Upgrade Potential

[Sapiens]

First off, some basic system specs:

ASUS A7V600 Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ CPU w/333 MHz FSB
1 GB Corsair PC-2700 RAM @ CAS 2-3-3-7
ATi RADEON 9700 Pro 128 MB
Western Digital Caviar SE 120 GB ATA100

When I originally built this computer two years ago it was on an A7V8X and a 2400+. Nothing else has changed, and I'm hoping to squeeze a little bit more performance out of it without overclocking.

Now for the real question -- is there anything on this rig worth upgrading? A new CPU or motherboard is out, since going from a 3000+ to a 3200+ isn't worth the money and the only worthwhile step up mobo-wise would be to support an Athlon64 (which I'm not interested in doing right now). The only thing I'd consider to increase performance would be to replace my 9700 Pro with a 6600GT when its AGP counterpart is released. Can anyone speculate as to how much of a bottleneck the rest of the system would be to that card? I realize it wouldn't be running at its full potential but I'm hoping to see some kind of noticeable performance increase.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kd2777]

When are you looking to make the jump to the A64? If it is sometime soon I say wait on the upgrade because the 9700pro is still a good card.

I recently made and upgrade from the 3200xp to the 3000 A64(a939) and I noticed a big difference in performance. To me the a64 jump would be the best upgrade for you unless you where talking about one of the uber cards (ie 6800gt/ultra or the x800 xt).

Unless your computer is not doing something that you want it to. I say hold out and upgrade everything (video, RAM, etc) when you switch to the socket 939 platform, because you still have a good computer.


kd

 

[Gamingphreek]

I would definately go for an Nforce 2Ultra such as:

1. DFI NF2 Ultra Infinity
2. Abit NF7-S
3. Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe

-Kevin

 

[Sapiens]

Originally posted by: kd2777
When are you looking to make the jump to the A64? If it is sometime soon I say wait on the upgrade because the 9700pro is still a good card.

I recently made and upgrade from the 3200xp to the 3000 A64(a939) and I noticed a big difference in performance. To me the a64 jump would be the best upgrade for you unless you where talking about one of the uber cards (ie 6800gt/ultra or the x800 xt).

Unless your computer is not doing something that you want it to. I say hold out and upgrade everything (video, RAM, etc) when you switch to the socket 939 platform, because you still have a good computer.


kd

I was hoping to avoid the jump to an A64 for hopefully around six months. I'd really rather spend some cash now (not a whole lot obviously) to give my current system a last little boost before I take the plunge and build a new one. I know that if I get a new video card it will be bottlenecked for the most part, but I'm still curious to see if the performance gain is worth it. I'd really just like some noticeably better performance out of games with AA and AF turned up a bit higher at reasonable resolutions like 1024x768.

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
I would definately go for an Nforce 2Ultra such as:

1. DFI NF2 Ultra Infinity
2. Abit NF7-S
3. Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe

-Kevin

Why in the world would I need to replace my motherboard again? Like I said I've already upgraded to the A7V600 -- buying yet another Athlon XP motherboard would serve no purpose. I'd have to upgrade my CPU and my RAM to get any benefit and even then the miniscule performance jump from a 333 MHz FSB and RAM to 400 MHz will never be able to justify the cost. Duel channel isn't even a consideration, it's fairly worthless on this type of system anyway.

 

[Sapiens]

I posted some more detailed specs at http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.aspx?rigid=29167 in case anyone was interested.

 

[Kishan]

get a 6800GT. you really are wasting your money otherwise.

 

[Sapiens]

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
get a 6800GT. you really are wasting your money otherwise.

With my current system, the money would be wasted on a card that powerful. I'm not looking to keep the card I buy now, I'm just hoping for a performance boost for the time being.

 

[effee]

9700 is a good buy for your rig. but i'd get a 9800 series if you really wanted to see a jump

 

[Sapiens]

Originally posted by: effee
9700 is a good buy for your rig. but i'd get a 9800 series if you really wanted to see a jump

The 6600GT costs the same as a 9800 Pro but outperforms it in all of the tests I've seen on AnandTech.

 

[Kishan]

Originally posted by: Sapiens

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
get a 6800GT. you really are wasting your money otherwise.

With my current system, the money would be wasted on a card that powerful. I'm not looking to keep the card I buy now, I'm just hoping for a performance boost for the time being.

a much better alternative than getting a new CPU/mobo. you have a nice computer. no need to update, but your video card is three gens old or so.

