• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Need some suggestions please :)

R

royalx21

Member
Hi,

First time poster, long time lurker 🙂

I was hoping to get some suggestions from the brilliant minds here at the anandtech forums. Here goes:

I'm looking to upgrade my PC, I have about $500 at my disposal, and my PC is pretty much a gaming platform. I want to be able to increase my 3dmark 2003 score and decrease my load times (far cry takes like 3-5 minutes to load a map). I'm looking to get the most "bang for the buck" from my PC and need it to push Doom3 when it comes out with hopefully high if not the highest settings 😉

My PC:

Asus P4PE
Intel 2.53mhz (533 fsb)
512 mb OCZ PC 3200 RAM (basic)
512 mb Mushkin PC 3200 RAM (green or value or whatever)
PNY 128mb ti4600
1 x WDC 80 gb drive 2mb cache 🙁 (bb version)
1 x WDC 80 gb drive 8mb cache (jb version)

3dmark 2003: 1774

The cd-rw, monitor, and other stuff I'm content with and don't want to upgrade right now.

I've considered going with a p4 2.8 (northwood or prescott) on an Asus p4p800 deluxe (the one with EIDE raid) and raiding my 2 80 gb hard drives. This leads me to another question... can I raid 0 these two hard drives I have up there? If it does work would it work as 2 80gb hard drives with 2mb cache on each or one with 8mb and the other with 2mb? I was thinking of comboing this in with that MSI RX9800 Pro for right around $500.

I've also considered going with a mobile AMD 2500+ and a board that does well with overclocking (abit or dfi?). But then I have a lot of questions about the chipsets and what clock I should run this at etc. But in doing this I might possibly be able to afford the eVGA 6800NU on newegg for $289, which would be the whole reason to go with the AMD setup in the firstplace. It might even be possible to get my 2 80gb's raided in this setup too. I kinda like having a next gen card so I don't have to upgrade my vid card so soon. I've heard conflicting reviews about the lifespan of the 9800pro...

Now, I know that the raid setup's have been discouraged by the community it seems as of late (storagereview article) but my brother said his load times decreased considerably after raiding his hard drives, so idunno...

Bottom line, will I see that much performance increase over my current system (minus video card)? Is the AMD overclocked comparable to the p4 2.8? Is the raid 0 just not worth the hassle? Should I hold out on video cards and wait for the 6800's to drop?

Sorry for all the questions.. I appreciate any helpful suggestions in advance 😀
 
Get a PNY 6800GT at Provantage.com for ~$340. It will probably overclock to Ultra spec.

Then use the remaining $160 for a Mobile Barton 2400+ and a Abit NF7-S. O/C that mutha to 2.4GHz with a good heatsink.

And do a clean install of XP.

IDE RAID will not help you.
 
I recommend you save till you have $800 and upgrade the video card, the motherboard, the Processor, and the Memory to 1 Gig. An ATI 9800 Pro may be a good item to upgrade for around $200. The 533Mhz Bus is holding you back a little, but then you have to decide if you want Intel or AMD.

There is an article about this on Anandtech Mid-Range Guides today you may want to read. They are recommending Athlon 64 for a midrange system. I would seriously consider an Athlon 64 but if you are seriously stuck on Intel take a look at the prices for a 800FSB processor and a new motherboard. So the main question is can you afford a new motherboard and processor also.

There are some new video cards and motherboards coming out in PCI Express, but they may be a bit pricey for the first 6 months to a year for the kind of performance you want.
 
Thanks for the reply jpeyton.

About how much of an increase over my current system am I looking at by upgrading to the mobile 2400+ overclocked with the Abit board? Also the board + cpu is $171.00 at newegg, with the 6800GT at $340.00 I'm already over budget without a heatsink/fan. I can probably get away with this, assuming the heatsink/fan is not too pricey... which one should I go with? I'm looking for one around $20.00 but I can't seem to find one that's both effective and quiet on newegg... will look some more.

Oh, one more thing, will this 2400+ overclock well in my system with the value pc3200 ram?

Thanks again 🙂
 
Originally posted by: piasabird
I recommend you save till you have $800 and upgrade the video card, the motherboard, the Processor, and the Memory to 1 Gig. An ATI 9800 Pro may be a good item to upgrade for around $200. The 533Mhz Bus is holding you back a little, but then you have to decide if you want Intel or AMD.

There is an article about this on Anandtech Mid-Range Guides today you may want to read. They are recommending Athlon 64 for a midrange system. I would seriously consider an Athlon 64 but if you are seriously stuck on Intel take a look at the prices for a 800FSB processor and a new motherboard. So the main question is can you afford a new motherboard and processor also.

