Identifying bottlenecks

[Jagdpanther]

Hey I am sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find anything in search.

If there are no programs to test for this then here are the details of my system and what I am want to do.

I am currently planning on upgrading my system. I want to identify what parts are currently holding back the performance of my system.

My Current Specs:

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz with Hyper threading (32 bit)
Video: GeForce 4 Ti 4800 SE (overclocked)
Mobo: P4P800-X
RAM: 1 Gig DDR400 (2x 512 sticks) (Manufacturer: Transcend Information)

Storage:
WDC WD2000JB-55GVA0 - 190 GB
WDC WD800BB-00FRA0 - 75 GB

CD/DVD
PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-108
SONY CD-RW CRX175E

I am mainly using this for graphics work (Maya, Photoshop etc) and a little gaming.

I am planning on adding 1 more gig of RAM and swapping my processor to an
AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+ or an Opteron 165 (for overclocking).

Motherboard wise, I want to get one that will support socket 939 and AGP8x as I want to retain the video card at the moment.
So I am looking at the
Gigabyte K8NSC-939

So budget is about $700 AUD or about $520 USD

any tips?

Rendering and Fluid dynamic stuff is what I am mainly upgrading for these rely mainly on CPU, photoshopping on RAM so I hope to hold off the switch to PCI-e until a later date.

Is shelling out the extra money for Corsair <insert recommended brand> worth the money?

I am hoping to overclock the system pushing the Opteron or Athlon to about 2.4 or so GHz which from what I have read is quite possible. Overclocking is the only reason I am considering the Opteron as GHz is more important than Cache for me.

 

[mdd1963]

There is a socket 939 mobo by Asrock that has both an AGP and a PCI-e slot that a lot of people recommend for folks currently satisfied with their AGP card....; let's you upgrade to PCI-e solution later

 

[maxxum]

Yep, the Asrock Dual is the best option for going slow.

 

[Anoobis]

Honestly the bottleneck I see in your current system IS the video card but if it works well for you, why do you want to change it?? The rest of your system looks fine.

Holding onto that card and upgrading everything else may not solve your problem (if there is one). You will see a performance gain by upgrading the other equipment, but the video card bottleneck will still be there. Nothing against the Asrock board. It's a great 939 board. It is supposed to support the new AM2 processor, but until some testing has been done with the AM2 and it's daughter card, it's just a 939 board that uses DDR and has both PCI-E and AGP. Wait until true AM2 or Conroe boards that use DDR2 and have PCI-E come out. Then spend your money.

Point being, the video card is your bottleneck but you don't want to change it. Therefore wait for the new platforms because the rest of your system is fine and there is no point in buying a CPU, Motherboard and RAM twice when all you have to do is be patient and buy once in about 6-8 months.

 

[mr_smooth58]

I like the dual core choice, since Photoshop CS will actually take advantage of it.

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

The Fluid-Dynamics software might actually benefit significantly from the Pentium 4, SSE2, and HyperThreading.

You may not see the jump in performance you are expecting, unless going to a dual/quad-core machine at very high clock speeds and the fluid-dynamics software benefits from it.

Don't expect a huge overclock if you've never really overclocked before.