Boiler puts end to PC,help needed!!

[wannabgeek]

Hope you can help me on this!
I was on the verge of ordering my new all singin and dancing PC,when the 'Poxy' boiler decided to go Bang!! So now my only alternative is to slowly start saving for another, or try to make my 2 year old PC go faster, (specs below).But the only time i opened my PC case was 4 weeks ago when i updated the Graphics card. But i am quite confident i could upgrade myself, but would need some help on which parts to change. Should i change the Mobo,if so PCI-Ex or AGP...but would i have to change the CPU also. And if i do that, do i get P4 0r Athlon 64,which will be around the longest? Or maybe add some more RAM,but do i add to what i already have or sell the old and maybe buy 2 newsticks of 512's. But i would like to keep the cost down as much as poss,or upgrade slowly..."say over 6 mnths"! As for graphics card,i recently changed my old ATI 9000 128mb for a 9800se AIW,but i am selling that and looking to get a new 9800 pro or a XT. What do you think? Then there is the HDD. The one i have sounds a bit 'Ropey',so that will have to go! "GOD i'm building a whole PC here"! Let's not forget the PSU or some good cooling!
Many thanks in advance!

[Lu-tze]

what do you use the pc for? personally i think your current spec is fine and wouldnt bother upgrading. but if you want an upgrade and plan on going the amd64 route later, look at buying 1gb dual channel ddr400 as you'll notice a boost now and will be able to transfer the ram over later. that said, you could also leave the ram til last for upgrading as what you have will work in a new amd set-up. i think its generally best to wait and buy everything together.

you could of course just go without hot water...

[Steve]

What boiler model was it?

Oh, and your PC spec looks OK to be honest. Maybe it's due a format and windows reinstall? It might give you chance to scrape together some money for a far better system.

[Flibb]

Did you try a soft mod on the 9800se AIW? If it works you would get some free speed, only thing I would add to that system would be some extra RAM. Think most of us that play games tend to have a gig. Apart from that seems ok

[wannabgeek]

Thanks for fast response!

The PC is used for gaming about once a week but mostly for editing/multimedia etc. I did do the softmod successfully,but as it runs too hot i don't want to go down the new fan/Articcooler road, i would rather a new card,9800XT maybe! I did do a clean install & even tried 3 partitions but it still seems slow. Do you think it could be down to some dust inside the case,as i did notice around the cpu fan was a bit dirty?
Re Boiler; It was a Biasi (spanish crap) in the skip now. Now got a 'Worcester', Hence No Money left!
Re Lu-tze; I was thinking along them lines...Oh and if it was me,i would of 'stunk' & got the PC... Bloody Missus!

PS. Just ran the free Version of 3Dmark 05 and got a score of 2153. The card was a 9800se AIW with 8 pipes open and on default core 378 & Mem 297 settings,stock fan. Can anybody tell me if the score ishigh or low?

[iranu]

Your rig is fine.

1Gb of pc3200 running at pc2700 speeds will improve performance. And then you can swap it to your new rig later. Keep the nanya cos you might want to run your current rig as a server/seti machine etc.

[megah0]

What boiler model was it?

Listen to the man, our Kez is a boiler expert!

[weebroonieuk]

yeh what model was it and what went wrong exactly , lets make sure its definetly went bang and not repairable

[Steve]

He's replaced it so there's no point.

Still after upgrades or are you gonna sit on your current system for a few more months?

[wannabgeek]

Judging by your comments i think i will stay with my current system and just do what iranu says and update Mem to 1 gb (would any good Mem do)?
And as my se card is near sold (via ebay) i will update to a 9800XT or something simular. Any suggestions will be more than welcome!

PS If Boiler troubles me again Kez,i know where to knock, Cheers Fella's!

[johnnr892]

Unless you have a really good deal on a 9800xt don't buy it!, get a 6600gt instead, it's fatser I think and it has the newer technology. I think others here would agreee. What price have you got for a 9800xt?

[mike_w]

9800XTs are rather stupid buys right now, unless you can get a special price somehow. At the midrange price, ATi have the 9800 Pro and nVidia have the 6600GT. The 6600GT tends to be faster, is from the current generation and can play everything fine, apart from the very latest games at high resolutions and AA.

As for RAM, I would stick to decent budget RAM such as Crucial or Corsair Value Select.

[wannabgeek]

Yes i have been looking at the 6600GT and that dose look like a good option!
PS I actually meant 9600xt not 9800,sorry!

[aidanjt]

i have a 9600XT with a zalman block on it, massive thing, but it freezes the nuts off it.. and i get great overclocking from it.

[wannabgeek]

i have a 9600XT with a zalman block on it, massive thing, but it freezes the nuts off it.. and i get great overclocking from it.

Does that card come in PCi-EX format?

[mike_w]

Does that card come in PCi-EX format?

No, but you can get the X700 instead.