What should my next upgrade be?

[PizzaDude]

I currently own a home-built system(thanks to a friend of mine) and am wondering what I should upgrade next. I'm kind of a speed freak and like to keep up in the computer world. The system that I own now is an Athlon 1500 XP, ECS K7S5A, 40gb Seagate Barricuda HD(7200 rpm), 512mb DDR, SoundBlaster Live! 5.1, and a GeForce2 GTS. I am going to replace the GF2 with a Ti4200 right when they come out(already have the money put away), but I am wondering, after I get the geforce4, what should I upgrade? Should I get a new motherboard like an Epox 8kha or Shuttle AK31? Or should I get a faster processor, like an XP 1900 or XP 2000? I need to know what will be holding me back after I get the Geforce4. My system is primarily used for gaming, and I should also state that my Hard Drive is plenty big for me. I am running Windows 2k.

 

[kjwise]

Perhaps you should sit down and enjoy the hardware on which you spend your dollars on?

 

[acejj26]

everything there sounds good....plenty fast enough for gaming....but if you have really nice speakers, and if you have to upgrade, i'd toss the SB Live! and go with an Audigy or a Santa Cruz sound card

 

[dunkster]

The most immediate obvious pleasing feedback for me have been monitor and graphics card upgrades. You can see the results of your upgrade.

Increased benchmark numbers get old pretty fast. I recently upgraded from a PIII600@800MHZ to an XP1600@1558MHz, and the most dramatic change was in the benchmarks. Menus pop up faster, but games aren't noticably better.

Go for screen real estate or a graphics card that doesn't pause when you light up Heinrich with your zapper in RTCW.

Hope this helps!

 

[ElFenix]

parhelia. or a 1200JB.

 

[Oblique]

I'm a speed freak too, but there isn't much that rig won't run. I would have to suggest some nice speakers if you don't have them. I have owned the Klipsch 4.1's since they were called the v2. 400 (I added the $50 control pod when it came out), and it has been the most kickass part of my system for the 2+ years i've owned them.

 

[Hulk]

If your current system is stable I would upgrade the CPU to a 2000+. That's a nice simple upgrade that will give you a significant speed increase from your current 1500+.

 

[PizzaDude]

1.) Thanks guys.
2.) Bump for more responses
3.) So getting a different motherboard wont get me a big speed increase? Obviously if I got one with more than 2 DDR ram slots it would(filling in all 3 ram slots, of course), but if I put all of thse components on an Epox 8KHA, I wouldn't notice much of a difference? I haven't really had any problems with the K7S5A, I just thought it was sorta cheap.
4.) I am happy with my sound.My SoundBlaster is paired with a set of Creative Inspire 2.1's(great speakers IMHO). Thanks for the recommendation though.

 

[zzzz]

get some 15K scsi HDs and a decent scsi raid card and raid-5 them. You will notice the speed increase more than you would if you change your mobo. offcourse it would cost you a few bucks but whats money for a (speed) freak?

 

[jcmkk]

If you're really set on upgrading, then you should get a faster CPU. You wont notice a difference much in any of the components you upgrade except for the video card that you're already planning to buy. A nice 19" monitor is nice. Or you could get a second monitor like the one you already have and run a dual monitor setup. You were complaining about HD speed in an earlier post, so you may want to think about going SCSI.

 

[Lvis]

Get a big comfy chair, or a nice desk.

 

[microAmp]

<< The most immediate obvious pleasing feedback for me have been monitor and graphics card upgrades. You can see the results of your upgrade.
Go for screen real estate or a graphics card that doesn't pause when you light up Heinrich with your zapper in RTCW. >>



What dunkster said, you can't believe that you didn't go to a 17" from a 15" sooner, or go to a 19" from a 17" sooner, etc. Believe, I loved my 17" but when I got my 19" loved it even more, real estate!

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

Upgrade the video, I spose. I'm not quite sure why everyone's telling you to get a new proc. After a point, you get some diminshing returns on performance increases from the processor. I'd go for a R8500 or GF4 4200 if you're on a budget. I'd also look into a new sound card., but since you're Via free, the SBLive! might not be a problem with you.

 

[spanner]

Sweet set of surround speakers, they get much better the the inspire 2.1's. Maybe a sweet monitor if you don't already have one. I doubt you will notice a faster CPU right now i.e save up for hammer. If you have the money why not go for a more powerfull vid card then the 4200. Go for sweet peripherals too, many people go for cheap mice and keyboards even though they make a very big difference.

 

[Grendel99]

I don't know how limiting your board is, but just overclock it. That will give a simple, cheap upgrade. Your system looks awesome to me, like others said, just enjoy what you have. Maybe look to stuff like a chair (really helps), monitor, case, speakers, mouse, or a keyboard?

 

[Athlon4all]

Everything sounds good, I wouldn't change a thing, but if you really want to, then there's 2 things I'd get:

1. GF4 Ti 4200
2. 10KRPM or even 15K RPM SCSI Hard Drive

 

[Zukatah]

If I were you, I'd go with a nice 19 or even 21" monitor or a good mouse/keyboard. A 5.1 set of speakers makes a difference too when playing games, it seems to be much more realistic than having a set of stereo speakers.