Upgrade advice?

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Johan
Unregistered

Posted on 4 May 2007 @ 14:27

Hi, if i would have 400 euro to spend, where should i spend it on? I now have:

Athlon 64 3200+
1GB memory (DDR)
GeForce 6800LE

I play games and would like to optimize my frames per second in newer games. A better videocard is logical, but what about my CPU and memory? Do i need to upgrade those too?

Enlightenment
Administrator

108 posts

Posted on 5 May 2007 @ 14:12

The real question becomes: is your CPU still sufficient for modern games. My experience is that video cards still are the biggest bottlenecks and as such you better concentrate on a good videocard instead.

1GB DDR/400 (i presume?) is quite good already, and buying a dualcore processor won't help you much as most games are single threaded, enabling them to utilize only one processor core. So i would say, buy a good videocard but don't overdo it. Spending 400 euro might be too much, maybe save some money for a new monitor or some gadget (sound, printer, keyboard?) which simply lasts longer.

Take control of the input and you shall become master of the output.

Johan
Unregistered

Posted on 5 May 2007 @ 15:31

So i should buy GeForce 8800GTS for example? Will my CPU have enough power for this video card?

Enlightenment
Administrator

108 posts

Posted on 5 May 2007 @ 21:24

That is quite an expensive videocard, around 360 euro. If you feel it's worth it then i think you will enjoy nice speeds and good graphics. Your CPU will be a bottleneck in lower resolutions. If you plan to play in 1600x1200 however, then it will be fine. If you are thinking about 1280x1024 then a faster processor will probably yield higher results. But replacing your processor now might not be a good idea, since new generations will arrive relatively soon.

It's up to you $:\)$
You may also try review sites on the net, anandtech, x-bit labs, hardOCP, toms hardware, aces hardware.. etc.

Take control of the input and you shall become master of the output.

Mike Hober
Unregistered

Posted on 6 May 2007 @ 16:10

edited 16:10

Seriously dude never buy those really expensive stuff. It's old and cheap within some 6 months so why waste your money? Just buy a reasonable card, wait till 8600GT comes out for example (or is it out already?) and buy one of those. And whenever the next-generation of processors (AMD barcelona?) comes out upgrade your base system.

Crafty
Unregistered

Posted on 6 July 2007 @ 07:05

Got a new AMD 6000+ (dualcore 3GHz 2MB) for less than 145 euro. Even the E6600 costs about 195 euro and the motherboards tend to be more expensive too. So i think AMD's pricecuts made them really attractive even though now everybody is talking about Intel this and Core 2 Duo that. What do you think?

X00X
Unregistered

Posted on 6 July 2007 @ 09:15

3GHz AMD? How much heat will that produce? I'd rather stick to a Core 2 Duo, even though they might be more expensive.

Enlightenment
Administrator

108 posts

Posted on 7 July 2007 @ 04:22

the 6000+ has a TDP of 125W, a lot higher than the 89W TDP of other models. But you should know that the idle usage is a lot lower, especially when using Cool'N'Quiet, which you should. Also, AMD uses only about 70% of rated TDP value. Intel uses close to 85% to 95% and is more power consuming when being idle.

You do not proper cooling though, such as Arctic Freezer 64 Pro, and proper airflow.

Take control of the input and you shall become master of the output.

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