Need Help...

[jdogg707]

Alright, I am looking to get into the next generation of things without diving in all the way because I would like to make a big upgrade later on (PCI-e, DDRII, etc.). Here is my current system:

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton)
ECS N2400U nForce2 400 Ultra Motherboard
1GB PC2700 DDR RAM
ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB
120GB WD Special Edition Hard Drive

I am looking at two upgrade paths and am wondering which will enhance my gaming experience the most (Doom, HL2, WoW, Far Cry, etc.). I am really looking for price/performance ratio, so I don't want to go overkill, just enough to wheree any difference starts becoming negligible.

Path A:

Keep my current system, get rid of my video card and grab a 6800GT.

Estimated Cost after selling video card - $280.00

Path B:

Sell most of my parts and buy the following -

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Retail - $218.00
Soltek nForce2 250Gb Motherboard- $99.00
1GB PC2700 DDR RAM - $143.00
Leadtek Geforce 6800 128MB Video Card - $284.00

Estimated Cost after selling current system - $369.00


So which one would be the best path? I really only use the computer for gaming and programming, and it works great for programming now, I am just looking for a boost in performance for gaming. Thanks for the help!!!

 

[jpeyton]

Get the GT and you'll be happy for a while.

 

[Twsmit]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Get the GT and you'll be happy for a while.

Yeah i agree, the 6800 is a nice speedbump, especially with the new system, but the GT has more lasting power. Your current computer is "good enough" just get the GT and upgrade later this year or next.

 

[Corpun]

Heh, I have virtually the same system you do

xp 2800
nf2 mobo
1 gig pc 2700

I had a geforce 5900nu vid card. Was considering the same 2 options you are. Went with a GF 6800GT. I can run doom3 at 1600x1200 on ultra quality settings at ~50fps, looks beautiful. I would definitely say go for the 6800GT.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: Corpun
Heh, I have virtually the same system you do

xp 2800
nf2 mobo
1 gig pc 2700

I had a geforce 5900nu vid card. Was considering the same 2 options you are. Went with a GF 6800GT. I can run doom3 at 1600x1200 on ultra quality settings at ~50fps, looks beautiful. I would definitely say go for the 6800GT.

That's awesome, thanks for the information. I will only be running at 1280x1024 due to my LCD, but maybe I can enable some AA! Anyway, recomendations for a 6800GT?

Thanks!