Ok, updating Rig for gaming, have no money....

RE*AC*TOR

At the moment I have the following:

Athlon Xp 2800+
Asus A7N8x-Deluxe
1Gig PC2700 RAM (i think it PC2700, slight chance it is PC3200).
9800Pro

So, here are my thoughts. I want to put together a system that will play F.E.A.R., COD2 and Oblivion now (play them well, with decent settings). But I also want something that will take another upgrade, without having to shelve the whole system. If there are components known to take a good overclocking, or GPU that can unlock pipes etc - that would be useful info.

At the moment, I'm thinking of going with a S939 mobo (which should be upgradeable to 5000+ in the future).

A 3700+ - not a big jump, but its only about €220.

The GPU is where I'm most unsure. Could get a 6800gt, for about €250..

Having said that, the card is getting old.

All thoughts and suggestions, on how to get the biggest bang from the smallest buck are welcome.

gamer

if you are short of cash/ get 256meg graphics card on boards/for sale ,the agp cards tend to be cheaper,IF you are getting a mobo with agp slot as well as pci express .theres a few cards for sale right now.a good 256 agp card will play doom3,far cry, and cod2, at high detail levels, at high resolution.

pontovic

My advice is not to bother upgrading your system because you will only end up wanting more sooner rather than later if you buy middle or low end components now. What you should do is save up your cash and squeeze as much out of your current system as you can. Try overclocking it or something, and then when you have saved a decent bit of money, do a complete upgrade and get a decent video card and motherboard/cpu etc.

What I did was put a good graphics card into an old system and it really didnt do it justice as the older motherboard and processor were the bottleneck.

RE*AC*TOR

Saving up and waiting isn't really an option as I'm impatient. Plus I don't like the idea of spending €400+ on a CPU - that will still get old fairly fast.

I prefer the gradual upgrade mode, now if only they stopped changing motherboard sockets.

Chad ghostal

Im no gaming expert but how much processor make a difference?..
could you not just get a amd64 3200 and then spend the difference on a better graphics card..?..

amd64 3200 s939 for about 160,
then you could look for a retail light version of decent graphics card for ~300?
e.g. http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=316288

B00MSTICK

Any chance that 2800 is a Thoroughbred?

RE*AC*TOR

B00MSTICK wrote:

Any chance that 2800 is a Thoroughbred?

Judging by your sig - you probably should be able to help me.

I think its a Barton...

Thinking of an Opteron 144 - doing a wee bit of overclocking. Whatcha think?

irlrobins

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Could get a 6800gt, for about €250..

Having said that, the card is getting old.

Yea that would be more of a stop gap upgrade really. Better off getting a better card than that, possibly a PCIe one.

If you got the 6800 you'd be looking for another upgrade sooner than you would like I think.

8T8

If you are making the switch to PCI-E a 7600GT would be a better choice and cheaper too as well.

The 7600GT has more shader processing power under the hood which is what games like FEAR, Oblivion and CoD 2 love. In fact a 7600GT will out perform a 6800GS (the GS was the replacement for the 6800GT).

Club3D 7600GT €204.01
Gigabyte mATX nForce 4 with PCI-E x16 slot €72

RE*AC*TOR

turns out my RAM is actually PC3200 - so can hang on to that.

have ordered -

Opteron 146 (hoping to seriously overclock)
Asus-A8N-E mobo (seems like a good board)
Powercolor X1800XT 512MB

it was a toss up in the end between a 7900GT and the X1800XT, but a few recent benchmarks have favoured the ATi.

Now I play the waiting game....

savemejebus

if you're gonna overclock the opteron grab yourself a decent cpu cooler (if you haven't already). freezer 64 pro is a decent (cheap) option

RE*AC*TOR

savemejebus wrote:

if you're gonna overclock the opteron grab yourself a decent cpu cooler (if you haven't already). freezer 64 pro is a decent (cheap) option

don't suppose anywhere in dublin sells em?

savemejebus

I saw the old freezer 64 on hitide before but i'm not sure about the new (pro) one. If you know anyone in germany they are dirt cheap there (less than €15), they're €29ish here

savemejebus

doublepost,sorry

RE*AC*TOR

That's cool. Don't really wanna order online, as my order(s) are already on their way - and I'll be fairly much wanting to set it up as soon as I get the parts.

Having a look at Peats website, they have a few Zalman's (i suspect they have a better range in store). Itdirect's website has gone to **** (what's the story there?). Maplin / PCWorld?

irlrobins

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Itdirect's website has gone to **** (what's the story there?).

gone to? It's always been shit and rarely works.

RE*AC*TOR

i remember maybe 3 years ago, it was semi-functional - ie you could get an idea of what they stocked.

now its nothing.

RE*AC*TOR

Well the opteron and mobo arrived from Komplett - thank you DHL.

Now, just waiting on the X1800XT from overclockers.co.uk (hopefully tomorrow).

On a bright note - I got a CACJE opteron - which by reports should be able to hit 2.9GHz (stock = 2Ghz) on air cooling.

unklerosco

Getting myself a X1800XT too, gets quite good reviews... Hould hold up well till DX10/vista are out.. How much u pay for it??

RE*AC*TOR

STG£235 - but with shipping etc - its more like €370 - which is a wee bit cheaper than komplett.

unklerosco

Not a bad price, Cheapest ive seen was £219.. Paid £220 for a used one but it has this

fitted which is £85 by itself....

Cuddlesworth

But for a gpu waterblock, its a waste of money.

B00MSTICK

Looks like they oc very nicely, im not up to date on the latest steppings though. Give and search to see if the 06 ones compare as well.

RE*AC*TOR

Ok - so have all the parts now. Without any effort the CPU is running happily at 2.3ghz (stock 2.0ghz). I haven't touched the cpu voltage or anything.

I will try pushing it further later when I get a chance. Although - i think my ram is probably gonna hold me back a good bit (can't afford to buy new ram).

irlrobins

out of interest what PSU are you using to power the new setup?

RE*AC*TOR

bog standard crappy jeantech 450W i think (not the best but don't have the spondoolicas at the mo).

irlrobins

Was just wondering the other evening since u had a 9800 before if your PSU wasn't at least 400W u might have probs powering the new GPU. 450W sounds good.

You ever get that prob u had with Dell screen fixed?

RE*AC*TOR

the w2600? no. the dvi input still gives me tearing on motion.

the vga is fine.

irlrobins

even with new X1800? Bummer! Be nice to use it at it's full potential.

Dell have any suggestions? Faulty DVI lead prehaps?

RE*AC*TOR

not using it with the x1800xt - was using it with 9800pro (which I've sold) - its now got a 9700pro on it.

the x1800xt is attached to a 19" BenQ monitor - which works perfectly.

Dell have no suggestions apart from a replacement (with a refurbished unit) - i said no thanks.

irlrobins

oh right, you got two systems running....

Gaming PC and media centre?

Yea, no way I'd go for a refurb as a replacement.

RE*AC*TOR

Yeah two pcs. I like to sit close to the screen with gaming (well normal pc distance) - the 26" is in the living room attached to pc #2. Which has a TV card and is running media portal.

gamer

maplins have sale on at the moment , they have 9500 256megvram radeon
agp cards, 65euro, reduced from 115euro,they might be faster then your card, if it has 128meg video memory.

Ciaran500

A 9500 is far slower than a 9800Pro, suprisingly.

gamer

800 is bigger than 500 ,so that makes sense,he cud maybe use it in pc no2.