Like some input on agp system

[warpigeon]

The thread on high level agp cards have got me thinking;

My system:

3200+ stock
6800gt AGP
1 gb ocz el plat rev 2
msi neo2 plat
OCZ modstream 450w
18" lcd at 1280 by 1024

Plan on playing Unreal3 games. Bioshock!

OK, I could do any combo of these, what would y'all choose to do:

*Upgrade cpu
*Double ram to 2 gb
*The biggie- take out 6800gt and replace with x1950pro -or- x1950xt when it comes out-
and if I do make this change- 256 or 512 vram?
*Nothing!

I will not be buying a bigger monitor. Happy with 1280 by 1024.

 

[Piuc2020]

At 1280x1024 you would be perfect with a 2GB + X1950Pro combo... overclock the CPU a little bit and you are golden.

 

[warpigeon]

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
At 1280x1024 you would be perfect with a 2GB + X1950Pro combo... overclock the CPU a little bit and you are golden.

Thanks for the comment. There's a couple of concerns I have about going this route (as opposed to not upgrading at all). Maybe someone can tell me if the following statements are true:

1. At 1280x1024 upgrading your gpu doesn't make much of a difference because at this res the cpu is more "dominant". Thus going from a 6800gt to a x1950pro won't make enough of a difference to justify the $$$.

Also,

2. Adding two additional sticks of 512 ram, making 2 gb total will result in losing dual channel performance. (But even if true, should I care?)

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: warpigeon
The thread on high level agp cards have got me thinking;

My system:

3200+ stock
6800gt AGP
1 gb ocz el plat rev 2
msi neo2 plat
OCZ modstream 450w
18" lcd at 1280 by 1024

Plan on playing Unreal3 games. Bioshock!

OK, I could do any combo of these, what would y'all choose to do:

*Upgrade cpu
*Double ram to 2 gb
*The biggie- take out 6800gt and replace with x1950pro -or- x1950xt when it comes out-
and if I do make this change- 256 or 512 vram?
*Nothing!

I will not be buying a bigger monitor. Happy with 1280 by 1024.

I must say if your system had 2 gigs of ram and was overclocked to 2.5 and you could just pop in the x1950xxx ,I would say go for it.

If I was in your position I would sit on my money and go for the duel core cpu,2 gigs of ram, pci-e video upgrade. Why? Theres a real good chance that the new games your reffering to will be optimized for duel core cpu's and cheaper high end pci-e video cards.
I just don't think for you (or me), thats its a smart move to buy more ram and a faster video card for a single core cpu AGP based system.

 

[SickBeast]

What games are giving you trouble at that rez?

Single channel memory will cost you around 2% in overall performance.

IMO you shouldn't upgrade, just buy a new rig at this point. Your card and CPU will not be balanced well, especially at that resolution. It won't make much difference at 1280 IMO.

 

[warpigeon]

Thanks all. Decided to hold off buying anything for this comp and instead do something that I originally intended to do when I built it- overclock the mofo! Heh, thinking back to when I chose the parts: winchester 90nm cpu, xp-90 heatsink, low latency (expensive) ram- this is my destiny.

Now if I could find just one unambiguous, idiot-proof how-to guide I could get started...

 

[Stumps]

go with the ram upgrade and the X1950 Pro or XT....you will get a pretty decent boost in performance.