upgrade question

[Travissimo]

Currently my machine is:
ASUS A7n8X-X Socket A NForce2 motherboard
AMD AthlonXP 2600+
1GB PC3200 RAM
Ati Radeon 9800Pro AGP 128MB

Playing BF2 and new games it's obviously not a top of the line machine, and I am looking to upgrade. I'm on a budget and don't need the best of the best, but definitely need better than what I have now.

My question is, should I just upgrade to a better AGP video card, like a X800XL, or should I replace the whole thing: mobo + CPU + video card?
Will a PCI-Express X800XL work noticably better than an AGP X800XL?
Would I notice much difference by going to something like an ASUS A8N mobo with Athlon64 3200+ CPU?
My suspicion is that my video card is the limiting factor in the machine, and I could just upgrade the video card for now, and in a year or two, upgrade the whole system to what's top of the line today (like FX55 and good pci-e card)

Any thoughts?

thanks

Travis

 

[stevty2889]

I would upgrade the whole system to an A64. Get a socket 939 + 3200+ and a PCIe video card, you could even keep your current gig of ram. Your video card is part of the limiting factor, but with a better video card, your older CPU would become a bottleneck.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Welcome to AT.

Naturally getting a new CPU/mb/vid would be the better option... but what kind of budget are you on?

Check out the X800GTO2 by the way if you go PCI-e

PCI-e vs AGP is little or no difference afaik for the same card unless specs have changed between the two versions.

EDIT: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1700387&enterthread=y

 

[Crescent13]

Welcome to the AnandTech forums. This guide will aquaint you with some of the rules around theese parts. 😀

Now onto your problem,

I would say buying a new mobo/cpu/vid card would get you better performance. What is your budget?