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Should I upgrade my PC?

L

LW07

Golden Member
Here's my system specs:
Abit KN8 Ultra S939 motherboard
PC Power and Cooling 510-SLI Power Supply
Radeon X1900XT 512mb
Athlon 64 X2 4800+ S939(not overclocked, I'm not into overclocking)
2 Gigs of PC2700 Ram
Soundblaster Live! 24-bit Sound Card

Should I upgrade any of those parts?
 
Do you need anything to be faster?

For more FPS I'd maybe get a 8800GT/GTS and save the rest for a complete CPU/mobo/RAM rebuild when DDR3 becomes mainstream...
 
I agree with s44. Just your video card.

And, your cpu will overclock easily and get you more performance.
You might look up an overclocking guide (all over the web free)and got hrough it step by step. You'll learn a lot in the process.
 
My monitor's max resolution is 1440x900, and it's a 19 inch Dell.

Do you think I could go AM2 with a Phenom Quad Core CPU?
 
Originally posted by: chinaman1472
If you're not going to overclock, save a little more and get an E8400 rig. Otherwise, just snag a 8800GT.
Click to expand...

E8400 is a dual core CPU, are you sure a Dual Core CPU would last quite a while, or should I go ahead and get a quad core?

 
Originally posted by: LW07
Originally posted by: chinaman1472
If you're not going to overclock, save a little more and get an E8400 rig. Otherwise, just snag a 8800GT.
Click to expand...

E8400 is a dual core CPU, are you sure a Dual Core CPU would last quite a while, or should I go ahead and get a quad core?
Click to expand...

A fast dual core like the E8400 will last years.
 
I agree that dual core will be plenty for most people until you will want to upgrade again.

And as s44 hinted, the time to upgrade is when your current computer no longer serves your needs. For us to really be helpful to you, we need to know what you use your computer for and in what ways you would like it to be better. Please describe the more demanding applications you run. If you game, let us know what the more demanding games are and if you're looking to play more demanding ones in the future. Otherwise I can come up with several suggestions to blow (I mean spend) $500 that are great deals for the money but may not be what you need.
 
Originally posted by: DSF
A fast dual core like the E8400 will last years.
Click to expand...
No it won't. Or, rather -- and more importantly -- it won't add years to effective useful life over what he has already.

Quads will be ubiquitous sooner than you may think.
 
Originally posted by: PolymerTim
I agree that dual core will be plenty for most people until you will want to upgrade again.

And as s44 hinted, the time to upgrade is when your current computer no longer serves your needs. For us to really be helpful to you, we need to know what you use your computer for and in what ways you would like it to be better. Please describe the more demanding applications you run. If you game, let us know what the more demanding games are and if you're looking to play more demanding ones in the future. Otherwise I can come up with several suggestions to blow (I mean spend) $500 that are great deals for the money but may not be what you need.
Click to expand...

I mainly like to play video games on the PC(like COD4 and Crysis and other big-name titles), and my main preferences are FPSs, although I do enjoy RTS games. I've also started to get into playing FPSs online in multiplayer.
 
For your needs, all you need is a dualcore. I just got this new game, Frontlines: Fuel of War, it says CPU recommended is a amd 5000+, you're just below that. If you overclock your CPU with 200-400mhz, you should be fine for another year at least. All you really need is a videocard upgrade, although your 1900xt should still pretty much hold it's own at your resolution. But yeah, in the end, you'll benefit the most from a videocard upgrade, like a 8800gt or 8800gts.

That's roughly what I have, and I'm still playing most games at medium/high settings, @ 1680*1050.
 
I would say upgrade your video card (like I described in your similar post in the graphics forum) now, perhaps OC your current X2 a bit and hold off with a major upgrade until Nehalem launches toward the end of this year.
 
buy the acer 24" monitor and get an 8800GT with the 500....

OR... sell off your entire pc as is(probably 475 to 650) including monitor and build out a new intel system and get a new monitor. If you got 1150 total you could build a very nice intel system with a new larger monitor.

