upgrade worth it?

[pontifex]

my current pc:

amd athlon 64 3400+ @2.4 ghz (socket 754)
dfi lanparty ut nf3 250gb motherboard
bfg 6800 oc
2 gb pc2700 or 3200 ddr ram (forget which it is anymore)
sound blaster audigy zs 2 gamer
1 250 gb sata hd
1 160 gb ide hd
1 120 gb ide hd
1 40 gb ide hd in external enclosure
16x dvd-rw drive
16x dvd-rom drive
19" lcd monitor
logitech mx510 mouse
saitek executive keyboard
logitech 5.1 speakers

it runs Battlefield 2 fine on the higher settings. the major thing i was thinking about upgrading was the video card to a 7800gt. the problem is that i pretty much have to get a new mobo so i can get pcie slots and if i want that i pretty much have to get a socket 939 cpu too. to get anything decent i'm looking at over $700 for all 3. would upgrading be worth it or should this set up last me for a little bit longer yet? nothing is overclocked except the video card which was done at the bfg factory.

i thought about overclocking but i'm not exactly sure how to go about it and i don't want to mess anything up.

any suggestions?

 

[Fresh Daemon]

I would not say that that upgrade will be worth $700. Your rig will be fine for quite a while and is very respectable.

If it were me, I would wait at least a year, and then see about M2, dual-core and whatever ATi/nVidia are doing at that time.

There is a great overclocking guide in the CPU/Processors thread. It's stickied. There are also a lot of websites devoted to it. You have a good overclocking motherboard and should get a decent enough increase.

 

[pontifex]

i read that this mobo was good for overclocking and i fully planned on doing that when i bought it, but then i chickened out and didn't because i got confused on some of the overclocking stuff. i guess i should give it another go.

 

[pontifex]

other than the stickied post that was already mentioned, can someone link a guide to overclocking for someone who has never overclocked before and really has no idea what to do? like step by step instructions.

or even better, if someone has a link of how to overclock a amd athlon 64 3400+ with a DFI Lanparty UT 250 GB in step by step instructions?

Thanks.

 

[raanemaan]

Here is a couple of more to read. It confused me for awhile before I finally understood.

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12960
http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3846

 

[l Xes l]

if u are a heavy gamer.. i'd up the ram and gpu.. otherwise u r fine..

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: krnxpride83
if u are a heavy gamer.. i'd up the ram and gpu.. otherwise u r fine..

I do lots of gaming on this system.

do you mean OC or replace?

if you mean replace, i can't really replace the video card because as i've mentioned, i don't have PCIe on my motherboard and the highest i can go in AGP appears to be a 6800GT or Ultra. Would I really gain that much from either of those? if i get another motherboard i almost have to get another processor.

not sure what you mean with the ram. 2 GB is more than enough i would think, or do you mean go from pc2700 to pc3200? even then, is it going to make that much of a difference?

 

[Firsttime]

Check out newegg I beleive ESC has a 754 PCI-E motherboard, the only problem is its ESC, but it would be fine for a short time.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Firsttime
Check out newegg I beleive ESC has a 754 PCI-E motherboard, the only problem is its ESC, but it would be fine for a short time.

yeah, but i want to spend less money, not more. because then i'll have to get another motherboard and cpu when i want to go better than socket 754...

 

[kleinwl]

You have very little to lose by trying your hand at OCing. Just don't push voltage too far. I wouldn't try to upgrade anything until you are ready to drop the big bucks and upgrade to the new socket.

 

[Fern]

Hi pontifex and Welcome to the Forums!

IIRC your bfg 6800 OC has only 128MB of vid ram. I'd sell it and go for a higher AGP card with 256MB. Better cards include 6800GT (most of which easily OC to Ultra levels) and X850 XT PE.

I don't think you'll see much benefit in games by OCing your CPU. It's already strong enough. With few exceptions, gamings is all about the gfx card.

My .02

Fern

 

[Super56K]

Totally agree about the CPU. You'd just be taking an expensive route to upgrade your GPU if you switched processor and mobo now. It's just your 6800nu holding you back. Selling that and spending a little money on a 6800gt or x800xl + will give you the extra performance boost your looking for, for easily less than $300 depending on your upgrade path.

 

[firewolfsm]

i'm sure you can get at least 250 for your current parts on ebay. that 6800GT should get 150+, 50+ for the mobo and 100+ for the CPU.

 

[pontifex]

so basically the best AGP nVidia card I can get now is probably a 6800 Ultra? or is there better? I was looking at the 6800GTs since they are under $300 now.

and that would give me a decent enough boost to be worth the money?

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
i'm sure you can get at least 250 for your current parts on ebay. that 6800GT should get 150+, 50+ for the mobo and 100+ for the CPU.

its a regular 6800, not 6800gt