Worthwile upgrade?

[imported_mson]

I'm thinking about upgrading my system but I'm not sure if its worth it. Currently I have an Athlon 64 3000+, 2GB RAM, Nvidia 6600GT. I'm thinking about getting a 7900GS 256MB, and a Athlon 64 X2 3800+ or an Athlon 64 X2 4200+. I would prefer to get the 3800+ since it is $50 cheaper, but if the 4200 would provide a big jump in performance I would go with that. Pricing on Newegg runs ~350-$400. Would this upgrade be worth the money, or should I just continue to save and build an entire new system in a year?

 

[Rockhound1]

What do you use your computer for and what are your expectations? We need to know this in order to answer your questions.

Going with an Opteron 165 would be a better choice for a CPU upgrade, but we need to know more about what you do on your computer. Also, tell us what kind of MB you are currently running.

 

[imported_mson]

I use it for gaming, some video encoding/decoding, Photoshop, movies, web surfing, office stuff. Expectations? I WANT A FASTER SYSTEM! I don't expect to have an amazing system that can run the latest game at the highest settings, but I feel like mine is starting to get a little sluggish. Gaming wise, I play BF2 (medium settings) and am going to pick up Supreme Commander so I don't need a super fast system but want to run as high of settings as possible w/o spending a lot of money. Current Mobo is a Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9. I don't know much about the Opteron's, why is that a better choice? Thanks!

 

[TheRealSimmonz]

A 7900GS won't do too bad. It would be able to run Prey at the highest, F.E.A.R. close to high, and probably most newer games close to highest. I wouldn't take the 4200+ over the 3800+ unless you don't mind spending the extra $50. The frame rate difference between the two is only around 5-10 frames maximum. The 3800+ will do fine. That being said if you were to really save for a year, you would probably have the money to buy a really good system if you can put enough away. Personally I think waiting for a cheaper Direct X 10 card would be a good idea to.

 

[Rockhound1]

Are you willing to overclock your system? If so, then go for the Opteron 165. It is less than $10 more than the X2 3800+ and should easily overclock to X2 4200+ speeds, plus it has 1 MB L2 cache per core as opposed to 512 KB with the X2 processors. You should see a pretty good boost in your encoding/decoding etc.

For your gaming, the only real boost will involve upgrading you current video card. Going from a 6600GT to a 7900GS should give you a pretty good boost. The CPU upgrade would not impact your current gaming very much.

So, you are still looking at an approx $320 upgrade which should keep your system fresh for another 6 months to a year. You may want to be patient and save your money for a more sweeping upgrade in the next 6 months to a year. You could then upgrade to a C2D system or to AMD's next generation CPU which is looking pretty interesting (Link).

Good Luck!

 

[stogez]

Supreme Commander can fully use Dual Core processors so you will see a performance increase in that. Definitely get the Opty 165 over the other two processors.

 

[justlnluck]

Hey Mson,

I have a very similar setup to yours. I've been dying to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo system, but I decided that it's worth to wait until the mid-range DX10 cards are on the market from both Nvidia and ATI...and the Core 2 processors will be cheaper as well. Also, AMD's new processors might be good too, who knows what AMD is going to bring. So I just purchased the 3800 X2 at newegg today to tide me over a bit.

Edit: I chose the 3800 X2 because I don't plan to overclock. Here's one of the reviews I read when deciding between the Opt 165 and the X2:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/opteron-165-180/index.x?pg=1

 

[imported_mson]

Originally posted by: Rockhound1
For your gaming, the only real boost will involve upgrading you current video card. Going from a 6600GT to a 7900GS should give you a pretty good boost. The CPU upgrade would not impact your current gaming very much.

Hmmm so would it be worth while to hold off another 3-6 months and get a 8800GTX (or whatever is a reasonably priced high end card), then upgrade everything but the video card next year?

I think I will wait to see how Supreme Commander runs. Recommended system is 3.0 GHz and a 256MB video card. It has me a little worried.

 

[regnez]

Originally posted by: mson

Originally posted by: Rockhound1
For your gaming, the only real boost will involve upgrading you current video card. Going from a 6600GT to a 7900GS should give you a pretty good boost. The CPU upgrade would not impact your current gaming very much.

Hmmm so would it be worth while to hold off another 3-6 months and get a 8800GTX (or whatever is a reasonably priced high end card), then upgrade everything but the video card next year?

I think I will wait to see how Supreme Commander runs. Recommended system is 3.0 GHz and a 256MB video card. It has me a little worried.

Those recommendations are worthless. My 3.0ghz Celeron and 256mb GeForce FX5200 would not be able to run Supreme Commander, but my 1.86ghz C2D would do just fine.

Ignore the recommendations, especially if you have an Athlon. If you upgrade to the Opty and 7900, your computer will do a fine job of running Supreme Commander.

 

[engiNURD]

yes.... dont try to predict the future. wait until the game you want is out and benchmark reviews have been posted for it. THEN build the system. If you can't wait, the X1950Pro is only $9 more than the 7900GS, and outperforms it:
$156 - eVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB ($176 - $20MIR)
$165 - His Hightech H195PRF256DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 256MB ($175 - $10MIR)

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=443&card2=466