Upgrade.. System or Video? Monitor question included

[lopri]

I'm planning on upgrading my system, it's a year old and I've been quite happy with this system since I built it. The specs are as below.

CPU: P4 2.26
Memory: 512mb PC1066
GPU: Geforce4 Ti4400

The whole upgrade picture was drawn because I'm gonna buy a new LCD. I'm looking for a 21", and yes I know it's alot of money (someone mentioned it's 2x19" price) but I won't change my monitor for a few years so I'd like to have a good/big one.

Since 21" monitors' native res is 1600x1200, I feel the need to upgrade my video card so I can play games comfortably at that resolution. I went ahead and looked around, and holy shiiiaaaat, those are $500+?!?! That's a new mobo+CPU+Memory price!

So my question is, which one would be more beneficial in my case? System upgrade or Video upgrade? Here are my concerns..

1. System Upgrade might be more beneficial in general (P4 2.26, 566Mhz -> P4 3.0, 800Mhz) but it takes more labor. It's more like a bulding a whole new machine
2. Even after the system upgrade, my video card will be dated quickly, so I will eventually need a new video card.

3. If I go for the video upgrade, it's either Radeon 9800 (256mb) or GF5900Ultra. Simply change the video cards (for $500). and use it..But it might turn out that the whole perfomance is lagged compared to the other system (whole system upgraded)

So what is the sweet spot for my situation? any idea?


Also Anyone has used Samsung 210T and 213T, can you tell me what the differences are between them?

 

[CJP]

One thing to consider, since you have nvidia drivers installed now you might want to go for the 5900 ultra. Going from nvidia drivers to ati drivers has caused some people trouble without a re-format. If you are going to reformat anyway either the 5900u or 9800p would kick ass.

What kind of games do you play? Are you planning on playing Half-life 2 or more importantly Doom 3? If you are (and I may be wrong about this), and you must play at 1600x1200, even with the fast cards you're considering you may have trouble achieving it. That's especially true with aa/af on. You're current system is still fast and this fall/winter there will be much faster cards (you probably don't want to wait forever though). Me, I'm still enjoying gaming with a geforce 3 and a p4 1.8. I'm waiting for pci express next year and I'm going to build a whole new system.

 

[Mem]

3. If I go for the video upgrade, it's either Radeon 9800 (256mb) or GF5900Ultra. Simply change the video cards (for $500). and use it..But it might turn out that the whole perfomance is lagged compared to the other system (whole system upgraded)

Both the Ati 9800 and 5900 Ultra could do with a faster CPU then your current P4 2.26 to get the best out of them,an ATI 9700 Pro would be a better match for your CPU,as for clean install I would try
Driver Cleaner 1.5 first.

 

[lopri]

Thanks for replies.

CJP- you're right. I actually purchased AIW 9700 Pro and had so much trouble with it (returned it - I'd never buy an AIW again) and was waiting for GFX 5800. (You know how long I'd been waiting) So I don't think I can wait any longer, especially I'm on vacation now, I'd like to finish upgrading before the new semester begins. I play mostly RTS games, and occasionally shooting games. I play Warcraft 3, Rise of Nation, GTA, Max Payne, etc. (But certainly plan to purchase DOOM 3 just to see what it is - like everyone else) Also I'd always take higher resolution over AA/AF, so I don't think I'll turn any AA/AF on at 1600x1200.

Mem - I later found out ATI and NVidia drivers don't like each other. For this upgrade, whichever card I buy, I will do a clean install of OS along with it.

P.S. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a 21" LCD?

 

[Jeff7181]

P.S. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a 21" LCD?

Yeah, get a 21 inch CRT... you'll probably get some nasty ghosting with a 21 inch LCD. The 19 inch ones are still only down to 25ms response time... 21's are probably still above 30.

 

[kylebisme]

sure enough 21" lcd and gameing just don't mix well. not only the response time but there is always going to be new games that will not run well at all at 1600x1200 with even the latest hardware.

 

[NYHoustonman]

I would seriously wait till the last minute cause that system will handle basically everything out till HL2 and Doom 3. Just my opinion.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: NYHoustonman
I would seriously wait till the last minute cause that system will handle basically everything out till HL2 and Doom 3. Just my opinion.

Exactly... as I stated in another post, this one one of the worst possible times you can pick to upgrade with the future in mind. We all know about the Ti4200... I bought one over a year ago and have enjoyed gaming ever since then... it's JUST not starting to reach the end of it's life cycle with games like Unreal 2 and the up and coming Doom 3 and Half Life 2