Suggestions for Upgrading my system.

[opulent]

Hey All. Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions.

This is my current system.
Monitor - 21" CRT Dell Ultrascan p1110 (Sony Trinitron)
Athlon 64 3000+ 90nm 939pin - 512K Winchester
MSI "K8N Neo4 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset For AMD Socket 939
PANRAM 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR400(PC3200) Lat 2-3-2-5-T1 Model PDC1G3200LLK
ATI Radeon X800 XL 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express (OEM)
Western Digital 74 GB Raptor 10,000 RPM 8MB
Maxtor DiamondMax 250GB Serial ATA150 NCQ 7200rpm 16mb buffer.
Seagate 300GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM 8mb Cache
E-POWER "Tagan" Series 480W Power Supply, Model "TG-480" -RETAIL
ARCTIC-COOLING Freezer 64 CPU Cooler - Retail Model-ACFZ64
Thermaltake Dream Tower Series -Tsunami VA3000BWA Aluminum Mid Tower Case
MicroAdvantage 8x4x40x Superdrive DVD+/-RW IDE internal
K-Hypermedia 52x24x52 CD-RW

Win XP Home Upgrade Retail
Samsung Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model SFD321B/LBL1
Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite 2.0 PS2 95/98
WinTV Tuner
Generic Mouse

My baby runs like a dream, I love this machine, It hasn't been slow or sluggish, I play WOW, I got it cranked up to highest settings and run it at 1280x1024 @ 72dpi and I have no lag everything is great but I did test my CPU with Perfmon and it says 100% usage.
I like to game with my machine and will be playing the odd new game when it comes out like UT2007. Everything else I do with my machine is pretty light weight, some office stuff spreadsheets, word docs, music, watch movies, some sound editing, the odd small database job. Once in a blue moon Photoshop. So gaming has always been the biggest demand on my system from what I can tell.
I use my screen a lot and it has been great for me but thinking of upgrading it as well, I rarely have to move it so its weight & size haven't been a problem, but I wouldn't mind getting a bit bigger since I use it as my TV as well.
I am very interested in overclocking and the reason I didn't overclock my baby was because I never needed the extra power but for fun before I upgrade this machine I will play around with overclocking, but at this point I don't think overclocking it would give me enough performance boost, though how would I know I haven't done it before.

Well anyways I hope that wasn't too much detail, thanks for reading Suggestions appreciated.

 

[KeithTalent]

What kind of budget are we looking at here? You willing to do a mini-overhaul (ie. upgrade to C2D)? Or do you just want minimal upgrades?

Cheers,
KT

 

[opulent]

Good Question KeithTalent,

Thought I put too much detail and I missed a big detail. I was thinking the minimal upgrades keeping the motherboard if that will work, I haven't looked at system components since I built the machine so I am out of date big time. So I don't even know if doing a minimal upgrade is worth it, so if I have too I will do a mini-overhaul if that is the best cost over time ratio. Basicly I don't want to do a minimal upgrade and then 6 months from now have to do a mini-overhaul. I have the budget for both though, but still like to keep my costs down if I can.

 

[Gerbil333]

I built my machine 2 years ago as well, but I went for 2GBs from the start. I'd recommend that and a used Opteron 165 or X2. I expect UT3 (got renamed yesterday) will require a new video card, too.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: opulent
I was thinking the minimal upgrades keeping the motherboard if that will work

Get an Opteron or A64 x2 that is higher GHz than your CPU (which is 1.8GHz). Get a faster video card. Double the RAM. Install parts, install video drivers, back in business with minimal hassle.

 

[opulent]

Ok 2gb and used Opteron 165 sounds good, and for a video card how about a x1900xt or x1950pro?
And any suggestions on new monitor?

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: opulent
I was thinking the minimal upgrades keeping the motherboard if that will work

Get an Opteron or A64 x2 that is higher GHz than your CPU (which is 1.8GHz). Get a faster video card. Double the RAM. Install parts, install video drivers, back in business with minimal hassle.

:thumbsup: You can get a X1900XT/X1950XT which will play most things decently right now, depending on what resolution you are using.

What kind of monitors have you been looking at opulent? Or are you thinking of an actual HDTV?

KT

 

[opulent]

Hey KeithTalent,
I haven't looked at any monitors yet & when you say actual HDTV? Are you saying I could buy a 52" HDTV and use it as my monitor lol.
If there is a good link for me read about the new monitors that would be good because I don't even know where to start. Thanks.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: opulent
Hey KeithTalent,
I haven't looked at any monitors yet & when you say actual HDTV? Are you saying I could buy a 52" HDTV and use it as my monitor lol.
If there is a good link for me read about the new monitors that would be good because I don't even know where to start. Thanks.

That's exactly what I meant about the HDTV see the thread here thread not 52", but you get the idea.

Here is a great resource on LCD monitors LCD Buyer's guide

Good luck!

KT

 

[opulent]

Bump

Still haven't upgraded lol

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: opulent
I was thinking the minimal upgrades keeping the motherboard if that will work

Get an Opteron or A64 x2 that is higher GHz than your CPU (which is 1.8GHz). Get a faster video card. Double the RAM. Install parts, install video drivers, back in business with minimal hassle.

:thumbsup: You can get a X1900XT/X1950XT which will play most things decently right now, depending on what resolution you are using.

What kind of monitors have you been looking at opulent? Or are you thinking of an actual HDTV?

KT

this is good advice - o/cing is pretty easy - i run my x2 3800 @ 2.5GHz @ stock V with no issues and it is prime95/memtest stable for 12+hrs

i would move up to 2GB (just get 2x512 sticks) and a x1950xt which is ~$180 now at the egg a/r

as far as a lcd - i run a 720p 40" lcd for my ht display and also hook up a laptop to it when that is needed and also run a 360 on it - it look excellent. i was going to get a 1080p screen but figured that would push my hardware too much and besides, i don't want to buy a 8800gtx when i game on it and imho for the 40" lcds, i really can't tell the difference in 720p or 1080p

 

[Icepick]

I had a similar system to yours that I built in October 2004: Athlon64 3500+, 1GB OCZ RAM, AGP 6800GT. After weighing the costs of upgrading and the performance increase it would bring I decided to just get a whole new core2duo rig for around $1100.

 

[Atheus]

You won't notice much improvement in games by going to a faster processor at this point. Replacing that graphics card however...

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: opulent
I was thinking the minimal upgrades keeping the motherboard if that will work

Get an Opteron or A64 x2 that is higher GHz than your CPU (which is 1.8GHz). Get a faster video card. Double the RAM. Install parts, install video drivers, back in business with minimal hassle.

He hit the nail on the head. Get a 8800gts 320 and use your 21 inch crt monitor at 1600 x 1200. Overclock your A64 x2 to 2.6 and your good to go. Hows your amps on your psu?

 

[sthaznpride17]

I had pretty much the same system as you have. I replaced my 3000+ with a 4000+ OEM from newegg for 70$, added another gig of Kingston RAM, and replaced my 6800 with a eVGA 8800GTS 320MB. 939's are really cheap on newegg right now, so if you are not willing to go the C2D upgrade route, you could always drop in a CPU. I actually wish i had got the 3800X2 now (100$!!)