What next?

[dadofsam]

have got a:
xp 1600 @1.4
512 pc2700 crucial
Radeon 9000 128mb
Volcanoe 9
350 watt qtec!!!!! psu

basically looking to upgrade 1 compnenet will have how ever much component sells for + around £50, what do you reccomena to upgrade, was looking at a barton 2500+ is it worth it?

[Austin]

What type of mobo do you have and do you know more info abou your XP1600+? Volcano9 though decent is certainly inferior to the Volcano 11/12 and they sell for £15ish at Dabs, you should get near £10 for your V9. 350W Q-Tec isn't nice, a lovelly CWT PSU from Scan would be a very cheap and quality replacement even if you can only afford the £25 350W(ish) one.

But by far the biggest concern is the Rad9000, much slower than the Rad9000PRO which in turn is much slower than the Rad8500 it replaced. Considering you should find a Rad8500 (250/250 min), Rad9600 (possibly), GF4TI (getting rare) or a even a GF-FX (pref FX5600) for close to £50 they'd all be a decent step up. The Rad9600PRO is really the card to get but they are a good £100 ... still you should get £30-40 for your Rad9000 (it sounds good if you know what I mean) and any GF4TI will be a big jump even if you don't o/c. DO you game much on your PC? Where you shoudl spend your money depends on what you use your PC for and what preferences you have.

[dadofsam]

soz should have said, i think its a rad 9000 pro but cant be 100% on it, i have an asus a7v8x, and i use my machine for mostly gamoing but with a bit of everything thrown in, no video editing etc.though. my xp1600 is a Palomino, the L1 cache is 128mb and the L2 is 256, do u need any more info? Do psu's really effect performance?

[joshwa]

PSU's don't effect performance, but they can effect stability - if you had stability issues and you knew your ram / mobo etc was fine then it could be your PSU.

If you do SETI/UD things like that then a new CPU would make a BIG difference, but if you game a lot then a new graphics card should make a big difference. (accompanied by a new CPU later on...)

If you game and find you get slow frame rates or you want to use higher resolutions but can't, then GFX card would be best to upgrade, - but if you have like a 15" monitor, then you may be completely fine gaming at 800x600 etc.

If I were you (or rather - if it were my pc), I'd go for the CPU upgrade,

[dadofsam]

soz for soundin dumb but what does SETI/UD mean? is a fx5600 better than a ti4200? as they both look around the same price, also am worried about the heat, when playing bf1942 for example my cpu can get as hot as 55 degrees, is this normal as heard Palominos run quite hot anway?

[Austin]

asus a7v8x is KT400 so 333FSB ready and happily accepts Tbreds and Barton. Considering you can get a TbredB XP1700+ to XP2000+ for £40-50 which not only runs cooler but often o/c's to around XP2800+ speeds it would seem a worthwhile upgrade esp as you should get £25ish for your current CPU ... that's a HUGE upgrade for £20! You may find you want a better HSF but a TbredB running at XP2600+ speed will still run about as cool as your Pally XP1600+. VOlcano 9 is more than fine for that! Although it shoudl only cost you £5ish (after trade-in) to upgrade to the superior V11/12.

But for gaming the gfx card is easily where it's at. GF4TI are brilliant and now sell for little money (£50?). Your 9000PRO is still capable and desirable to many and should fetch around £40-50 itself! That leaves the PSU, it is a light risk using a dodgy PSU, your call really ... Scan is the best place for cheap qulaity PSUs (CWT) but P&P means you'd have to buy everythign fromt here and their prices aren't the most competitive. Brand makes all the diff in PSU, 350W is fine if the brand is good, 400W+ is simply better for peace of mind and the future.

EDIT: FX5600 is way slower than the FX5600ultra which still struggles against the stock GF4TI4200 ... GF4TI is easily the better option and shoudl be cheaper too. BTW SETI is Search for Extra Terr Intelligence and runs in the background number crunching over the net, demands a lot of your CPU but only cycles that would otherwise go unused.

[dadofsam]

hi, thanx for all the replys, i here about these super xp1700 but how can i tell if its overclockable? the big thing against my volcaone 9 at the moment is the noise, are the 11s and 12s quietter? think i might do both of what u said Austin, are there ceratin places that i can sell gfx cards for more etc. as some people arent as clued up as others? also is there much in the radeon 9600, the geforce fx5600 and the ti 4200? as they are all quite near the same price

[Austin]

To get an XP1700+ to XP2000+ that o/c's well all you need to do is ensure it uses the TbredB core. You can tell from what's written on the CPU, JUIHB and AUIHB are both examples of TbredB. It must be TbredB though, TbredA is not as good, just much cooler than the Pally. You may find Thorton now replacing some TbredB, they are as good but may be locked ... it's best to choose a CPU with a good stock multiplier just in case. With a 333FSB mobo that would be the XP2000+ or XP2100+ although you will pay more for these over the XP1700+ and the XP2100+ will apeear locked on many mobos because its stock mult is > 12.5x. If this boggles you don't worry

EDIT: Oh yeah the V11/12 are noticably quieter, if you want more from a HSF it costs quite a lot more cash. You may want to factor in some decent compound for that little extra edge too, CM or AS should be under £5 and do many applications.

[dadofsam]

looking at ti4200, does it make a difference between a 64mb version and a 128? also do the different brands make a difference

[iamwhoiam]

SETI - you heard of Seti@Home project? Check here:
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

[iamwhoiam]

oh yeah, regarding ti4200:
Difference between 64/128 will only be noticeable if you play high-texture games like MaxPayne2/Halo. Note that most of the new graphics cards these days come with 128mb minimum.

Brands don't make a lot of difference on graphics cards as most companies use the same reference layouts that nvidia provice to them. Noticeable variances between brands only appear when they begin offering extras (like VIVO, dual outs).

[dadofsam]

right, am in the process of buying a xp 1700 which has done 2.2hz, anyone give me a sensible guide of overclocking, also should i buy some decnet thermal compound? 1 more thing, is it just me that has to get a screwdriver to attach there heatsink, i find it incredibly difficult. anyone got any tips?