Gfx upgrade? Yay or Nay?

[nazzo]

Hi Guys

My pc is a few years old (P4 3.0Ghz) and I'm planning to upgrade to a C2D (E6600) next month.

I've recently bought a 19" Widescreen monitor (LG L194WT) and plan to play games with this set-up.

So getting to the crux of the matter, in my current set-up I have an AGP ATi 9600XT and have a budget of £130 for a nex Gfx card. So if i am only going to use my 19" monitor would an outlay of £130 for a new GFx get me something which will show massive difference to the 9600XT and hence i should spend the monies elsewhere on my new build or shall i upgrade? if so what would you guys recommend for that amount. Would you recommend that i stretch my budget higher?

Thanks in advance

[McMav]

Wait if you can coz with new cpu you'll probs get a new mobo and go pci-e.

[nazzo]

Ok. So if i then get new CPU and mobo what Gfx would you recommend for that price keeping in mind i will be playing on that 19" TFT.

Thx.

[nichomach]

Well, I think you'll probably have little choice about the upgrade if your 9600 is AGP, since C2D capable boards with AGP slots are a little thin on the ground. Your new screen's a 1440x900 res, so you won't need stupidly expensive graphics to get decent performance out of it. You'd easily get a 7900GS for that money, but where I'd spend it is on an X1950Pro. That said, if you COULD stretch to say £165, you'd get the 256MB version of the X1950XT - http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4BM9 (I looked at Scan, but they're showing it as OOS). A stupidly fast card for relatively little money, and the fact that it's only 256MB is unliklely to hurt at the resolutions you'll be running.

[mosherben]

how about http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/119203/rb/24900703246

free delivery also if you use super saver

[dave87]

If you are going C2D next month, then wait it out - spend the extra £130 on the new system.

[nazzo]

Thx a lot guys, you've been very helpful. When i get my rig set up i will let you know how i get on. i think i will go for the X1950XT.

[kalniel]

The x1950xt is indeed a nice card. The only reason I'd delay on that is the news that ATI are letting manufactures fiddle with it a bit more now, so you might see some different spec models coming out soon with better variation in prices.

[nazzo]

The x1950xt is indeed a nice card. The only reason I'd delay on that is the news that ATI are letting manufactures fiddle with it a bit more now, so you might see some different spec models coming out soon with better variation in prices.

that's even better!!

[Nomadd]

Hi Guys

My pc is a few years old (P4 3.0Ghz) and I'm planning to upgrade to a C2D (E6600) next month.

I'm in the same boat as you.

Why not either wait until the E6600 drops in price (April) or buy a E6300/6400 instead and overclock? The money saved will boost you graphics card budget quite a bit.

The new 320MB 8800GTS is out soon, and you might then have enough for that. It'll smoke anything else around in that price bracket - including the X1950XT.

The 8600 will also be out in a month or so, so again, it makes sense to wait. It's not as if there are a huge number of games out there right now that are crying for the upgrade.

IMHO, waiting a month or two at this moment in time is the best thing to do.

Nomadd

[piranha]

I have a 24" Dell and a E660 running a 1900xt and would recommend only a 8800gtx or possibly waiting for the R600 as at a resolution of 1920x1200 you need a beefy card to run games with all eye candy.

[Smokey21]

X1950pro?

[nazzo]

I'm in the same boat as you.

Why not either wait until the E6600 drops in price (April) or buy a E6300/6400 instead and overclock? The money saved will boost you graphics card budget quite a bit.

The new 320MB 8800GTS is out soon, and you might then have enough for that. It'll smoke anything else around in that price bracket - including the X1950XT.

The 8600 will also be out in a month or so, so again, it makes sense to wait. It's not as if there are a huge number of games out there right now that are crying for the upgrade.

IMHO, waiting a month or two at this moment in time is the best thing to do.

Nomadd

that's fantastic advice there.

Thanks. The wait is a killer though isn't it!!!

[Nomadd]

that's fantastic advice there.

Thanks. The wait is a killer though isn't it!!!

Yep, the waiting can be a pain. But...

The E6600 is due to drop (April 22nd) to the same price as the current E6400. The E6300/6400 will also gain 4MB cache. So, the saving on your processor could be £60+ (inc. VAT).

I've also noticed that memory prices have dropped quite a bit in the last few weeks, and that trend is likely to continue from what I've been reading.

Plus most of the major mobo's are also about to get updated (i.e. DS3, P5B), so I'd rather wait a month and get one of the newer ones.

Add in the huge raft of new graphics cards from both AMD(ATi) and Nvidia, and there's yet another price-war in the making.

With Cebit being so close, it's crazy to upgrade right now. I'd say sitting tight for just another month or two will pay off big time.

The next few games I'm waiting for are Crysis, HL2-Ep.2 and UT3. These have all been delayed until at least mid-year. I've told myself that until I see these games ship, and see some benchmark results from them, I'm not going to budge. I have to update my entire machine - which is expensive - so when I do do it, I want to do it right!

Nomadd

[nazzo]

You've certainly done your research there. You make some very good technical points and they also make economical sense.

What are the main updates to the mobo's consist of?

Thx

[kalniel]

They should recieve refreshes to support a CPU clock frequency of 333mhz (FSB=1333mhz) for the new E6*50 chips.