$400 to update gaming rig

[wrugoin]

Hey All,

I've been waiting quite a while with my old gaming rig for a good time to upgrade. This christmas I'm finally going to spend some money to get it back up to date and able to play games it never could like Halo, Far Cry, Doom 3, Sims 2 *blush*, Half-Life 2 (very important) and also play my old DX7-8 games at 1044x768 4xAA 8xAF. So that's my goal.

My Signiture has my rig's specs, so you know what needs to be upgraded and I have an idea too. I'll have $400 budget at Christmas to make these upgrades and I'm thinking that a new video card and cpu would get me back to speed.

Right now I'm looking at a Geforce 6800 (~$275) and an Athlon XP 3000+ 333fsb (~$100), and a new CPU heatsink/fan. At current prices that should be close to $400.

Here is the question: With new hardware coming soon such as the AGP versions of 6600GT & X700 XT which will be about $70 less then the 6800, and the assumption that the current videocards and CPUs will probably fall in price a little, what combination of upgrades whould you do around mid-december/Christmas time that'll give me the best gaming performance? (Other CPU intensive uses are photoshop work and DivX encoding, but gaming is most important)

*note* Oh, and another thing, I don't overclock. I know it's a good way to get more for your money....but it's just not my bag. (baby) Oh, and $400 is a hard limit, It was going to be $350, so $425-450 options are out.

---MY RIG---
MSI Nforce2 w/ Athlon XP 1700+
512MB PC-2700 333MHz Kingston Value
Geforce 2 GTS (*blush*)
WD800JB 80GB,IMB 20GB
USB 2.0 WD 15GB HDD
Pioneer 16X Slot DVD
Sony DRU-510A DVD-RW<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by wrugoin on 10/22/04 02:14 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Get retail AXP 3000+. Retail HSF is good enough if you don't overclock.

Buy GeForce 6800 or Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB if you want to save money. Nobody knows how long you have to wait for AGP 6600GT or X700 XT

------------
<A HREF="http://www.foood.net" target="_new">FOOOD's Icons</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

 

[wrugoin]

Looking at current prices, I guess I could also consider the 6800GT. With my 1700+, would I just be wasting my money with the GT? Or opting with the Athlon XP3200+, another 256mb ram and the 6600GT (when it arrives in agp)

What would give me better gaming performace? (each around a $400 option)

My 1700+ 266fsb, 512mb pc2700 w/6800GT
or
New 3000+ 333fsb, 512mb pc2700 w/6800
or
New 3200+ 400fsb, 768mb pc2700 w/6600GT

---MY RIG---
MSI Nforce2 w/ Athlon XP 1700+
512MB PC-2700 333MHz Kingston Value
Geforce 2 GTS (*blush*)
WD800JB 80GB,IMB 20GB
USB 2.0 WD 15GB HDD
Pioneer 16X Slot DVD
Sony DRU-510A DVD-RW<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by wrugoin on 10/22/04 09:53 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Mr5oh]

What would give me better gaming performace? (each around a $400 option)

My 1700+ 266fsb, 512mb pc2700 w/6800GT
or
New 3000+ 333fsb, 512mb pc2700 w/6800
or
New 3200+ 400fsb, 768mb pc2700 w/6600GT

The best option there is the 3000+ with the 6800.

If you chose the first one (1700/6800GT), you would be limited by your 1700+ CPU, even though newer games focus more on the video card than older games, your CPU still plays a big role in it, and for the newer games coming out, your CPU isn't really going to cut it (Dont get me wrong your CPU is still good, just a better CPU would be better, obvisuly).

Your problem with the 6600GT is going to be that it won't be released in AGP format right away, so you will be waiting for that one for who knows how long.

The 3000+ and 6800+, I think, is the best choice. I have a 2800+ chip, and a 6800, and if you follow the link in my signature, you can see all my benchmarks numbers. I have no problems running new games at high details.


My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>

 

[Atolsammeek]

Here a idea for you. Wait after xmiss. You might be getting a better deal on some of the computer parts.

It just a idea.

 

[Manhota]

i agree with mr5oh, i have virtually the same rig as him and i get the same scores apart from my ram suks ass. 6800 128mb and a 3000 XP will do the trick without doubt and all for $400 its the best bang for buck.

Spending anymore money isent gona get u much 10000 Plus on 3dmark03 is respectable, with a XP3000 plus a 12pipline 6800 128mb u will get 10500 to 11000 depending on drivers and how much ram u got.

if u do get a 6800 128 make sure it is a 12pipline version not the downgraded 8 pipline.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Corsair_XL.html

 

[coylter]

We say pipeline.

Click <font color=blue><A HREF="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/you.html" target="_new">HERE</A></font color=blue> if you real<b>l</b>y are an <font color=red>idiot</font color=red>.

 

[wrugoin]

Quote AtolSammeek: "Here a idea for you. Wait after xmiss. You might be getting a better deal on some of the computer parts.
It just a idea."

I would say that I don't want to wait until after Christmas for a few reasons.... First, I'm impatient, I've been stuck with my GF2 GTS for years now and I want to be able to play Half-Life 2, Far Cry and Doom III while I'm home for Christmas break. Second, If I wait until after christmas, there will be something else to wait for that's only a few months away and I've been playing that game for WAAAAYYY too long. And third, this upgrade is going to be part of my Christmas present from my parents, and tradition in my family is that it's under the tree chrstmas morning. (yes, I know that's the stupidest reason ever not to wait but... um...that's why I left it last)

Otherwise, thanks for all the recommendation. I'm going to be monitoring the GF6800 and the XP3000+ and hoping for a nice price drop by mid december so I maybe can add a nice Heatsink/fan, or maybe another 256MB of memory. I'm not getting my hopes up, but with the AGP of the 6600GT and the rumors of the 6610 and 6700 on the horizon, maybe I'll see the 6800 fall to <$250.

p.s. I'm new to this forum, how do I reply to another post in this thread and get their quote in the nice indented box like Mr5oh did for my quote?

---MY RIG---
MSI Nforce2 w/ Athlon XP 1700+
512MB PC-2700 Kingmax
Geforce 2 GTS (*blush*)
WD800JB 80GB,IMB 20GB
USB 2.0 WD 15GB HDD
Pioneer 16X Slot DVD
Sony DRU-510A DVD-RW<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by wrugoin on 10/23/04 02:54 PM.</EM></FONT></P>