Want to Upgrade, but I don't want to Upgrade

[Sammy5000]

Hey Guys...

I have been fighting the urge all through the holiday season of wanted to drop more $$$ on what has already taken a chunk out of the bank account. Down below, you can see my specs, but all the talk of Nforce4 SLI, BTX, Dual-Core, NV48 has got me confused.

I am battling between a) not doing anything, b) doing something small (DVD Burner, Better Keyboard, etc), or c) going all out and getting the latest & greatest of everything.

I play the recent games, and I really do not put that much stock in synthetic benches or increasing frame rates. I have good performance with good eye candy now in Far Cry, HL2, Doom3, NBA Live 2005, Madden 2005, etc, but every now and then, I get the occassional stutter. Not sure if it is because of the CPU (which it shouldn't be), the Mobo (which it may be), or the GPU (which it may be). Anyway, it is these rare moments where I want to go to Plan C and roll with it.

Need some guidance, folks. Let me know your thoughts, perceptions, ideas, projections, etc. Thanks in advance for clearing me out of the puddle of confusion.

AMD64 FX-55 (running at stock)
Asus A8V Deluxe Rev. 2.0 (Bios 1008)
1 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR533 (PC4000) - 2x512MB in DC
PNY GeForce 6800GT (stock) w/ NV Silencer 5
WD Raptor 74GB SATA HDD
Samsung 80GB SATA HDD
PC Power & Cooling 510W Deluxe PSU
16x DVD Rom (Memorex)
Generic Floppy/Generic Keyboard
Logitech MX510 Optial Mouse
On-Board Realtek Sound (7.1)
Logitech Z-640 Speakers (5.1)
IBM P260 21" CRT

 

[Gamingphreek]

Thats what you have now!?!?!?

What in the hell do you want to upgrade to. That is already the fastest you can get!

THe only thing i would say is go Nforce 4 SLI, then later you can get another GT.

-Kevin

 

[imported_DaveA]

If your getting an occasional stutter it must be that your running your games at 1600x1200 with 4xaa 16xaf or something similar? thats putting a strain on the 6800gt. try overclocking it.


you could do a full blown nforce 4 upgrade and sell off some of the components you have already.


me personally? i wouldnt touch a thing. maybe a new mouse and keyboard but thats it.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Buy a phase change cooling setup, overclock the shat out of your FX and GT and when it can't keep up anymore rinse&repeat with new hardware.

 

[Regs]

I think you need a psychologist! I don't know how you are getting stuttering with that system. I hardly get any with mine. Even though I don't touch AA/AF often when im running 1600x1200. But I figure a 939 upgrade for myself well help.

Once you begin to learn about hardware and learn how to build your own computer, it becomes a hobby. A very expensive hobby like cars or racing. Try not to get yourself caught up. Pace yourself.

 

[biostud]

you could build a vapochill system and overclock like hell. 😛

 

[LED]

Get a good/better soundcard...

 

[stevty2889]

umm yeah, you already have the fastest desktop CPU there is, there isn't exactly a whole lot of upgrading possible, other than going nforce 4 sli, and getting a second 6800GT..you already have a top of the line gaming rig...

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

I laughed when I saw the sig too.

I'd suggest you upgrade the video card to a BFG 6800 Ultra OC
and install a Koolance water cooling setup. The Koolance is easy to set up, and will only set you back about $270. The main unit, and water block can be found on Newegg. Then you need a special adapter from the Koolance site, or you bend the clips back like I did. Upgrading your video card will give you more performance in games, with an Ultra OC, you can go up to 450/1200 like me.

Look at my site to see what I have.
http://www.nogodforme.com/MyBabyTera.htm

In my case, I'm changing my memory to G Skill LE PC4400 becauase I'm stuck at 232mz. That was just ordered and is due to arrive today or early next week.
My next huge upgrade will be to buy an FX57 when it comes out, and sell my FX53 for a reduced price.

 

[laurenlex]

Upgrade recommendations:
Mutual funds
401K
real estate