Budget upgrade question... Which first?

[no1sdn]

I am thinking about getting a new CPu or gfx card, but i can't decide which to get first. The PC really used for playing ut2003 and surfing the net. I currently have a ahtlon 1ghz and a GF2MX-32mb card. I am trying to decided if i should go for a 1700xp or a 5200 ultra. I really don't know which upgrade would be better for gaming :/

[Bindibadgi]

5200 U imo, for gaming anyway.

[RoGuE|SaBeR]

Gfx Card.

I was in the same situation at the start of the summer with a 1.2ghz thunderbird and a GeForce MX 200 32mb. Got myself a Radeon 9600 pro and WOW!

I'll admit there is definatly a performance cieling and a better processor would help again but like Bindi said, for gaming get the gfx card.

[no1sdn]

Thanks for the replies. Gfx card it is.

[Axion]

cant you afford anything better than 5200ultra? which is really really rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishe... id get a geforce 3ti ahead of it...

[no1sdn]

Been doing a bit of research and the 5200 doesnt look all that good. I will most probably go with this:

ti4200

[Austin]

Definitely the gfx card, 1ghz is still enough to pull out a HUGE perf increase from a more modern gfx card (even FX5200/5600) and you can soak up some of the untapped gfx card power by using AA+AF and upping the details & res.

GF4TI4200 is the sweet pick at the mo, it offers perf in line with the GF-FX5600ultra & Rad9600PRO (minus their DX9 & great AA+AF) but yet it costs a good 50% less. Defintiely the card I'd rec. Cheapest of the good stores is easily www.dabs.com item 2C5W (quicklinks) under £80 inc P&P (std 1-3 is usually next day)...

http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-in...quicklinx=2C5W

[GuruJockStrap]

Deffo go with the Ti4200. Great card and overclocks really well. Some hitting Ti4600 speed with ease. Even with a 1Ghz chip, you'll still notice a massive difference and can probably whack up the res/aniso/detail/aa and not notice a tumble in fps. And when you get round to upgrading the cpu/mobo, the ti4200 would still serve you well as it scales pretty well as you increase cpu power.

[RoGuE|SaBeR]

Or if you wanna future proof get a Radeon 9600 pro like me

Fully Direct X 9 compatible, Open GL 2.0 when its released and overclockable to boot!

[Swafe]

def gfx


cpu later will increase it a lot, but gfx will mainly help, i went from a geforce2 to a ti4800, wow, 4 times the 3dmark

cpu 700 -> 1.5ghz wow...no big deal