Worth an upgrade?

powerMarkymark

Platinum Member
Jan 29, 2002
2,164
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I'm looking to get a bit more lifespan from my K8Neo Platinum rig.

Is it worth upgrading the vid card to the Sapphire X1950Pro 512M AGP ?

And if I do should I upgrade the processor to the Athlon 3700 64 Bit Socket 939 as well?

System specs:
Rig Name: K8N Neo Platinum
CPU: AMD 64 socket 754 - 3200 2166MHz @ 2310MHz
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo Platinum
Memory: 1535 MB of Shika Xram PC 4000
Video Card: Ati Radeon X850XT Ati
Monitor: Dell 2407WFP

TIA

M@rc
 

jim1976

Platinum Member
Aug 7, 2003
2,704
6
81
My advice.. If you want a cheap and good upgrade to save a lot of money do it..
A S939 upgrade is not recommended.. Waste of money for an upgrade right now IMHO.. If you are to do it go for Core 2 Duo..

Apoppin is selling a brand new X1950pro if you are interested.. Check FST for more details..
 

Sniper82

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
16,517
0
76
will that PC even accept a 939 CPU? Either way I wouldn't bother. I'd just save since the card you currently have is still decent.
 

will889

Golden Member
Sep 15, 2003
1,463
5
81
If i were you I would get a S754 PCIe mobo and a 20-24 pin PSU adapter, then get a PCIe X1950 Pro 256MB version to offset the cost (somewhat) for the new mobo, that way you would be able to use it with any C2D mobo in the future if need be (The X1950 Pro).
 

Stumps

Diamond Member
Jun 18, 2001
7,125
0
0
Only if you've got a decent PSU, one that meets the minimum requirements of 450w with 30A on the 12V...anything less pretty much means death for the Sapphire.
 

sodcha0s

Golden Member
Jan 7, 2001
1,116
0
0
I'm looking to get a bit more lifespan from my K8Neo Platinum rig.

You're stretching that thing beyond the limit. The big problem is AGP cards are just too expensive. If you want to go budget upgrade I'd go for an Abit KN8 motherboard ($75-$90) and a 146 Opty ($86). For that relatively small chunk of change you can now buy whatever video card your heart (or wallet) desires, although keep in mind you may need a PS upgrade as well, depending on the card you choose and what you have now.

You could just get the AGP 1950 now, but by this time next year you're still going to have to upgrade your whole system anyway, and you'll be kicking yourself for overspending on the now useless x1950AGP. And the skt. 939 option above might not be available then, or at least it certainly won't be as cheap.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: jim1976
My advice.. If you want a cheap and good upgrade to save a lot of money do it..
A S939 upgrade is not recommended.. Waste of money for an upgrade right now IMHO.. If you are to do it go for Core 2 Duo..

Apoppin is selling a brand new X1950pro if you are interested.. Check FST for more details..

thank-you ... *new* for $220 shipped with an included recent game :D
[shameless self-plug]

... it is *important* to make *sure* your PS is at least 450w and with 30a on the 12v rail !!!!

that said, it isn't a *huge* deal to go from x850xt > x1950p ... you *will* get SM3.0 and be able to *max* the details and eyecandy you can only get 'med-hi' on now PLUS add more AA/AF at the current FPS your CPU can manage

Oblivion is a lot nicer ... FEAR one 'notch' up in details and AA/AF ...

the *other* choice would be 7800GS OC ... if you O/C it you will end up between the x850xt and the x1950p without a need to upgrade the PS ...
that's where i am currently at

if i can't get my price, i will get a better PS for my x1950p and return the 7800 GS.
 

Makaveli

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2002
4,883
1,444
136
I have the 939 socket version of this board. and I just went from the X800XTPE to that card. And it was well worth it. my x800 card was doing fine on my 21` CRT at 1280x1024. As soon as I upgraded to a 22` Widescreen and running 1680x1050 my card was starting to show its age. The new card has made it so I don't have to be dropping a whole bunch of settings to get playable fps in games at the native res of new monitor. The fact that u have a 24 Dell with an even higher native res u are in more need of a new card than I was. Tho for 1920x1200 I would want something alittle more powerful than the X1950pro. But since your on AGP its the only option for now. And ya I could have waited but fcuk that I wanna play my games now. When the time comes next year, and I need to upgrade or make a move to PCI E i'll worry about it then. Gaming RIGHT NOW is much more important to me.

Getting Shader model 3 card was also part of the reason for not waiting!

Not to mention i'll the resale of my X800XTPE should alteast cover half the cost of the new card.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Sell your current card and buy that guy Appopin's card. 35%/40% upgrade for about 110.00$ is real good.