Here's what I have (also in sig)
AMD 64 3000+ skt. 939 Venice @ stock clocks and Zalman 120mm 7000 al-cu- I tried to OC and it's just not possible on this mobo. I'm not interested in changing mobos.
Abit AT8 Xfire mobo
4 X 512mb Geil PC3200 DDR400
X1800XT 256mb version, stock speeds
2 X 80GB Seagate SATA 1.5 HDDs in RAID 0
X-Fi XtremeMusic
Logitech X530 5.1 sound system
19" LCD @ 1440 X 900 res.
I play BF2, Oblivion, HL2, Far Cry and similar games. BF2 I can run at full detail, 4X AA. 6X AA results in stuttering (due to my CPU I'm sure). HL2 I can run at full detail, full AA/AF @ about 50 FPS. Far Cry I can run at nearly full detail smoothly enough. Oblivion I run at about mid detail, most shadows off, HDR with no AA and it's fairly smooth most of the time but could definitely improve. I'd play the game a lot more if it were smoother.
I generally want to crank the detail as high as I can rather than get a monitor with better res. At my res I'm not sure that a CPU upgrade would really make a big difference though I could be wrong.
This system is used strictly for gaming. I have 2 other laptops I use for homework/work/browsing the web. I don't plan to go to Vista until it's been out for a year or so, or until a lot of good games come out using DX10. This upgrade will probably be my last major change until then.
That said, what do you think I should upgrade on a ~$300 budget?
option 1: X1900 XT(X) 512mb - on occasion I think 512mb of video would help over my current 256mb
2: X2 4200 to 4600+ CPU or really fast single-core
3: 22-24" LCD w/1680X1050 or 1920 X 1200 res - would necessitate a GPU upgrade to play at the detail I like - not an option I am favoring - I already have a 23" LCD HDTV that I can use for consoles/TV/movies
4: X1800 Crossfire - I think I'm going to need a X2 CPU to see a benefit from this, so again, not something I am favoring
I am open to buying used from the FS/FT forums here, so if you have something for sale or know of something, please link it for me.
AMD 64 3000+ skt. 939 Venice @ stock clocks and Zalman 120mm 7000 al-cu- I tried to OC and it's just not possible on this mobo. I'm not interested in changing mobos.
Abit AT8 Xfire mobo
4 X 512mb Geil PC3200 DDR400
X1800XT 256mb version, stock speeds
2 X 80GB Seagate SATA 1.5 HDDs in RAID 0
X-Fi XtremeMusic
Logitech X530 5.1 sound system
19" LCD @ 1440 X 900 res.
I play BF2, Oblivion, HL2, Far Cry and similar games. BF2 I can run at full detail, 4X AA. 6X AA results in stuttering (due to my CPU I'm sure). HL2 I can run at full detail, full AA/AF @ about 50 FPS. Far Cry I can run at nearly full detail smoothly enough. Oblivion I run at about mid detail, most shadows off, HDR with no AA and it's fairly smooth most of the time but could definitely improve. I'd play the game a lot more if it were smoother.
I generally want to crank the detail as high as I can rather than get a monitor with better res. At my res I'm not sure that a CPU upgrade would really make a big difference though I could be wrong.
This system is used strictly for gaming. I have 2 other laptops I use for homework/work/browsing the web. I don't plan to go to Vista until it's been out for a year or so, or until a lot of good games come out using DX10. This upgrade will probably be my last major change until then.
That said, what do you think I should upgrade on a ~$300 budget?
option 1: X1900 XT(X) 512mb - on occasion I think 512mb of video would help over my current 256mb
2: X2 4200 to 4600+ CPU or really fast single-core
3: 22-24" LCD w/1680X1050 or 1920 X 1200 res - would necessitate a GPU upgrade to play at the detail I like - not an option I am favoring - I already have a 23" LCD HDTV that I can use for consoles/TV/movies
4: X1800 Crossfire - I think I'm going to need a X2 CPU to see a benefit from this, so again, not something I am favoring
I am open to buying used from the FS/FT forums here, so if you have something for sale or know of something, please link it for me.
