turbodriven

I want it to play WELL and have some playability for other big things in the next year. Don't want to spend over $500 though. If that's possible.

Here is what I have right now.
AMD Athlon 1.3
ASUS motherboard A7A266
512megs DDR 266 (which is actually 2x 256megs)
Antec case with 350watt power supply
Dell 18.1" LCD (DVI capable)
POS 32meg Video card (3DFX I believe)
DVD-ROM, CDRW, 60gig and 40gig HD's, 1.44 floppy, keyboard, mouse yada yada

1) Ok.. so I know I have to upgrade my processor... probably want to stick with AMD. Not sure if I need a new motherboard too. Probably?
2) Definately want a new video card. Looking at GeForce but not sure exactly which one? Help there would be appreciated. 128meg? 256meg? differences in bit clock rates, pixels per clock, textures per pixel... I'm lost. What do I need without going overboard
3) Also my RAM... I'd like to keep the 512 I already have but maybe bump it up to 1gig. Can I add 512 of 333 or do I have to stick with 266 all the way around? Is the 266 that bad?
4) Anything else that looks like a sore thumb. Powersupply/Case maybe?

Thanks for any help on this!!!

saltfish

I've seen an Athlon 1.2 with 512MB ram run FarCry.. ..and very well at that.

But..

It was running with an ATI AIW 9800 Pro, 128MB.

Helluva video card.

-SF

Mephex

1) Not yet, necessarily.
2) Go ATI, someone like Lasereth will point you in the right direction.
3) Double your ram, keep them at the same speed.
4) Wait on the rest, then when you have cash, new Mobo/PSU/CPU.

Just my 2 bits.

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GlassHouse420

1) New Processor (AXP2500+) should run about $80, and a motherboard (nforce 2 ultra 400) will be about $60-70
2) If you can spare $200, get a 9800Pro 128mb, if you dont have that much, get a radeon 9600pro or XT 128mb
3) You cant use DDR266 with a 2500+, but you can with a 2400+, so u can keep it if you downgrade the processor.
If you get new ram, get 2X256mb of DDR400, no use in getting a gig.
4)Case and power supply seem good, if the power supply is also an antec, if its not, look into getting at least a 380-400+ watt antec power supply.
If you want any links on all the parts I listed, then PM me, or AIM me.

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Lasereth

Abit NF7-S Revision 2.0 Motherboard $100
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton 1.83 GHz $80
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB $200
512 MB of Corsair PC3200 $80 (I suggest at least 768 MB...1 GB if you can afford it. RAM makes a HUGE difference in games today)

The rest of your old parts will do fine.

-Lasereth

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Redjake

exactomundo

I strongly suggest 768 MB of RAM.......my levels load in Vietnam about twice as fast as someone with 512

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turbodriven

Thanks for all your insight...

... providing I'd want 1gig of RAM on that setup... I'd be paying around $540 from newegg.com for that. The alternative would be... pay $420, use my exhisting 512meg of RAM, and go with the Athlon XP 2400+ instead.

So my question is... to save $120 how much "less" of a system would the 2400+ with 1gig of 266mhz RAM be than a 2500+ with 1gig of 400mhz RAM? Noticable? Worth the $120 to go the 2500/400mhz route?

Mephisto2

That's an awful lot of money just to play one game.

Why not just buy an X-Box or PS2?


Mr Mephisto

PS - I'm being hypocritical, 'cuz I want to upgrade my PC too... heh

turbodriven

Hehe, I already have both... bored with them... graphics suck compared to PC (especially Far Cry)... should I go on?

Edit: I'm also waiting on Half Life 2 and a few others. Although for some reason, Half Life 2 has less hardware requirements than Far Cry... A lot less. After seeing the video demo of HL2 I find that surpising. Hrmm. Anyway... setting up for Far Cry should keep me up to date on hardware requirements for a little while at least.

Lasereth

The extra L cache on Bartons and the increased FSB make it worth it. Combined with the PC3200 RAM, you have overclocking options and a general increase in power. It's worth the extra money. I wouldn't even consider getting anything less if you want to consider it a true upgrade. Those parts are so cheap right now that it's the perfect choice for $500 upgrades.

