Upgrading: Geforce2, and P3 pricing/advice.

[Caanon]

Hi....thinking of upgrading my system, and trying to do it cheaply, while still getting good stuff.

I'm looking into doing CPU, and 3d card.
I currently dont want to(have money) to upgrade motherboard and ram, so I'm looking for a 100mhz Bus CPU, motherboard supports upto an 800 or 850mhz P3, so was wondering prices approx prices on those.

And I've basically been out of the loop on alot of tech stuff since I built my last system, I was wondering about opinions on Geforce2 cards, and which would be best to get on a budget(and still be a good card) I know stuff can vary from card to card depending who makes it, and can be fairly large difference.

current system:
p2 450, abit BE6 MB, voodoo3 3000, 128mb ram, WD 20 gig ata66/7200rpm HD

I'm basically upgrading for Tribes 2.

 

[glp1del]

As far as the processor goes I have no idea since I have only used AMD processors. As for the video card I am in a similar situation, I have a V3 2000. The reviews I have seen show a very minor difference between geforce 2 cards with 32MB vs 64MB of memory with approx $100 difference between the two cards. There are currently 4 levels of geforce 2 cards. Lowest to highest: MX, GTS, Pro, Ultra. Would say go with GTS or better can be found in the $170-200 range with 32MB DDR. The Ultras are still around $330. In just over a week or so the Geforce 3 card will be on the shelves either April 4 or 5. Card will be $500+ and again has little advantage over current Geforce 2 cards see anandtech review. I just can't justify that much money for a card that will be obsolete by something faster when the games that could take advantage of the G3 over the G2 start coming out.

Hope that helps

Glp1del

 

[velferdskiller]

I would upgrade the processor first of all. I started out with a Voodoo3 3000 on a celeron 466. Now i have a P3@945 mhz, and the difference is like night and day. You will see the voodoo3 perform on another level with a good processor. I have buildt systems with both AMD and Intel processors, and one thing i can say is that AMD is terrific value for the good performance. Especially nowadays when an AMD Duron costs under half of what a P3 at the same speed costs (850 mhz). However, if you want an AMD processor, you will need a new mobo, + you might have compatibility issues (i havent experienced them yet with the via chipsets though).

I have tried a geforce2 gts on my system (it sounds stupid, but i do compare it to my V3), and i honestly didnt see a single reason to buy that card. Only reason would be to run 3dmark and play Q3. In all other games i didnt see a performance increase relative to the price. I play Unreal Tournament with all settings max in 1024x768, and i average around 55-60 fps. Runs really smooth with the V3.

I would have kept the voodoo3, upgraded the mobo (abit kt7 or something), got a gigahertz AMD, and checked how that ran. Or you could just get a P3 850.They are around 180 bucks these days (www.pricewatch.com).I think you will be surprised at how the V3 will feel like then. Make sure you overclock that too. I have my V3 3000 at 200 mhz now (extra cooling and lapped).
I am waiting for the Radeon2, or the KyroII which is coming out one of these days. That will be a real deal.