

Of course if you don't mind used you can get stuff quite a bit cheaper.

 

[andyperrine]

Basically I went with what Sniper said, only I spent a little more on CPU ($90 for a 3700+ san diego (1 meg l2 cache)) and a little more on graphics card (X1950 PRO vs a 7900GS). Looks like the GS's are coming down in price from when I was looking, so that might be a better buy now...

I don't know if I'd bother with dual core yet, most new games are GPU bound anyway, plus I see some people having issues getting amd dual cores to play nice with some older games, which is why almost half of what I spent was on a graphics card. I figure I'll give dual core another year as all the people buying new machines this christmas will have dual core and driver issues should be all sorted out in a few months after an uproar of complaints.
-Andy

 

[Sniper82]

Originally posted by: andyperrine
Basically I went with what Sniper said, only I spent a little more on CPU ($90 for a 3700+ san diego (1 meg l2 cache)) and a little more on graphics card (X1950 PRO vs a 7900GS). Looks like the GS's are coming down in price from when I was looking, so that might be a better buy now...

I don't know if I'd bother with dual core yet, most new games are GPU bound anyway, plus I see some people having issues getting amd dual cores to play nice with some older games, which is why almost half of what I spent was on a graphics card. I figure I'll give dual core another year as all the people buying new machines this christmas will have dual core and driver issues should be all sorted out in a few months after an uproar of complaints.
-Andy

Yeah it can take a bit of tweaking to get games working good(even newer ones) with dual core. If you do mostly gaming on a PC I say single core for now but if you don't game often I would go dual core if its in your budget.

 

[JamesGold]

Pretty much all I use my computer for is games and browsing the web.

 

[mgacam2]

i upgraded from a celeron D 2.4 ghz and a geforce 4 ti 4200 to my brand spankin new core 2 duo e6300 which is almost as fast as amd's 1000 dollor fx60..i got a micro atx asus p5b motherboard and 1 gb of enthusiast friendly ocz platinum memory. I also picked up my XXX 7600GT video card. All together i spent around 700 dollors and it was deffinitly a huge upgrade. I deffinitly suggest getting core2duo if you can foot the bill....As well for your vid card id suggest looking at 7900 GS as i find that the 7600GT isnt quite enough for my standards... (max quality and 1650x1280 resolution)

 

[JamesGold]

Alright, this is what I'm looking at getting. It is more expensive, but I think it will last me a good 2 years or so.
Core 2 Duo E6300
Gefore 7800GTX
2 gigs RAM
Some kind of mobo(I think its around 110 bucks)
On a side note, what kind of power supply do you guys think would be needed for those specs above? Thanks

 

[Sniper82]

Originally posted by: JamesGold
Alright, this is what I'm looking at getting. It is more expensive, but I think it will last me a good 2 years or so.
Core 2 Duo E6300
Gefore 7800GTX
2 gigs RAM
Some kind of mobo(I think its around 110 bucks)
On a side note, what kind of power supply do you guys think would be needed for those specs above? Thanks

The PSU I listed in the past reply should power it no problem. Only thing I would change(unless your getting a good deal) is the 7800GTX. I think the 7900GS is probably the best bang for your buck budget card right now. The 7800GTX is probably barely faster if at all but thats just a guess.

 

[JamesGold]

I would be getting the 7800GTX for free - thanks for the input