What to Upgrade First

[AgentJean]

Ok so I'm planning my computer upgrade within the next few months(yeah, saving money takes time)

Here are the specs of my current system
Athlon 64 3500+
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
evga Geforce 6800GT
2GB PC3200 ram

I'm planning on upgrading the CPU to a X2 4800+. I'm still up in the air about the video card. It will be one of the higher end cards I know that. Either a 7800 7900 or a Radeon X1900.

If I were to upgrade just 1 part, which one would give me the biggest boost in gaming until I have the funds to get the 2nd part?

 

[acegazda]

Honestly, that pc is pretty damn good! Might lag a little in oblivion, but other than that, good fps all around. The gpu should be upgraded first, maybe around the release of dx10, so to capitalize on the price drops (there will be price drops...right?) Then up the cpu to 4200+ and oc it. For the card, I recommend the x1900xt 256mb for a $250 budget. It really isn't worth spending any more right now.

 

[dBTelos]

To me, I think you should wait 'till after DX10 is released before you buy a new graphics card. Your 6800GT should be able to hold you over Good pick on the 4800+, I support it. So upgrade your CPU now, then save some money and pickup a 7900GTX or GTO after DX10 is released. Hope this helps

-dB

 

[Bateluer]

Biggest boost would be from upgrading your video card. The 6800GTs were great cards, but they are showing their age today. An X1900XT 512 is around 370ish, sometimes less. If you can though, I'd hold off buying anything new for a few months, until Jan 07 at least. Given your current rig, that shouldn't be too hard. In Nov, AMD is supposed to launch their 65nm A64s, Intel is supposed to launch their Core 2 Quads, and Nvidia is supposedly going to launch the G80 GPUs.

Since you're on a budget though, don't count on buying those expensive parts. Its likely that prices on Intel's Core 2 Duos will drop slightly, plus Intel will also be launching the E1000 series under the Pentium name.

Only thing that will happen negatively in this time frame is that supplies of the s939 X2s will continue to dry up. AMD's announced end of life dates for most of their s939 chips.

 

[acegazda]

Originally posted by: dBTelos
To me, I think you should wait 'till after DX10 is released before you buy a new graphics card. Your 6800GT should be able to hold you over Good pick on the 4800+, I support it. So upgrade your CPU now, then save some money and pickup a 7900GTX or GTO after DX10 is released. Hope this helps

-dB

how much are 4800+ X2 going for nowadays? Not worht it if they are still $320.

 

[dBTelos]

The Skt939s are going cheap, got major price cuts. $280 @ newegg.

 

[acegazda]

Hmmm... factor in 200mhz and a heatpipe cooler, I still don't think it's worth it. The X2 3800+ are like $160 now... definetly not worth it. That's why I suggested the $180? 4200+

 

[dBTelos]

4200+ is fine. They OC to, what, 4400+ speed on stock cooling? The 4800+ recommendation isn't worth it, I guess.

 

[acegazda]

The 4400+ is the same speed as the 4200+ with 2mb cache. My guesstimate is that you could get 2.4ish on stock volts if you're lucky.

EDIT:Maybe more like 2.5-2.6 if you're lucky, 2.4 should be fairly easy.