new hardware help me choose?

[MaLicE]

hi

right i will first ouline my current pc spec as it may help you give me some info....

abit ic7
p4 2.4
512mb pc3500 ocz
2x 80gb seagate barracuddas ATA
cdrw and dvd etc...
radeon 9700pro

now all of this is watercooled, the graphics card has bladerunners blocks on it, and the cpu and northbridge are watercooled all in a lian li case cant remember model number but its the full tower with full sound deadening and the big ali door on the front of it....

ok now my 9700 has seen better days playing farcry it starts to cry.... i need more power...

my cpu is atm at stock speeds but for the past 9 months i guess has been at 3gig...

now my problem is i have enough money for a new graphics card... im trying to choose between the ati x800xt or a nvidia 6800ultra (gonna make a post in the graphics section in a bit)

now my main problem or sumbling block im having atm is, do i just stump up the cash for either the nvidia or ati in agp form... or do i change the motherboard/cpu/ram and go for the new intel chip... with the 775 chip and motherboard and try and find some ddr2 and go with the pci express card ??? komplett have a pci express x800xt for around 340 quid.... only reason im asking is, is in a few months time if i decide to upgrade then when pci express is more common will i regret it ? do i sink my self in to debt with my mum to upgrade it all now ?

cheers for your help in advance

[Kezzer]

Don't get DDR-2, it's a waste at the moment, the latencies are like 4

If i were you I would wait a bit and go for the Socket 939 CPU's and you can get a motherboard with the PCI-Express bus on it and then get a card of your choice. It's best to wait a while at the moment since the new technologies will drop in price.

[Stoo]

tbh the only thing you'll really need to do is upgrade the video (ATi would be better, uses less power and produces less heat), and try to upgrade to a gig of ram if you can..

That combo will happily see you through the next year or so then

[MaLicE]

ok just speaking to some 1 wont mention names as im not sure if they want people to know but they have just flashed a x800 pro VIVO to x800xtpe and has full 16 pipes working and at the xtpe clock speed.... and has used the pencil trick ?

if i was to go for the x800pro i could afford to upgrade my ram at the same time...

would i notice a diff if i was to upgrade my cpu to say ... 2.8gig prescot which will give me the 1mb cashe and also fsb 800 and hyperthreading whould i notice a difference ??

and would my IC7 accept the prescot ?

[Bruno]

If it was me I'd just get a 6800GT for just now, keep the rest of the system, save the extra cash then once you need it upgrade the lot at once (once all the new standards are anywhere near standard)- if it's debt with your Mum, best to spend wisely

[Stoo]

noooo avoid precott, your temps will rocket for little to no performance gain..

IIRC it's the Club3D X800Pro's which flash easily

[Bruno]

Just upgrade the gcard just now IMO to whatever you choose, but I wouldn't spend >£300 on a card that'll be <£300 in a month or 2. Go for the best bang for buck and don't leap into any new standards.

Just my 2p's worth

[MaLicE]

what about a non prescot with hyperthreading etc ?

i herd its the club and the saphire cards...

[Ashen]

Your setup is fine except for the graphics card. Get a geforce 6800gt. People can spout off about how the X800 pro series produce less heat, but you're watercooled so it doesn't make a difference (even if you weren't I'd be suprised if it impacted case temperatures. For DOOM 3 Nvidia is the way to go and the 6800gt is the pick of the day. Do yourself a favor and pick one up. Look at some reviews of it. It beats the x800 pro solidly in many games and keeps up in almost all of the others ( I'm generalizing, bear with me, no flames please). Plus, it has SM 3.0, for just a little more longevity, especially if you're buying with mother's money.

[madwelshboy]

to be honest mate, your setup is very similar to mine (IC7, used to have 2.4C, 9700), Farcry runs flawlessly on mine but I think that a gig of ram is a minimum (u can turn pagefiling off then :-) )
Dont bother with a gcard yet, r50 will be out soon (ati get their own back on evil nvidia :-) )

[BenW]

yep, definatly get a gig of RAM!

[MaLicE]

well my g card is really on its last legs, had a few problems in the past and its really dieing now i bit the bullit and got a goooooood price on a x800 pro vivo which i intend to to modd to a x800xpe and hopefully should have waterblocks made soon...

ram will be ordered soon also... guess i gotta try and find some ram the same ? its the ocz pc3500 512mb ram with the copper sinks on it... to take advantage of duel ram or what ever it is ...