-Lasereth

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Redjake

please don't use the 2400+ The barton 250+ is so much better, it's incredible. you won't be sorry.

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mciprepaid

this game really needs a killer rig. i have a 3Ghz presscott P4, 768MB Dual Channel PC3200 RAM, a Radeon 9800 Pro (410/350), Audigy 2 and my frame rates still drop to 15 at certain moments! Even when my Far Cry settings are only on high, no AA and 1AF!

Dragonlich

You should probably get one of those new Geforce 6 cards. That should be sufficient to play Farcry. Well, at 640x480 anyway!

(Okay, just kidding, but it's a thought. They're supposed to come out soon, which will probably result in an overall price drop for the rest of the Geforce cards. Or not.)

turbodriven

Patience is a virtue... unfortunately I want it NOW!

newegg.com has OEM - ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128meg cards on sale today and tomorrow only for $204 shipped. I've been pulling research and for the money this seems to be the one everyone is "raving" about. With neweggs good reputation I'd have to say "I'm there".

tkkfan

For a little over $500 (I just did this upgrade 2 wks ago)
get:

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
AMD Athlon xp 3000+ (2.1ghz) (400mhz FSB)
Corsair TWINX PC3200 1gb


granted I already have an ATI 9700 Pro, but u can get a 9800 Sapphire Video card (has an ATI Chip) 128mb ddr for about $120

It will run everything now and everything that is coming out.

The vid card and the mem will make the biggest improvements hands down. In fact my most precious upgrade has been memory. In my experience, Corsair XMS and TWINX has the best performance when used in gaming apps.

Understand tho, you must get at least a 128mb video card to run these games.

The processor seems ok to me tho, AMD clock speeds (not overclocked) are only running a little over 2.0 ghz. 1.3 is still enough to run all of these games.

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Dragonlich

Tkkfan, the TWINX is not needed, and quite expensive for the slight speed increase. Get identical value series memory, and you'll get almost the same speed for about half the money. You could then spend that extra money on a bigger videocard.

tkkfan

nah that value shit sux. at least get teh regular

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Lasereth

I'd go for value RAM and a better videocard unless you plan on overclocking. I don't mean generic cheapshit RAM, either -- I mean Kingston, Crucial, etc. A better videocard will improve performance way more than a better processor or even better RAM. Today's games use videogames much more than the processor and RAM, especially when compared to 3 or 4 years ago.

-Lasereth

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Dragonlich

value shit sux... but of course it does. I've got it running right here, been doing that for the past 6 months, along with pretty much everyone we (as a series of computer shops) sell computers to. If there's one that that's reliable, it's corsair value "shit" memory. The regular would be XMS memory, which is indeed faster (due to better CAS latency), but also more expensive.

Sure it's "only" CAS 2.5, but it's reliable and handles overclocking well.

And Lasereth is probably more right than he knows... If you stick one gigs of memory in an olde Athlon 1 Ghz, and add a 9800 pro, you'll be playing Farcry at pretty decent framerates. The CPU is hardly a bottleneck anymore.

turbodriven

Ok... riddle me this. In the mail I've got a SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit coming. For the time being I'm keeping my Athlon 1.33 and motherboard.

Here is the question. In a week... I'll have the $ to buy more RAM as step 2. Will 1gig (2x 512meg) Corsair PC3200 work in an ASUS motherboard (A7A266)? Will it work efficiently?

Keep in mind that step three (maybe next month at the latest) will be me forking out the cash for the Athlon 2500+ with a Abit NF7-S motherboard (or equivilent).

Ultimately I'm just wondering if the PC3200 is going to be collecting dust on my shelf for a month.

bltzkriegmcanon

Yeah, there's no way that mobo will support that PC3200 RAM you're getting. Says on asus' website that the max speed supported is 2100. Looks like that RAM is gonna enjoy some shelf time, and your ATI card is gonna be limited to 4x performance also.

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jvwgtr

I was looking into the Abit NF7-S, but got the AN7 instead...it's only $8 more, and a little newer/nicer, in my opinion.
You may want a beefier power supply...with the Sapphire 9800, I couldn't get it to boot with my 300W POS.