Next logical upgrade?

[RSI]

System:
-300w atx psu medium case
-FIC VA-503+ 1MB
-AMD K6-III+/450 @ 500 (can do 600)
-256MB PC133 @ PC100 SDRAM
-Quantum Fireball Plus LM 20.5GB 7200rpm, 2MB, ATA66 @ 33 (mobo limit)
-HP CD Writer 8x4x32x
-Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix Voodoo Banshee 16MB PCI
-3COM 56k Sportster ISA
-Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 ISA

I'm thinking a decent video card, as everything is quite fast and responsive using Win2K right now. Most of my games run alright, but I'd prefer to be able to run 1024x768 at smooth (50-90+) framerates, as opposed to merely "playable" (20-40). I know the system can handle it, cause taking off detail and stuff makes quite a noticable difference in performance!

What do you think?

 

[RSI]

Any suggestions?

Also, if I chose to upgrade video, what would be a good choice given this system?

 

[Hender]

Depends on how much money you want to spend. Buying a PCI video card right now doesn't make much sense because if you upgrade your MB and CPU at any point in the future it doesn't make any sense to hang on to your new PCI video card because AGP cards (at least, video cards that have both PCI and AGP models, and there aren't many of those left) are cheaper, faster, and more powerful. If you can swing $200, you could pick up an Athlon MB and Duron 800, and then your choice of value video card such as a low-end Radeon or a Geforce2 MX. My roommate is looking to build a cheap Duron system, and he's going for an FIC AZ11 and a Duron 800 with heatsink and fan that goes for $97 on Pricewatch, and since you've already got the memory to run with it, once you get an AGP video you'd be set.

Or does your MB already have an AGP slot? If it does, then I'd say pick up a Geforce2 MX, and you can always get a new MB and CPU later.

 

[dowxp]

perhaps a mx, but people would say radeon, but i say MX. if u got money, go to f/s and get a gts+

 

[RSI]

"If you can swing $200, you could pick up an Athlon MB and Duron 800"

Nah, Athlon mobo would be at least $150-250

And yes, the FIC VA-503+ does have an AGP slot.

"perhaps a mx, but people would say radeon, but i say MX. if u got money, go to f/s and get a gts+"

Would a Geforce card be wise with a K6-X?

 

[bjc112]

what about a kyro 2?!

i agree with Bang too, MX is pretty good.. mine overclocks great too ..

Bryan

 

[RSI]

Alright so the MX may be an option .. but the GTS may be excessive and not appropriate with a CPU of the K6-3's caliber? I was thinking perhaps a Radeon LE and "unlock" it ?

 

[Soccerman]

Radeon LE!

seriously, it doesn't draw too much power, and their drivers have improved from what I hear..

I would buy it if I could (need $$$). Or you could go for that Matrox G550.. after all, it has probably ~3 times the effective fillrate of your Voodoo Banshee!

oh, and BTW, try overclocking that Banshee, it may be hot, but it's worth a try IMHO! make sure it has good cooling, and that the RAM chips can handle over 100mhz..

if you're wondering, I think (I don't know this for sure), that the voodoo banshee has a measly 100 million pixels a second, and only one texture unit on that one pipe.. even a Voodooo 3 would give you a fair amount of performance increase (higher clock, single pixel pipeline, dual texture units.

 

[Hender]

<< Nah, Athlon mobo would be at least $150-250 >>



Not true. Go to Pricewatch, and look under Motherboard Combos, and you'll find cheap Athlon boards and CPUs for under $100. As I said, my roommate's building a Duron system, and that's what he's doing, buying an FIC AZ11 w/ Duron 800 combo for $97. That's a decent Athlon mobo, and you'd get a CPU with it too.

 

[gygheyzeus]

Here's the path I would personally take. Just my opinion here.

-300w atx psu medium case - this is fine for the near future
-FIC VA-503+ 1MB - Upgrade this and the CPU. Any 1GHz+ cpu, Asus, and Abit are my board preferences
-AMD K6-III+/450 @ 500 (can do 600)
-256MB PC133 @ PC100 SDRAM - Only add more if you need to. Probably not needed
-Quantum Fireball Plus LM 20.5GB 7200rpm, 2MB, ATA66 @ 33 (mobo limit) - 20GB + ATA100 HD (not a big deal here)
-HP CD Writer 8x4x32x - this is fine if you dont do a lot of burning
-Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix Voodoo Banshee 16MB PCI - GeForce 2, ATI Radeon, KyroII... any of these are great cards
-3COM 56k Sportster ISA
-Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 ISA - this will work if you dont do more than casual audio

 

[RSI]

Yeah, where do you see those prices, in Canadian dollars? I'm Canadian in case you didn't know or didn't check my info. There are no Athlon mobos worth buying for under $100, that's for sure! Plus, I'm not looking on buying new cpu/mobo right now.

oh, and BTW, try overclocking that Banshee, it may be hot, but it's worth a try IMHO! make sure it has good cooling, and that the RAM chips can handle over 100mhz..

It runs hot as it IS, and it has NO cooling. I don't think OCing would be wise.

 

[RSI]

Oh yeah and why in the hell would I need a 1GHz+ processor? What good would that do? Seriously. What does my K6-III+/450@500-600 suck at? I haven't noticed any CPU laggage factor anywhere, I have mp3s playing constantly, I burn CDs, rip/encode MP3s, play games, everything .. and I haven't noticed any lag that was because of the CPU. The only thing that has pissed me off occasionally is the video card getting slowdowns in games..

 

[Hender]

Damn Canucks. Nah, I didn't check your info, because I, like all Americans in our over-inflated sense of importance, assumed you were also American. I stick by my recommendation of a Geforce2 MX or whatever the low-end Radeon is. Radeon LE? VE? I don't remember what the difference is off-hand, but stay away from the Kyro II if you keep your current CPU and MB. The Kyro II is a neat chip, but it's really only good if you can pair it with a fairly high powered CPU.

 

[RSI]

Looks like it's a Geforce MX or Radeon LE then. Thanks for the input, guys. When I have some cash I'll think about this some more. Probably in a coupla weeks..