Need help on upgrades

[aolsuxs]

With Tribes 2 coming out soon I was thinking I should upgrade my system a little to help it out, currently I have a
Dell XPST450 (P3 450)
128MB Ram
DSL
TNT2 32MB Vid Card
I was thinking of getting an extra 256 MB of ram right now for around $130ish.(Is there a notable difference between 354 and 256 RAM? if I got a 128 upgrade instead of 256 I could save my self 80 bucks or so to save up for the P3) then get P3 1ghz FSB100 Slot1, most of the 1ghz's out now are 133FSB but there are a few but they are around $500. I was hoping around Janurary the 1ghz would drop in price due to the P4 1.5ghz rolling out. Then I was thinking of getting a Geforce 2 after that when the new Nvida chip is coming, forgot whats it called. Does that sound allright? I wanted a Geforce 2 Ultra now but its around $400+ so f that. Thanks for your help.

 

[deadlock]

Assuming you're on Windows, 256mb and 384mb don't make much difference, if not no noticable difference at all. Another 128mb will do you just fine.

Yeah, once the P4 rolls out you can expect the high end P3 prices to drop quite a bit. I recommend waiting for that, provided P4 ships out on time. We all know what Intel's like, especially with the AMD cold war going on now.

GEForce 2 ultra isn't worth the dosh, you'd be better off with a 64MB GTS. Or save a bit of money and get a 32MB MX. Unless you're a super power freak, the difference in the two is neglible, expecially coupled with 256mb RAM and a 1GHz CPU.

 

[aolsuxs]

Alright thanks for the advice, I've orderd 128MB from Crucial for $65 and that includes free 2 day UPS shipping. I will probally end up getting the GTS, just depends on what the prices are when the NV20 comes out. Also I have CinemasterDVD hardware decoder that came with my dell, do you know how I would use that with a Geforce, and finally does anyone here use Litestep?

 

[HellRaven]

Good choice on getting an extra 128mb stick. You won't really see the benefit in general windows stuff (unless running win2k) but it will help in games or memory intesive programs.

I would definately not get a P3 1ghz right now. Perhaps if the price was cut in half, but the prices now on the higher mhz P3's is pretty high and hopefully the price will drop over the next several months as they roll out the P4.

As far as a video card upgrade, I think now is as good a time as ever to upgrade your video card. Check the hot deals forum - You can get a retail boxed Radeon 32mb DDR for under $150 or a retail boxed V5 5500 also around $150. You can get an OEM Geforce 2 GTS 32mb DDR for $150 depending on who you buy from. If you buy one of these cards you will have excellent performance and by the time the prices on the next generation fall to these prices, boom time to upgrade. I personally will NEVER buy a piece of hardware when it first comes out. I always wait until the prices drop and patches start. Many of these people are going to run out and get a NV20 or Rampage for a ton of money while I enjoy my cheap Radeon and wait until the prices fall and the drivers mature.