upgrade questions

[ShadowBlade]

the only thing im sure i need to upgrade is my hard drive...crappy 5400RPM pulled from my old dell
for that i was lookin at the 36.7GB raptor...i know theyre louder than the 73GB's but that doesnt matter and i already have a 120GB storage drive

alright...now for what im not so sure on
i use my computer primarily for internet and such...i also do light gaming and some video editing
my current video card, an FX5200 works just fine for internet/video editing, but when i decide to play a game, i have to play at 800x600...my main requirement for gaming is that i can play at 1024x768 with no problems
for this i was lookin at the 6600GT, but ATI cards seem to be cheaper, which ATI card would you reccomend (PCI-e)?

motherboard/cpu
i got a cheaper one when i switched to a64, and thats the one im still using...i cant OC more than 200MHz on it
would it be better to upgrade my CPU or mobo (upgrading my mobo to OC my current cpu more or upgrade my cpu so its already faster)
current cpu: a64 3000+ winnie
current mobo: chaintech vnf4

tv tuner/capture card
im pretty sure ill be getting the hauppage (sp?) wintv pvr-150
any other reccomendations for the price range?

sorry for the long post

 

[Cheezeit]

the ati card that was made to compete with the 6600gt was the x700, and benchies show that the 6600gt is better.

the 6600gt will be great for your needs, but if you want another step up, get the x800xl.

 

[ShadowBlade]

what about mobo/cpu

 

[kd2777]

You won't regret the raptor and the 800xl, for just a few more dollars than the 6600gt you can have a card that is faster than the 6800GT

kd

 

[mumbs]

I've read some reviews and looked at some benchmarks, and the 6600gt seems like the best card for the money right now. newegg.com has xfx 6600gt pci-e for $169.00 right now. Iwas thinking of getting it myself, if I was gonna go with ati I'd get something like the x800pro, but it's quite a bit more expensive, and if your gonna spend the money on something like that, might as well get a 6800gt. 6600gt is a bargain, that's what I would get.

 

[Cheezeit]

seems like the best bang/buck mobo cpu combo right now is dfi ultra d and the amd 3000+ venice

 

[vrbaba]

Originally posted by: ShadowBlade
what about mobo/cpu

upgrading ur CPU/Mobo is a whole new world...well, almost.
its like building a new computer. you will need to start from scratch. Your windows xp wont work after the upgrade, so you have to take that into account (there are ways like ghost etc.) but a worse case scenario of reinstalling the OS.

get a good video card. i am a light gamer, and video editing person too. I have 1gb ram, OCed my 2.4 p4 to 3.0. ati radeon 9600 pro works well for me. the 9600xt or 9700 pro are cheap enough now too. But u can upgrade to the 9800xt, or the x800, and gt also. they are better more expensive cards.

 

[Cheezeit]

Originally posted by: mumbs
I've read some reviews and looked at some benchmarks, and the 6600gt seems like the best card for the money right now. newegg.com has xfx 6600gt pci-e for $169.00 right now. Iwas thinking of getting it myself, if I was gonna go with ati I'd get something like the x800pro, but it's quite a bit more expensive, and if your gonna spend the money on something like that, might as well get a 6800gt. 6600gt is a bargain, that's what I would get.

oh my god don't get the xfx card. ive heard so many xfx's die out then xfx denying that it is their fault stories that its not even funny.

heres a good one evga

except when i got it it was 138 AR and 168 w/o rebate😀

that or the leadtek are both good

 

[rise]

i'd do a search on the raptor. i don't think the value is there on the 36 gb

 

[ShadowBlade]

i know xfx is bad...
and vrbaba, ive built computers before, im looking for advice on my next upgrade

 

[Cheezeit]

Originally posted by: ShadowBlade
i know xfx is bad...
and vrbaba, ive built computers before, im looking for advice on my next upgrade

lol, it would be funny if you had 1211 posts and never built a rig.

i really don't think raptors are worth it, but if you really care about slightly faster load times or don't really have a price limit, then go for it.

recent reviews show that it seems like density is more important intoday's drives. the seagate 7200.8 is a very dense drive and has a 5 yr warrenty, so i would get that.

 

[vrbaba]

Originally posted by: ShadowBlade
i know xfx is bad...
and vrbaba, ive built computers before, im looking for advice on my next upgrade

ah..i thought you were deciding on how to upgrade ur exisitng one. either the video card or new mobo/cpu combo.
anyways, i would go with the newer asus/abit boards depending on what all you want. they are 2 of the most reliable and quality mobo companies. asus k8n, abit an8 are couple good ones.

 

[Cheezeit]

vrbaba:

are you talking about what those companies were a while ago or now.? ASUS's amd board's quaility has really gone downhill. there not what they were a few years ago. sigh.
actually, both abit and asus seem to have a problem with putting on crappy chipset fans.

 

[vrbaba]

Originally posted by: Cheezeit
vrbaba:

are you talking about what those companies were a while ago or now.? ASUS's amd board's quaility has really gone downhill. there not what they were a few years ago. sigh.
actually, both abit and asus seem to have a problem with putting on crappy chipset fans.

i agree on the chipset fans... my abit is7 chipset fan died out of nowhere, but its still JUST a chipset fan. i got a $5-10 nice tiger thermaltake upgrade, and the board is working absolutely great coming to its 3 yr anniversary. well, they were the "Thing" 2-3 years ago, and i know msi and others are pretty close now. the gap just gets closer.
its time for the 64-bit war to start...hoping to hold my next major upgrade till they became common and software comes out for those.
but then again, i am a light pc gamer, a good bit video editor...stability and quality is what i look for, and abit and asus are usally good Ocing boards.