There are some new video cards and motherboards coming out in PCI Express, but they may be a bit pricey for the first 6 months to a year for the kind of performance you want.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions, however, I'm looking to get this thing rolling before doom 3 comes out. It's not just for that reason, but for the fact that if I leave $500 in my account, my wife will start spending it 😛 Then she'll promise to pay it back for me, but then something will happen like we need new tires for the van or something... :roll:
 
Originally posted by: royalx21
Thanks for the reply jpeyton.

About how much of an increase over my current system am I looking at by upgrading to the mobile 2400+ overclocked with the Abit board? Also the board + cpu is $171.00 at newegg, with the 6800GT at $340.00 I'm already over budget without a heatsink/fan. I can probably get away with this, assuming the heatsink/fan is not too pricey... which one should I go with? I'm looking for one around $20.00 but I can't seem to find one that's both effective and quiet on newegg... will look some more.

Oh, one more thing, will this 2400+ overclock well in my system with the value pc3200 ram?

Thanks again 🙂
Click to expand...

Go with another board then, like the Shuttle A35NUltra. Still a good overclocking board. Mobile Bartons are multiplier unlocked, so all you need is a board that will do 200MHz FSB stable, and has multiplier adjustments. That's pretty much any NF2Ultra400 board.

Heatsink: get a Thermaltake Venus or Silentboost. Something copper, with a lot of tightly packed fins.

The 2400+ can hit any overclock in 100MHz adjustments through simply adjusting the multiplier and CPU voltage; your RAM can stay at stock PC3200 speeds. Value ram is fine.

At 2.4GHz, the Mobile Barton is equivalent to a 3.2GHz to 3.4GHz P4.
 
May want to budget a new power supply if you get an ATI9800 or a Nvidia 6800 they like a larger power supply of about 450watts. Especially the 6800.
 
Originally posted by: piasabird
May want to budget a new power supply if you get an ATI9800 or a Nvidia 6800 they like a larger power supply of about 450watts. Especially the 6800.
Click to expand...

I have an Antec SL350 Power Supply. Is this not enough to push an overclocked mobile 2400+ with a GeForce 6800?

Edit: I have 2 hard drives, 1 cdrw, 1 floppy drive as well
 
Originally posted by: royalx21
Originally posted by: piasabird
May want to budget a new power supply if you get an ATI9800 or a Nvidia 6800 they like a larger power supply of about 450watts. Especially the 6800.
Click to expand...

I have an Antec SL350 Power Supply. Is this not enough to push an overclocked mobile 2400+ with a GeForce 6800?

Edit: I have 2 hard drives, 1 cdrw, 1 floppy drive as well
Click to expand...

you can try..then get this if mo' power is needed..
 
Originally posted by: Mo0o
replace vid card, and why are you mixing the ram
Click to expand...

I'm not mixing the ram, it's what I currently have in my PC. The OCZ I bought originally with the mobo and processor, then I got the Mushkin stick from a friend for $35 about a month ago... couldn't pass it up.
 
Your system is pretty fast already. I would just upgrade to a next-gen video card for the time being. The 6800GT seems to be the best choice. Then after you get the video card you can try all your games out and see if you are satisfied. If not then I would look into a new cpu, mobo, and ram at that point. Anyway, I don't really see how upgrading to a mobile Barton would be that much of a step up in performance. I have the 45w mobile 2400+ and it's only stable at 2.3ghz unless I crank the voltage to 1.75v or even more which I'm not currently interested in doing just for 2.4ghz. There's no garuantee you will get a good overclock out of the mobile. Can you overclock your P4 at all?

And about the load times, that seems a little long. I have half the ram you do and Far Cry maps load in under 2 minutes I would guess. And I could give a flying f*ck about my 3dmark03 score but yours does seem a little low. Maybe a format and new drivers could speed up things (with the OS and programs going on the 8mb cache hdd of course
 
Originally posted by: duragezic
Your system is pretty fast already. I would just upgrade to a next-gen video card for the time being. The 6800GT seems to be the best choice. Then after you get the video card you can try all your games out and see if you are satisfied. If not then I would look into a new cpu, mobo, and ram at that point. Anyway, I don't really see how upgrading to a mobile Barton would be that much of a step up in performance. I have the 45w mobile 2400+ and it's only stable at 2.3ghz unless I crank the voltage to 1.75v or even more which I'm not currently interested in doing just for 2.4ghz. There's no garuantee you will get a good overclock out of the mobile. Can you overclock your P4 at all?

And about the load times, that seems a little long. I have half the ram you do and Far Cry maps load in under 2 minutes I would guess. And I could give a flying f*ck about my 3dmark03 score but yours does seem a little low. Maybe a format and new drivers could speed up things (with the OS and programs going on the 8mb cache hdd of course
Click to expand...

Must be all the fragmented p0rn i have all over the place.. thanks for the suggestions 😀
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top