 
Overclock your CPU, get a faster video card, and you'll be set. A fast AMD X2 chip still holds it's own just fine in gaming.
 
That's not such a bad video card

The 8800gt roughly 50% improvement (and a lot less power suckage 🙂

You've got a bit of untapped potential in your cpu to draw upon
 
Originally posted by: Marty502
Overclock your CPU, get a faster video card, and you'll be set. A fast AMD X2 chip still holds it's own just fine in gaming.
Click to expand...

What if I'm not into OCing? And I just got my 19 inch Dell monitor, so I won't be replacing it for a long time.

How long will my dual core CPU last me?

What would happen if a video game in the future had a requirement for a 2.6ghz AMD Dual Core and I still had this 2.4ghz CPU and I tried to run the game with the 2.4ghz?

Edit: What would you think about me getting this?

4 Gigs of ADATA DDR2 800 RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820211188

AMD Phenom 9500 2.2ghz Quad Core CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103226

BIOSTAR A770 A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813138106

Total: $337.81 with UPS Guarenteed 3-Day shipping(is that option any good?)
 
ok, don't overclock your computer.
Your AMD X2 should last another 2-3 years, for gaming.
Your X1950 should be good for another 1-2 years.

You aren't going to notice a huge performance increase by upgrading now, b/c your cpu is NOT bottlenecking your system.
Think of it like this, right now you're driving around and the speed limit is 30-45mph, so why upgrade from a Honda to a Ferrari?
In a year or two the speed limit will increase, and maybe you will be able to notice a difference.
So, wait a year or so and then upgrade (Ferrari's will be a-lot cheaper then too 🙂

The only way your cpu will cause a bottleneck is if you start needing more functionality from your PC.

IE.. for gaming your rig should last AS IS for at-least another year.
If however you decided you want to watch blue-ray on your PC,
then you might want to consider upgrading to a motherboard or VIDEO cARD with better HD-support...
the new 780G north-bridge looks terrific:
http://www.tomshardware.com/20...3/04/amd_780g_chipset/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...71937261&name=AMD+780G

If you want to upgrade how 'bout upgrading the functionality of your PC by investing in a HDTV-tuner?
I have a humble AMD 3600+ 64X2 (65nm Brisbane 1.91Ghz) and 2600XT and I can play OBLIVION @ 1680x1050 (30+ FPS outdoors) with full settings
(except: no AA, and bloom lighting-not HDR) WHILE recording TV in the background.
Or
you might want to upgrade to a zippy hard-drive, or a raid-array, and see your loading times drop 50%.

____________
as far as your hardware questions..
(1)ADATA is the schtiznit!!! (this is good)
BUT if you don't have 64bit Vista/XP you will only be able to use 3.25 GB of ram MAXIMUM,
so don't waste your money on upgrading to 4GB when 2GB is more than sufficient, and OS will only read 3.25 anyway.
(2) Why go quad core when you don't multitask enough to even justify a dual-core cpu?
(3)check out the tomshardware link above.
 
Originally posted by: mmc4587
I have a humble AMD 3600+ 64X2 (65nm Brisbane 1.91Ghz) and 2600XT and I can play OBLIVION @ 1680x1050 with full settings
(except: no AA, and bloom lighting) WHILE recording TV in the background.
Click to expand...

I love these kind of statements. It seems "playable" and "full settings" mean different things to different ppl.

 
Originally posted by: mmc4587
If however you decided you want to watch blue-ray on your PC,
then you might want to consider upgrading to a motherboard with better HD-support...
the new 780G north-bridge looks terrific:
http://www.tomshardware.com/20...3/04/amd_780g_chipset/
It costs $100 and you wouldn't even want to upgrade your cpu.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...71937261&name=AMD+780G
Click to expand...
Totally, totally wrong. You're recommending a socket AM2 board, while he has 939.

Not to mention that any current vidcard will do HD acceleration.
 
Totally, totally wrong. You're recommending a socket AM2 board, while he has 939.

Not to mention that any current vidcard will do HD acceleration.[/quote]

yup you're right. Didn't even think. My bad.

 
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