 

[kd2777]

I still think you have a nice system the way it is, but if your current system isn't giving you the frame rates you want it is time to upgrade. Have you thought about the 6800NU (non-Ultra). It can be had online for about 250 and is faster than the 6600GT and is quite a bit cheaper than the 6800gt. Your system shouldn't bottleneck too much with that card. I ran a 6800NU with my 3200xp system for a while and saw a huge increase over my older 4200ti. Of course your 9700 is faster than my 4200ti, but you should still see a noticeable increase without breaking the bank. Who knows whenever you upgrade the rest of you system in 6 months or so, you may just hold onto the 6800NU.

kd

 

[Sapiens]

Originally posted by: kd2777
I still think you have a nice system the way it is, but if your current system isn't giving you the frame rates you want it is time to upgrade. Have you thought about the 6800NU (non-Ultra). It can be had online for about 250 and is faster than the 6600GT and is quite a bit cheaper than the 6800gt. Your system shouldn't bottleneck too much with that card. I ran a 6800NU with my 3200xp system for a while and saw a huge increase over my older 4200ti. Of course your 9700 is faster than my 4200ti, but you should still see a noticeable increase without breaking the bank. Who knows whenever you upgrade the rest of you system in 6 months or so, you may just hold onto the 6800NU.

kd

Can you venture a guess as to how much a 256 MB card would improve performance in games when AA/AF is enabled over a 128 MB card?

 

[DrCool]

you mention 'performance' in your initial post.. but don't specify performance of what?

if the primary use of this system is for computer gaming.. the only bottleneck you'll have is the video card.. and that is only if you HAVE TO run at 1280x1024 or higher.. otherwise, even that shouldn't pose any big issue.

I have a GeForce FX5200 and it can RUN any game i though at it, just at mid-low settings.

There seems to be an epidemic of uneccessary upgrading and money wasting going on around here.

 

[Sapiens]

Originally posted by: DrCool
you mention 'performance' in your initial post.. but don't specify performance of what?

if the primary use of this system is for computer gaming.. the only bottleneck you'll have is the video card.. and that is only if you HAVE TO run at 1280x1024 or higher.. otherwise, even that shouldn't pose any big issue.

I have a GeForce FX5200 and it can RUN any game i though at it, just at mid-low settings.

There seems to be an epidemic of uneccessary upgrading and money wasting going on around here.

"Can you venture a guess as to how much a 256 MB card would improve performance in games when AA/AF is enabled over a 128 MB card?" Obviously a system like this is used for gaming -- I can't think of any other reason someone would consider a 6600/6800 series card (let alone install a 9700 Pro shortly after it was released), and obviously if I was satisfied with "mid-low settings" I wouldn't be interested in upgrading.

The CPU most certainly does present a bottleneck, and a very significant one at that; until I upgrade to an Athlon64-based system, putting in more video horsepower than what's been discussed would be a waste of money because a plateau would be hit by what the rest of the system is capable of keeping up with (CPU/FSB speeds being the biggest culprit).

 

[dguy6789]

Save your money. Upgrade to an athlon64 and an athlon 64 mainboard when you have the cash. Your 9700 pro should last you another year at least, playing games fine at maximum settings.

 

[kd2777]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
Save your money. Upgrade to an athlon64 and an athlon 64 mainboard when you have the cash. Your 9700 pro should last you another year at least, playing games fine at maximum settings.

Don't throw max settings around to loosly, because it woun't.

As far as the 128 vs 256 question, I don't think it will help much at all. If you are just wanting to upgrade to get the 256 memory save your money, it isn't all that important yet.

I still say your computer is fine for another six months until you jump on the A64 bandwagon (which I hope you do), but if your computer is strugalling on some of your games then look at getting one of these. I think it will serve you well and should not be overly excessive. It is only 128mb of video ram but, it will run everything great. My good friend had one of these with his 2400xp and ran DOOM3, farcry, and Counter Strike: source perfectly. He ran 1280*1024 with everything set to max, even AA and AF (had to turn doom down a little but that is a taxing game on any video card.).

kd

 

[Sapiens]

Originally posted by: kd2777

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I still say your computer is fine for another six months until you jump on the A64 bandwagon (which I hope you do), but if your computer is strugalling on some of your games then look at getting one of these. I think it will serve you well and should not be overly excessive. It is only 128mb of video ram but, it will run everything great. My good friend had one of these with his 2400xp and ran DOOM3, farcry, and Counter Strike: source perfectly. He ran 1280*1024 with everything set to max, even AA and AF (had to turn doom down a little but that is a taxing game on any video card.).

kd

I've been pointed to this BFG card somewhere else and it looks like a great buy. Available, fairly inexpensive if you look in the right places, and with an AGP flavor to boot. Thankyou for your recommendation!