Advice on Upgrading comp

[meadowlands]

Hi all, first time poster here Smile I was looking for some advice on upgrading my 3-year old comp. I know I know, there are tons of these threads, but I need to know which option is the most viable.

First off, I play games mostly, however, am looking into using my comp to record tv shows etc and store them as well. Here is my current setup:

Athlon 2000xp+
Radeon 9500 pro
1 gig pc 2700 ram
60 gb WD HDD

I currently have a 250 gb hitachi HDD sitting on my floor waiting to be used, and it needs a home fast!

My first, and cheapest option would be getting a new video card, maybe a 6800 or something.

My second option is this:

Athlon 64 3200+
2 GB pc3200 Kingston ram
Asus Nforce 4 mother board
Geforce 7800GT

Cost of about $700

My question is, will it be worth it to upgrade my full system, or just buy the video card for my current one? I'm basically looking for most bang for the buck and am willing to spend the money if it is warranted. Also will I see a huge improvement making the new system over getting a real good AGP video card? Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions are more than welcome! Again thank you!

*edit*

I did not see the Home made PC thread down there so please move it there if need be Smile

 

[pwnage]

well if your looking for the most bang for your buck, wait for the new AMD procs to come out. it wouldnt be cost effective to go old school when AMD is making a huge switch.

but as for what you picked, sounds fine.

 

[linux_0]

I would say go for the A64 939

Semper Fi Linux on!

 

[meadowlands]

How much of a performance boost will I see with this sytem as opposed to just getting a newer video card?

Also I want to be able to record tv on this computer. Will the Radeon all in wonder x800 256 be a better solution or should I stick with the 7800?

 

[linux_0]

How much of a performance boost will I see with this system as opposed to just getting a newer video card?

Also I want to be able to record tv on this computer. Will the Radeon all in wonder x800 256 be a better solution or should I stick with the 7800?

You can record TV with a winTV PCI card which sells for about $15 online and works with both Linux and windoze. I would say get a nice VGA like the 7800GT and another card for recording TV.

Are you planning to record just regular analog NTSC or PAL or digital as well?

The socket 939 CPUs perform VERY well and the difference is significant. Take a look at Tom's CPU charts 2005 / 2006 for more info!

 

[maxxum]

How much of a performance boost will I see with this sytem as opposed to just getting a newer video card?

Also I want to be able to record tv on this computer. Will the Radeon all in wonder x800 256 be a better solution or should I stick with the 7800?

Unless you are keen on playing the top games at mind numbing speeds a 7800 is way overkill for a HTPC. A 1080i video will be taxing your processor more than your video card so upgrading should focus there. If you want a tuner card then the AIW 800 would be fine – but its still overkill. If you have an HD cable or DSS box then you could just get a 6600GS VIVO and still record and play videos on your TV at HD quality.

BTW, Apple’s HD format is a real hog and even hits 60 percent usage on my PC almost constantly with some jumps up to 90 percent with big action scenes. WMV-HD on the other hand barely does a thing to my processor. If you are serious about a HTPC you should think about much more disk space.

 

[meadowlands]

I like to play the best games at mind numbing speeds Besides I want to have a setup that will last 3 years like mine has done for me. My plan is to hook up a splitter to my IO digital cable box so I can record things when I am not at home, then burn them to DVD. I have a 250 gb hdd waiting for my on my desk, all new and in the box, and I have a dvd/r as well in my system.

Is $700 a reasonable amount for this kind of setup?

 

[Dekkard]

$700 is reasonable. You might want to consider this though - do you want a new system to do the same as the current one? i.e. TV and gaming etc. If not, you could buy a hauppage TV tuner card (~$90), another 200GB+ drive (~$90) and a 6600 256MB DDR (~$115). This would give you a good PVR option (check out GBPVR for a free software option that is super sweet), a decent gaming card with high end nvidia purevideo capabilities and a bucket load of storage space - add a DVD-RW to boot if you don't have one already. So, you're then throwing down potentially less than $300 and so you could still upgrade to a separate system a few months down the road when the AMD M2 starts hitting the shelves and you won't feel bad about the money you've spent on your existing one!

 

[maxxum]

Have you put thought into a sound card? If you just want a pass through then a SB will do fine… However, if you want to record high quality sound (DD) and do games as well (if you don’t have a Audio Processor) then you’ll be looking at having to get a better sound card.

Heck, I was using an Nvidia 5500 U to do video for three years until I upgraded this year – it even played Doom3 at medium level. How many years old was that card???

 

[meadowlands]

I have a sound card. Basically my system now is:

Athlon 2000xp
1 gig ram
radeon 9500 pro
5.1 surround card
5.1 logitech speakers
dvdr/cdrw combo
60gb hdd
250 gb hdd (not in system yet)
4x 80mm fans with nice blue lights
420w power supply
cold cathode light

 

[Dekkard]

I say go with the 6600 256MB. Get the PCI Hauppage TV tuner (better quality video capture than the cheaper rivals) - do you have a free PCI slot for it? Then depending on your needs you might want that additional HDD, then again maybe not. A friend of mine has a near identical (XP2200+ at stock) set up and BF2 runs really nicely on it. Might want to consider getting another gig of ram but this isn't absolutely necessary. The Nvidia purevideo capability on these 6600s is supposed to be a real plus to those interested in video and home theater through their PC. Make sure you google GBPVR though, if you get two of those tuner cards you can record one and watch another or record 2 different channels simultaneously. I'm considering a similar approach with my existing system but will build a separate rig for gaming afterwards.

 

[meadowlands]

Leaning towards the bigger upgrade just because if I go out and spendsay $300, I may as well plop down another $400 and do the whole thing. Actually it has been about 3 1/2 years since I build this sytem. I'll pass this one along to the parents and give my sister the parents comp. Sound good?