In a dilemma with CPU and GPU!!!

[PCuser21]

hey guys,
I am in a big dilemma! Rioght now I own a 5200, a 3.2 Ghz P$ and 768MB RAM. I am soon hoping to get a new graphics card. But to get a good card like a 7800 I need to get a new motherboard. So, should I upgrade my motherboard and buy a AMD 4000+ and a more buy a worse graphics card eg. 6800GT or should I just upgrade my motherboard, keep the P4 and get a 7800??? thanks a lot

[Jonny]

Upgrade mobo and get a 6800 I reckon. 7800 is overly powerful for modern apps, a 4000+ isn't. IMO.

[PCuser21]

So you think I should keep the processor and just upgrade the card to a 6800 GT or maybe even a Ultra !!!! Also, if I get a CPU cooler, I can get the 3.2 to 4 Ghz!!!!

[Dougal]

Agree with Jonny, 6800GT with 256MB is fine.

I use a 9600XT and a 3000+ A64, runs most games at medium-high setting 1280x1024 no problem

[SilentDeath]

Nothing is too powerfull but then I did play doom3/hl2/faqrcry/everything recent on a 9500np.....

I usually dont upgrade something untill the stuff I can afford is atleast twice as fast as what Ive already got.
Also I often spend half the price of the fastest thing, and upgrade twice as often = more features, and resonably good hardware all year round.

Didnt last time though, so I now have 2.5ghz amd64 + dfi nf4 ultra-d and a X850XTPE.

Current cards are 1,024,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 billion times faster than your 5200, so upgrade it.

You dont need a new mobo/cpu or pci-express yet, there are many decent agp cards.

[PCuser21]

So I think im going to do this.
Get a AGP 6800 ULTRA
Get CPU cooler and O'c to 4 Ghz
Get case and keyboard etc.
Also, can you reach a 7800 without the pipes with a VGA cooler???
thanks

[aidanjt]

you wouldn't go far wrong with 1gb of ram either

[G4Z]

2gb if you want to play BF2

[SilentDeath]

So I think im going to do this.
Get a AGP 6800 ULTRA
Get CPU cooler and O'c to 4 Ghz
Get case and keyboard etc.
Also, can you reach a 7800 without the pipes with a VGA cooler???
thanks

Not sure if you would hit 4ghz, sounds a bit optimistic to me....

Do you mean can a 6800U outperform a 7800 by overclocking, even though it lacks 1/3rd of the pipes? you should be able to get close'ish, but not outperform. Theres no way a 6800U or a X850XTPE could get close to an overclocked 7800 though.

you wouldn't go far wrong with 1gb of ram either

Or 2gb

[Scarlet Infidel]

There are no guarantees with overclocking, so dont count on that. Id definately stick with AGP.

[sawyen]

4Ghz is a little optimistic, unless you're looking to shell out 500 quid for a Vapochill. You might get away with water cooling, but TBH, what's the point? Just drop the money on a 4400+ with A8N-SLi..

6800Ultra will do fine.. it wont break any speed records.. but at least its still a high end card. Getting OC should get you close'ish to maybe a 7800GT, not GTX.. But if I were you, 6800GT should be fine for now.. save up to extra $$ till ATi rolls out its R520... then you'll just pick the winner in the battle'o'royale between G71 and R520..

Running a 5200 is well, what can I say? I had a 5600 Ultra that sucked so bad (still running in my barton household server tho).. its almost a legit crime against humanity. Me old 5600 Ultra cant even handle FC well at 1024x768 with AAs turned on, let alone anything newer.. ran DOOM 3 at medium on 800x600, that is as good as it gets.. so I'll assume 5200 would be far worse..

definitely get 2GB for future proofing, but it is getting a little dodgy with AMD's decision for DDR2 on M2.. Where are all the XMS-TCCD/OCZ-BH5s going after we all switch to M2? Hmnn.. maybe those PCI memory storage SATA everyone's been talking about?

[PCuser21]

thanks alot guys. You all really helped me! I think I may go for the XFX 6800 GT 256mb because it is only 200 on ebuyer and I will get 1 GB of RAM, so I will end up with 1.5GB. Sawyen, I don't have enough money to buy a processor and a GPU, only 1 of them, but I think i'll stick with AGP and the 6800GT for about a year.

[Grey M@a]

So you think I should keep the processor and just upgrade the card to a 6800 GT or maybe even a Ultra !!!! Also, if I get a CPU cooler, I can get the 3.2 to 4 Ghz!!!!

Stick with the GT and clock it to ultra speeds which they do quite happily and save yourself a few bob. The XFX 6800GT cards seems to be ultra's which are downclocked as they run at ultra speeds without any heat increase

[SilentDeath]

Stick with the GT and clock it to ultra speeds which they do quite happily and save yourself a few bob. The XFX 6800GT cards seems to be ultra's which are downclocked as they run at ultra speeds without any heat increase

Increasing mhz will increase heat output linearly

Downclocked cards usually have worse memory chips, wosre cooling, different bios (which on nvidia cards could affect voltages - which would affect overclock) and other things.
A real ultra would probably overclock past the downclocked cards.. but the other should easly match a stock top-of-that-range card.

[PCuser21]

I'm actually gonna wait to see if they go down in price. Right now, i'm looking at a XFX 6800GT

[Nox]

Computer stuff always goes down in price - just depends how long you want to wait.

Nox