Will a new video card do anything?

[Ipno]

Current system:

EPoX 8k7a (4x AGP only)
XP 1700 overclocked to 1900
512 megs DDR overclocked to 300mhz system bus
Geforce ti 4200 overclocked about 10%

This is the same gaming rig I've had for a long while now. I don't have much money for an upgrade, maybe about $100.

I'm wondering if its worth it to just upgrade the video card in this thing, or is the system balanced enough that upgrading any one component a waste of time? If I can get away with just upgrading the video card for a significant increase, I might do it, but if I have to upgrade the whole thing to see anything, is gonna be a while

 

[jotosuds]

i think you should get a 6600GT. should be a very nice improvement.

 

[jotosuds]

oh yeah and get another stick of ram if you can. it REALLY helps, i didn't believe people but it does make a big difference in games.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Sure, you could use a full system upgrade, but for $100 or less, a used 9800pro on FS/FT would help a lot. I'm pretty close to doing the same thing for my 3rd string system (a 1.4ghz tualatin with a ti4200). But, I'm thinking about moving the 5900u thats in my 2nd box into that 3rd box and getting a 6600gt for the 2nd box (2.2ghz AXP).

 

[Ipno]

This motherboard only has 2 slots for ram, if I upgrade the ram I have to get rid of what I have.

 

[fbrdphreak]

2x512MB PC-3200:
http://labs.anandtech.com/products.php?sfilter=266&pricepgb=yes

AGP 6600GT:
http://labs.anandtech.com/products.php?sfilter=194&price=yes

Check the FS/FT forums here, a 6600GT can be had quite cheap. Otherwise a used 9800 Pro for <$100 is a good deal. Don't go higher than a 6600GT tho, your system will bottleneck you.

 

[Dainas]

You can find a nice kit of 2 sticks of 512mb DDR 400 kits for well under $100, and also a sutible 9800pro or 6600GT for $100. When you put the ram in time your fsb/ram as fast as it will alow and lower the ram timings. This should give you a nice boost, however you are limited by your cpu/mobo pretty badly so beyond ram/video card theres not much else you can do. If you had a 400fsb Barton system then I'd say save it, but your motherboard is pretty old so I'd get a new system; buying a socket 939 motherboard/cpu, PCIe Video card and new ram as you can afford it bit by bit.


There are alot of good games still out that will run nicely on your current computer so its not like you couldnt play anything as you gathered your money for a new computer. I know for a fact newer non-DX9 games such as UT2004 run pretty smoothly on a system like yours (geForce 4 ti/Athlon 1800xp.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

If any of you guys plan on getting rid of your Ti 4200's, I have a light PC gaming friend that would appreciate it. PM me if you're interested in selling it.

As for the $100 upgrade, not sure how far that would go. Still wont be able to play games like FEAR at respectable settings/playable framerates. If anything, this would be a temporary upgrade before you make the dive into PCI-E and socket 939 (or whatever AMD/Intel has for next year).

 

[Ipno]

Would a 256MB card do much better than a 128MB card in my case?

This is pretty much a band-aid to get me to next year when I shoul be able to build a whole new PC.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Originally posted by: Ipno
Would a 256MB card do much better than a 128MB card in my case?

This is pretty much a band-aid to get me to next year when I shoul be able to build a whole new PC.

I'd stick with a 128mb card, as 256mb would be nice, but for games that you'd have a hard time playing on that PC (Doom3, FEAR, B&W2). If you can grab a 256mb card for a few dollars more, why not. Just don't go out of your way to get one.