Need upgrade help!

[Ronin13]

I really need to upgrade my 2 1/2 years old rig. (PII 400, 16mb TNT)

Thing is, i want to see how the .13u Northwood turns out before getting a new case, CPU and mobo.

Meanwhile I'll get a new graphics card, and considering the slow CPU I was planning on the cheapest GeForce2 MX.

Surfing for prices, I found a creative Labs Annihilator2 GTS 32mb DDR slashed to about the same price as a GF2 MX! (Around 100$ where I live - for comparison, a GF3 is 400$ here)

Any reasons why I shouldn't get it?

Will it run ok with my 440BX 2xAGP mobo?

Eventually I'll want a GF3, but with current prices it would be stupid to pair it with a PII 400 for half a year, before upgrading CPU, right?

All advice welcome!

 

[chaotictech]

No reason not to get it. The gts is a fine card. But I'd go with the 64mb version. Its not much more on pricewatch.

When I go into a computer store I lose all means of reason for some reason.

 

[Ronin13]

Those prices unfortunately don't apply to me here. Actually the second cheapest reseller here lets the same card go for 270$! Also, the 64mb version is not available here (according to my local 'pricewatch')

What I need to know is, will it run on my system, and should I be concerned about the 2d quality?

 

[AMD_Man]

No, the 2D quality is superior to your TNT. The difference between the 32MB version and 64MB is almost nothing. Just get the card, you won't regret it.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Crashman]

You might want to consider getting a better CPU as well, the prices are down and dropping. Most BX boards can support the newer Coppermine processors with a BIOS update, although some cannot. What motherboard do you have?

I'm so tired of cookies I'd settle for spam!

 

[Ronin13]

My motherboard is an Asus P2B 440BX.

The manual says it supports Intel Pentium II (233-400MHz) Processors.

 

[Ronin13]

I just checked the System Requirements for the Annihilator2.

It needs 'AGP 2.0 compliant slot or better.'

Will I be able to run it at all on my Asus P2B 440BX (which is only 1xAGP or AGP 1.0)?

 

[Guest]

dont buy a new vga card now and another one in 4 months. chose between buying a good vga card now (you dont need more than a gf2 pro card), or buying a good one when you buy your new computer. you can probobly plug in a gf3 and it will
work great. there is no difrence in perfomance between agpx1 or agpx4.

 

[Ronin13]

Thanks for all the replies. Just ordered the Annihilator2.

'That BX mobo of yours love the burning hot 133FSB!
And all GF2 and above can withstand 89Mhz AGP anyway.'

Not quite sure what all this means. My mobo is 100MHz, will a BIOS upgrade change this? Should I get 133MHz RAM then?
(I guess it would work with 100MHz RAM, but since I'm planning a RAM upgrade as well, the 133MHz would be faster, no?)

The thing about 89MHz AGP just leaves me clueless, care to elaborate?

Will all of this run on a 230W PSU?

Think I have to go read up on BIOS upgrades...

*confused*