Poll Inside: Opinion Needed on Upgrade Options

[lastig21]

I'm debating on swapping some components. I would like higher fps with more eye candy at 1280*1024 resolution and better performance in Photoshop.

Current Rig: P4 3.0E Prescott, 865PE motherboard, 2x512MB PC3200, AGP 6800GT

Option 1: Used MSI Neo2 Platinum NF3 motherboard and FX55. Reuse memory and 6800GT

Option 2: ASRock 775 Dual Motherboard and E6300 cpu. Reuse memory and 6800GT

I am not too unhappy with my computer now, and mostly want to upgrade to try something new. Would either option offer a noticeable improvement over my current rig? Which would you do?

 

[lastig21]

Edited for a quicker read and poll added.

 

[alimoalem]

i voted for keep new components but if you're going to have to choose one of them, go with the fx55. it's around $130 cheaper and will still show a reasonable increase in performance. the e6300 will be quicker in photoshop but is the money very disposable or you'd prefer to spend as little as possible?

i suppose the games you play matter, too, so maybe you should write those down

 

[lastig21]

This would be disposable money I suppose. I should really upgrade the entire setup as both options have outdated components. I want to keep the 6800gt as long as it has some life in it though. This is a temporary cure for the upgrade bug. The prices are reasonably close in price. I would have to buy a motherboard/cpu for either option.

The games I play most often are BF2 and CS Source.

 

[gramboh]

I voted for new system from scratch (or I guess keep your P4). For BF2/CS Source the 6800GT is fine. I wouldn't put money into an outdated platform (FX55 is fast with NF3 it's old, unless you can get a killer really cheap deal like $100-150 for cpu/MB).

You would be crippling the C2D with the ASRock w/ DDR1 and old AGP video card. Wait until you want to buy everything new then get a good C2D system with DDR2/PCI-e such as NV's upcoming G80.

 

[rivan]

What doesn't that machine do in Photoshop that you want it to? Like, where's it lag down?

 

[lastig21]

I notice lag when applying filters to a large photo, processing multiple photos, or making a large selection of a photo. Increased performance is secondary to my desire to play with something new.

 

[squirrelman]

Well if you want to edit large photos you need memory memory and more memory! THe dual core C2D processor would help a lot also as long as you have a recent version of photoshop as photoshop is multi threaded.