Update Opinions????

[Punkguy424]

Hi i'm new to the tomhardware forum but have frequently visited the site for up to date info and news.

I built my PC about 6 months ago and i'm already getting the itch for a few little upgrades. I'm a pretty frequent gamer, download extensively, watch alot of tv and movies and soon to be doing a lot of programming for my major (software engineering).

the current system i have is as follows:

AMD 64 3500 (939)
MSI RS480M2-IL (PCI-Express)motherboard
ATI Radeon X700 Pro 256mb vid card
1 gig (2x512) Corsair 400mhz ram (basically cheapest corsair ram i could get)
36gig 10,000rpm Western Digital Raptor
200gig SATA Western Digital hardrive
Good case with 4 led case fans and a 450w PSU

now when i play games and use certain programs i still lag a little. I'm really not sure why. I went into the bios to change the FSB to the 1000mhz (which the amd64 can do) but still the system doesn't seem as fast as it should. it seems slightly better than my old P4 2.53ghz system.

Is there any suggestions on what is a good option for an upgrade to help my computer run at peak performance?

thanks in advance,

Dave

 

[endyen]

The problem is probably with your graphics card. Dont get me wrong, it's a nice enough entry level card, it's just not up to the specs of the other parts of your system.
Now the problem is that the x800XL is not worth the added expense. Sure, you will see more frames, it will just be tough to tell the difference. What's worse is if you go high end now. Then it would be a whole lot more money for not much more.
I think you should take this to the graphics forum, but be sure to include the games you play. They might be able to help you find a great deal.

 

[mozzartusm]

Endyen is correct, your video card is holding you back not your CPU. The XL is a great card, but like he said its not enough of an improvement to justify the expense.

ASUS P5WD2 Premium
Intel 3.73 EE @ 5.6Ghz
XMS2 DDR2 @ 1180Mhz

<A HREF="http://valid.x86-secret.com/records.php?PHPSESSID=792e8f49d5d9b8a4d1ad6f40ca029756" target="_new">#2 CPUZ</A>
SuperPI 25secs

 

[Punkguy424]

ya i thought that could have been my problem. that and the ram. so it doesn't matter that i bought the cheapest corsair ram? i'm just not to sure how much of a difference the regular corsair ram is compared to the corsair xms or something is other than being able to overclock it.

 

[endyen]

Sorry for highjacking your thread punkguy.
Hi Mozz, sorry it's taken so long for me to say this.
MAJOR CONGRATS on your record. I'm glad you got the recognition you deserve. I am also pleased that you put all the nay sayers in thier place.
It's not that I want to tell them I told you so, but rather how about a little faith for your co-posters.
(there, I'm glad I got that out finally)

 

[endyen]

I run the cheapest ram I can find in my A64. It's doing 220/440 @ 2.5, 3,3,10 thank you vey much. Fast memory just doesn't do that much for the A64s. If you were into major OCing, maybe, but then again just dropping the ratio would get you there the same, with little loss in perf.
All that to say your ram is fine.