Upgrading the PC, its been awhile HELP!

[WesM63]

Hey all,
Some of you will remember me some will not. Its been a long while and i'm done messing with my car for now:p. So below I have listed my current comp specs and wondering what can I do for more power. Gaming is my main concern.

I don't plan on spending a whole lot of cash and I can trade in my stuff for stuff at work, so lets keep it to vendors and not ebay.

Current Specs:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester 939
DFI NF4 Ultra D (non SLI)
2x512mb OCZ EL Plat Rev2 Pc-3200 (TCCD?)
MSI 6600GT PCI-E

Stock cooling on everything.

This is what i've thought about going to:
A64 3700+ Venice
Same mobo
2x1gb OCZ (something or other)
Same video card

or

Same CPU
Same Mobo
2x1gb OCZ (something or other)
6800 Ultra PCI-E


So with that said, anyone have any suggestions?

[SamHughe]

I like the second config better since gaming is your main concern. It'll give you better boost in games.

[WesM63]

bump anyone else?

[Batt[o]]

I would go on second config if you are gaming a lot, if not i would just keep what you have and stay there...but for gamming a better VGA and 2x1gB would be great...but i don't see it "necesary" to "upgrade" :P

[calcal]

second config but a 7800gt instead of a 6800u

they both are around 400 bucks



off topic:

AHAHAHAHAHAH thats one cool sig u got there SamHughe but sad too :(

[Major_A]

What game are you playing? Some games are CPU dependent and some are GPU.
HL2, CS:S, and DOD:S are all CPU intensive games.
BF2 is mostly GPU dependent.

If your main concern is with gaming I would say option D, sell your video card and upgrade to a faster card.

[SamHughe]

second config but a 7800gt instead of a 6800u

they both are around 400 bucks

I second that! GT is almost same price with better performance


off topic:

AHAHAHAHAHAH thats one cool sig u got there SamHughe but sad too :(

Yup! sad but true (and funny) :D

[FallenAngel]

as everyone says the 2nd choice and dump your graph card and buy the 7800GT

[WesM63]

FA,
Thanks. After alot of reading i think i've decided on the following

Same Mobo (DFI NF4 Ultra D)
Opteron 144
2x1gb OCZ Plat or Cruical Ballistix
x800GTO2->16pipes or 7800GT (prolly end up with the GTO2)

[jgerrits]

For the ATI/Nvidia choice...

Halflife 2 engine - Runs better on ati
Doom3 engine - Runs better on nvidia

Most Everything else...
is a pretty even battle.

If you play a lot of counterstrike, get an ATI, if you plan on getting into Quake 4 and BF2 more, I'd say go the 7800 GT/GTX route.

[FallenAngel]

Why did u choose to go with an opteron? dont know the actual prices for the newer AMD cpu's but I think for gaming you'ld be well with your first choice either one of the venice cores, it's your choice afterall, but I think I just saw a review where they say that for playing you would be better with a single core AMD and for working the new X2 line would be better, if you are interested on a FX55 and paying it in 2 times just give me a call (this offer is only for Wes, so dont bother asking me, please, unless u can afford a 700USD + shipping from Europe to USA)

EDIT: if some1 is interested shoot me a pm, dont reply in here, please, it's against XS rules talking about prices on a open public thread, and for the moment I'm not interested to put it on the Sales Thread

[WesM63]

The reason I went with the opteron is, its half the price ($140) of a venice core'd cpu and should hit 2.8-3ghz fairly easy.

I play alot of diffrent games, I want something thats going to be fairly even across the board. Right now I can't justify the extra money for the 7800GT. Unless there is a drastic FPS increase in every game.

[FallenAngel]

understandable, to be honest I'm not yet fully familiar with AMD cpu's

[Major_A]

For the ATI/Nvidia choice...

Halflife 2 engine - Runs better on ati
Doom3 engine - Runs better on nvidia

Not really true any longer, the 7800 series are faster in HL2/CS:S/DOD:S these days.