Opinions needed on upgrade path...

[gabemcg]

Now:

MSI K8n Ultra 939 (Nforce 4 SLI)

Athlon 64 3700+ 939 1mb l2

2gb OCZ platinum rev 2

geforce 6800 GT



I've got a couple hundred to play around with, and I'm thinking about this

upgrade to Athlon X2 4400+ (~$100/50 after I sell current proc)

add another 6800 GT for sli (not sure of price, probably ~$150)

I'm pretty sure I'll upgrade the proc, still not sure on GPU option...

I guess my main question is about the graphics card, am I better off saving for a dx10 card at this point?

Right now I dual boot xp/vista, but mostly use xp for media center and multimedia and gaming.

 

[RayvinAzn]

The processor is a solid upgrade, definitely stick with that.

For the graphics card, I wouldn't much about with SLI 6800 cards - pick up something like the 7900GS or X1950Pro (or even the X1950XT, since it can be found for less than $200) if you're positive that you won't be making the switch to Vista, will be upgrading your whole rig within the next year and that approximate $150 is your budget limit. If you can double that budget, the 320MB 8800GTS will serve you well - or if the HD2600XT surprises us all, that could also be a good upgrade come next week.

 

[Nnyan]

I agree with the CPU upgrade for that price, X2 procs for the 939 socket are getting harder (and more expensive) to find so you should snap that up.

I couldn't even find any 6800GT's for sale I did see some plain ones and some XT's for less then $70 (Item #: N82E16814141057) not sure if that will work in SLI with a GT. A 6800XT/GT is in the same approx. neighborhood 7600GS (check out tomshardware video charts) so if you could get a really cheap XT/GT you'll definately see video improvements in things that take advantage of SLI.

That said you're not doing very much to future proof your hardware and you'll have to revist an upgrade sooner or later.

I would recommend you save up a bit more $ and do something like this:

$145.99 X1950PRO

$ 69.00 A64 X2 3600+

$ 74.99 Wintec Ampo

$ 57.99 MSI K9N4


Then you can sell your old parts you don't need or whatever.