What will give me the better difference?

[ohnoesaz]

Hi, Im looking to get a better machine before Rome: Total War comes out.

Currently Im on:

Athlon 2500+ overclocked to 3200+ speed
Nforce2, fsb with mem at 200/400
Ati 9500 patched to 9700 overclocked to 9700 pro

For $255 I can get an Nforce3 board and the Athlon 64 3000+ and most likely overclock it past the FX speeds, from what Ive read.

Or for $190 a Sapphire 9800 pro 128mb and MOST LIKELY be able to do the 9800xt bios flash and overclock more, but no guarantees.

If you had to pick one which would it be....

 

[Spitfire_x86]

You should save money and later get a GeForce 6800GT

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[peteroy]

A CPU upgrade to the A64 will make more difference than a GPU upgrade in your situation.

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[pickxx]

Well two things...between those two options the CPU will be the best upgrade....esp if you have PC3200RAM to drop in.

BUT what i would do, which is what i think your asking, is if you have 255 bucks to throw at parts save up a little more and buy a 6800nu for 300, GT for 400, or ultra for 500.

the A64 3000+ overclocks 200-400Mhz from what i know which is not near the FX-53 speeds. You can flash the 9800pro to a xt, thats done quite a bit.

I would say save up 400 for a BFG 6800GT, they come already slightly overclocked and for $399. with your CPU you should be gaming in killer style for a while. And when you can save up some money again then get a new CPU in like 6months to a year.

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[Mr5oh]

I second Pickxx's suggestion. A 6800 card would be a better choice, and realistically is going to be the only thing that is really an upgrade. I don't know a whole lot about ATI cards (I'm an Nvidia fan), but, wasn't the 9700 Pro, similar to a 9800 Pro (Not exactly, but wasn't the 9700 just marginally slower?).

Changing from your CPU to an A64 isn't really going to gain you much. The gains would be very minimal. Going to a 9800 Pro, will also probably result in very minimal gains. For a little more you could have a 6800 nu, where at least you would be able to see a gain.

On my setup, I considered either a A64 or a 6800, in the end I chose the 6800, and have been happy ever since. My AquaMark3 scores defaintly jumped (56942, with my Athlon XP 2800+).

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[ohnoesaz]

Yeah you guys are right, thanks. Ill save up and hopefully the 6800 gt will or nu or whatever will drop in price a little by then.

 

[ksoth]

That computer would run Rome: Total War just fine. My computer, a TBird 1333 with GeForce Ti4200 runs the demo just fine. I agree with these guys, wait a few months to get a next gen DX 9 card for cheaper.

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[Cybercraig]

XP-2500+ @ 2.375ghz = AMD64-3000+ in 3DSE-2001. That would not be the best upgrade IMHO.

Abit IS7 - 2.8C @ 3.4ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot

 

[addiarmadar]

Honestly dont waste your time anymore doing the 9800 softmod trick. Most current 9800pros cannot oc anywhere near as good as the earlier 9800pros. Best to keep saving and go for x800 series or 6800 series (6800gt is good but $$$).

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>