Upgrade decision ($500 or so)

[msb2ncsu]

I have about $500 left to spend on graduation presents and am looking for some advice on what I should get.

My system crrently"
AMD Athlon 1600 XP
Epox 8KHA+
1 stick Mushkin 2100 DDR 512MB
IBM 60GXP 40GB hardrive
Gainward GeForce2 Ti/450
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1
Lite-On 32x12x40
Sony 52x CDROM
MagInnovision DX700t 17inch monitor

Basically I am think about upgrading to a 19 inch monitor. From reviews and posts I am thinking a Cornerstone P2460 for $289 (myabe a Samsung 900NF for $380). That leaves me 200+ bucks to play with. I was wondering if I should upgrade my video card to something like the Gainward GeForce4 Ti440 Ultra/750xp for $279 (but with the announcement of a new chipset in the fall im a bit leary. The other option that came to mind was to upgrade my RAM. Either bying another 512 basic 2100 stick from Mushkin (about 100 bucks). Or Replace the one I have with something a little higher performance.

Any input on thsi or other ideas would be greatly appreciated. I've also tossed around the diea of getting a Herman Miller Aeron chair but thats a tough bullet to swallow. Then again I could also by the rest of the speakers I need for my Home Theater surround sound that I was supposed to get 2 years ago =)

 

[BD231]

The only weak points of your system are Video card and processor in that order. You dont need any more ram, and you would be better of with a nice 17" monitor. Get a Radeon 8500 or GF2 Ti4200 and a faster processor. If you sell off your old stuff that will give you some extra cash to work with.

 

[Wolfsraider]

for 199 get the ti 4200 at new egg down a few posts

hope this helps

 

[cholley]

that ti 4200 should be selling around 175 an a week or 3 .
but in reality it depends on the work you do with your pc, your system souds pretty good as it is, if you upgrade your video and cpu, the only improvements you will see are in benchmarks and not real world performance

 

[Deskstar]

bdog231 has it right; the only option that you might consider more closely is whether to go with a 19" monitor. If you are still moving around from apt to apt with jobs and school, then stick with your 17" for a while longer because it is easier to move. But the picture and screen size of a 19" CRT is really a joy compared to a 17"; of course, the 19" boxes weigh 55 lbs and moving them is a real pain in the back. But long time viewing is much more enjoyable and more highly productive. In fact, I use two 19" monitors; but then again, I am not going anywhere and graduated 35 yrs ago.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

<< The only weak points of your system are Video card and processor in that order. You dont need any more ram, and you would be better of with a nice 17" monitor. Get a Radeon 8500 or GF2 Ti4200 and a faster processor. If you sell off your old stuff that will give you some extra cash to work with. >>



Unless he does some very heavy duty computing, an Athlon 1600+ is plenty. I'd say get a good 19" CRT and a 64 MB Radeon 8500LE ($100@newegg.com). Save the rest of the money and upgrade to a next-gen video card when they start popping up this fall

-Ice

 

[AnAndAustin]

Definitely go with a 19" & GF4TI4200.

With this combination you'll get lovely visuals and be able to really appreciate the GF4TI4200 which easily beats both the full blown Radeon8500 (let alone 8500LE) and GF3TI500.

Your CPU is by no means a limiting factor, in 6 months or so you should find the current top AthlonXP's are a real bargain and would give some perf boost but nothing crucial.

You won't notice much improvement at all going for more than 512MB or PC2700 (only JEDEC official faster DDR RAM speed) is only truely useful if you feel your o/c is limited by your RAM (AthlonXP FSB should get to 145mhz). It simply wouldn't be worth the cost.

This is all tailored to the average user, there are obvious uses where 1GB RAM etc are more useful.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

AnandAustin, while the GF4 Ti4200 does beat the Radeon 8500, it is not by a huge margin in most cases, take a look at a review of the Radeon 8500 with the latest drivers to see what I'm talking about Hard OCP. Granted, they reviewed the 128 MB model, the 64MB LE model shouldn't be far behind.

The point I'm trying to make is that a Radeon 8500 will handle today's games without any problems for almost half the price of a GF4 Ti4200. With all the talk of new video chips coming out this fall and winter, he's better off keeping those $100 to put towards that DirectX9 video card he'll be pinning for (won't we all want one )

-Ice

 

[tenoc]

R8500 + refurb 21" (Dell P1110 for example) and $$ left over.

 

[msb2ncsu]

Is there a risk involved with Refurb monitors at all? I mean I have never had to return anything I ever purchased in terms of PC parts (except for 1 monitor but it was DOA and even a Refurb has a short term warranty.

Oh and there are about a million 8500's listed at NewEgg. Can anyone give an item number for which is the one in question?