Time to upgrade

[lopri]

My system is about 2.5 yrs old. It was a kick-ass machine while back then but it's certainly been aging over time. I had one upgrade about a year ago (GPU swap, added more RAM), and it's again time to upgrade. I'll need you guys' advice.

Currently in my machine are there

P4 2.26Ghz (Northwood) 533Mhz FSB
Gigabyte 8IHXP (i850E Chipset)
1Gb of PC1066 RDRAM
Radeon 9800Pro
2 x 80Gb HDs (WD800JD, 8Mb Buffer)

Believe it or not, my system runs current titles very well (Big kudos to Rambus). Even FarCry runs quite smooth at 1600x1200 on my Samsung 213T. (Of course without any AA/AF) However, I'm afraid those upcoming mega-titles (i.e. Doom3, HL2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., World of WarCraft, etc.) will be likely to give a hard time on this system.

Building a whole new machine will be due sometime next year. Knowing a series of new technology is around the corner (PCI-X, DDR2, 64-bit Windows, SLI, etc.), I just want to do a small upgrade this time around. Therefore the budget isn't that big - somewhere around $500 might justify.

What do you guys think? Which part should I replace? I'm thinking of getting a 3.06Ghz CPU and a GF 6800GT. Anyone thinks otherwise?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

lop

 

[Blain]

If you're basically happy with your current setup, I'd just bump up the CPU to 3.06. That's the highest FSB CPU that your MB supports.

But then again, with a different MB, RAM & cooling, that 2.26 can kick it up pretty well OCing.

 

[nimo]

IMHO an upgrade at this time considering that you want to upgrade again in 6months is a waste of time/money.

P4B 3.06 does have HT but it not on par with the P4C 3Ghz
You are unlikely see significant gains over what you have

If you get the P4C 3Ghz and oc you MB to 800FSB you still going to get rid of your CPU
In your next upgrade cos most if not all newer MBs for Intel will be 775? or the next crazy socket they?d come up with

You best bet at this point for CPU is oc as much as you can and wait till you do a full system overhaul

As for a GPU again 9800pro is a solid card and getting a newer AGP for 6months
Seems redundant

My 2c

 

[lopri]

Agreed, but as you know, the only drawback with Rambus is its pitiful overclock-ability and heat. Since I'm not planning for a face lift (just some nose job and eye-lifting) and I already have 1G of RAM, changing MB and memory type is out of question. How much do you think I could get for a 2.5 yr old P4 2.26Ghz chip on FS/FT forum? I'd be happy if I can sell it for $100.

lop

[edit] Nimo - again, RDRAM doesn't overclock very well. It's a totally different animal from DDR. Also, even though I'm thinking of building a new system next year, it doesn't mean it'll happen in January 2005. If this upgrade turns out to be successful, who knows? I may just skip year 2005 and wait for those new technologies (again, PCI-X, SLI, etc.) to be mature.

 

[Blain]

"I'd be happy if I can sell it for $100."

I'd be jumping for joy if I sold it for that, over in the FS/T forum! Those cheap __________, wouldn't want to give you much for it. Unless... it was a proven big-time OC CPU. You're caught in a Catch22, there.

 

[lopri]

What would be a reasonable price to ask for 2.26 now?

 

[lopri]

Bump

 

[lopri]

Another Bump. Please help me out, guys!

lop

 

[Dewey]

I'm kinda in the same boat with an Athlon XP2500 and 9800XT. I'm going to wait a bit for the PCI express mobos and video cards to be more common. I'm hoping that withing 6-9 months, the top end stuff will be very impressive. I'm also hoping for better HD performance with the newer SATA standard, newer drives and PCI express.

 

[butch84]

dont upgrade until you actually play some of the games you are afraid your computer wont handle. There is no point upgrading now, for games that arent even on the market, because the inherent wait is especially painful on computer hardware. Your components will depreciate very rapidly while you wait for the new games to come out. Your current computer might even handle the new games coming out just fine. Anyways, my the short version of my long winded answer, is WAIT!!!!

good luck

 

[MDE]

Look on eBay for Rambus prices, you may want to sell it off along with the CPU and motherboard and upgrade the motherboard, RAM, and CPU.

 

[Canterwood]

Don't waste you're money!

I don't see any reason to upgrade yet. You're PC is good enough for upcoming titles!

HL2 will run comfortably on that cpu and video card. (according to Valve's min specs)

Just hold out till next year for the new upgrade.

If you really must upgrade something, then get a new video card, but I'd wait and save the money for the kick@$$ new machine.

 

[M16Grenadier]

Your system is fine. No need for upgrading.

You can buy upgrades for me if you want .