Bored and want to upgrade

[Bro John (UK)]

Plus it's my birthday this week

My spec's are as below, and to be honest I am more than pleased with it.

However I would like to run games on higher settings with larger screen rez, and the 98'pro aint quite cutting it!

If I got myself a 6800/x800 would my CPU be a bottle neck? If I got a new CPU I would have to get 64bit, therfore new mobo, if getting new mobo then shouldn't I wait for PCI-express, but then I would need a new GFX card

Does anyone have any ideas when the PCI-express 6800/x800's will be available?

Another quickie! I only have generic 3200 ram, would high performance ram, give me noticeable performance increase?

TY.

J.

[DaKid]

Aren't PCI-E X800XTs about as available as AGP ones at the moment (i.e. not very, but possible) ?

[mike_w]

With regards to upgrading the RAM, I think the money that you would spend on 'high performance RAM' could give a much greater performance boost by upgrading the CPU or graphics card.

However, the system you've got now is still pretty good, and you should still be able to run most games on top notch settings for a while. If you wait, prices should drop on 64-bit processors and motherboards, and the new PCI-Express cards should come out.

If you do want to upgrade right now, then I recommend a Socket 939 CPU - it's fast, and since Socket 939 will be around for a while, you can upgrade to a better processor in the future. I'm not sure, but a top of the range 6800 or X800 would probably be slowed down by your CPU.

Hope this helps

Mike

[jamadaia]

My sympathies John, as iv just gone through the same thing.
Upgraded to a A64 setup.
Soon followed faster RAM upgrade, cause apparently you shouldnt skimp on memory with the A64.
And now im sitting here staring at my 9800 and thinking 'man the gfx aint doing this system justice'
Argggggggggggggggg LOL

[Bro John (UK)]

Just found 6800 ultra 256 for £330 (15 in stock, may order one this week?)

[Reaper]

id suggest 6800gt over 6800ultra, the ultra is power mad, hot and too large! get a gt and o/c youll be glad you did. that will tide you over for a few months and then you can add an athlon64 to it and really rock. 939 should be better priced by then.

[Spud1]

or just wait......that system can handle doom3 with ease at mid-high settings, and it will max out CS: Source easily [i have a very similar system)

I would wait until the next gen of GFX cards - or at least for 512meg cards as texture sizes are increasing all the time and to run the games of the future at full whack i rekon your going to need all that video ram. Patience will reward you my friend Only upgrade when you need to, not when you want to or else you will probably waste your money

[Stewart]

No, don't wait, there is always something to wait for, and if you wait, you don't get to enjoy your new hardware.

If you are not happy with your 9800pro, or want a gaming experiance your 9800pro can not deliver, then you are spoilt for choice at the moment, 6800, 6800GT, 6800Ultra, or staying with ATi, X800pro, X800XT-PE.

Go for it mate, you will not regret it.

As for the RAM; I wouldn't use generic RAM in a decent gaming rig, as its going to hold you back, on the other hand, don't let CPU \ GPU money be wasted on really expensive gaming RAM. Some decent Corsair, Crucial, Crucial Ballistix, Kingmax, etc will more than suffice.

Don't spend silly money on it though, about £150ish if you can. That's what I paid for my gig of CorsairXMS 3200.

[0iD]

6800 Ultra, Corsair or Geil ram, & an A64 3500+ & MSI Neo Plat mobo.
Go on, hammer that credit card
you know u want to

Waiting is rubbish

[Spud1]

I was saying wait as at the moment theres nothing at all worth upgrading in his system except the ram - and even that would be a waste of cash soon...

the current 'new' 3D cards dont offer enough of an upgrade over a 9800pro/XT to justify them...unless u want to run with 16xaa and AF ofc...

Theres no established 64-bit socket out yet at a reasonable price, -939 has the best outlook but its still very very expensive. as for ram, DDR2 should be standard soon-ish..

Your really better off holding off a month till more PCI-Xpress boards and DDr2 boards are out then plumping for one of those with an A64 chip, new ram and a PCI-Xpress vid card...Your current system easily copes with ALL current games so whats the point in upgrading now?

Look at it this way, if you wait another month you will have even more £££ to make your system an even better beast

[Applecrusher]

OC that CPU and get a new 6800GT or X800 pro!!
If the CPU is overclocked enough itll not be much of a bottleneck

[Bro John (UK)]

Thanks guys, your input is really appreciated.

If I upgraded my ram say to corsair XML, would that ram be ok for my next processor (hopefully FX 53)? or should I hold back back and get the ram after I get the FX?

[Stoo]

The Corsair xl series is pc4000 disguised as pc3200, so you can crank up the memory speed as required, ddr2 is a bit pointless as it doesn't really offer much over ddr1 and the latencies are pish at the moment.

To be honest I'd wait until early next year when you'll be able to get a 939 for a sensible price, along with a 939 dual pci express motherboard, and an R500 gfx card. That would be a more worthwhile upgrade.

If you tweak the settings of Doom3 you can get good performance out of a 9800pro too, so if you can wait a little while the platform is going to be that bit more stable, and you should get more bang for your buck

[Bro John (UK)]

Been giving this matter more thought. I totally agree about waiting, but my partner is paying for half of whatever I get or she is getting me clothes.

Clothes or Hardware Hmmm, Difficult choice

I need to make my order this week, would prefer a X800xt but cannot find anywhere with stock seen some 6800 ultra's (evesham?)

I probably gonna get new gfx, then save a bit for fx53 or similiar with new mobo, then mid next year upgrade to PCI-express and hopefully 512meg cards.

I prefer stability so tend not to oc, (plus I havent really tried )

[Richdog]

Best price/performance memory at the moment? Crucial Ballistix PC3200 http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/Part...64Z402&cat=RAM £190 with free shipping.

Got myselg a Gig to play around with and it arrived yesterday. Does 2-2-2-11 at 225Mhz and apparently does 250Mhz at 2.5-2-2-11 (mobo limiting me form trying higher atm)... all at 2.8v.

And get yourtself the cheapest 6800GT you can find, i'd order a BFG one from PCWORLD componentcentre http://www.pcwcomponentcentre.co.uk/...fgr68256gtocuk £260 and guaranteed to OC to at least Ultra speeds... that's saving £60 over an ultra.

Then with those components you'll be set for the soon to be coming A64 price drop and can get yourself a decent 939 system. Alternatively, get yourself a 3400+ Skt 754 for £190 http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?s...2-0000D52EA46E and a DFI Lanparty Ultra-D motherboard (its released to buy in a week or so) and you will then have a system that will do you for a good while to come. You will also get a 2500Mhz overclock from it at least with that RAM and mobo.