x1950 pro agp - worth the upgrade?

[mrvictim]

Hi All

My system is currently:

athlon64 3000,
9800 pro 128mb
1gb Ram (ddr)
Asus k8v deluxe mobo
450 watt PSU (no idea what make)

After three happy years I've finally hit a point where I just can't run anything new anymore. I'm considering getting the x1950 pro and an extra gig of ram to see if i can't squeeze an extra years life our of it. I'm wondering if it's worht it, or if the CPU will cancel out any gain to me made form the graphics card? Also I guess I'd need to upgrade my PSU? If so, what should I go for?

Any suggestions on this would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[rockyjohn]

I suggest you read this review by Cleve that is right on point. It analyzez upgrades on a Athlon 2500 - so you should get an even better performance boost.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/0 [...] -analysis/

You might also benefit from reviewing these two other threads from yesterday on the same subject.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/244708-33-upgrade-opinions

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=31&post=245042&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=&trash_post=&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0#t1743816

Did you search this forum for similar threads?

 

[mrvictim]

Hiya

I did have a bit of a look on the forum, but celarly didn't look hard enough. Really interesting thread and articles - thanks for your help!

 

[KyleSTL]

Just don't invest too much, because that just goes to waste when you upgrade to a new rig. If you're planning on getting/building a new computer within the year, I wouldn't spend that much on a video card. Even if you do get the X1950 don't expect wonders as you'll probably not be able to play next-gen games.

Another thing that would help is listing what games you play and what games you would like to play.

 

[forsayken]

Hey,

The x1950pro is quite a great card. I am running one right. I'm on 2 gigs of ram and a 3.6ghz Pentium D though. I am currently playing Bioshock at 1920x1080 on my 42" TV and while I get a little stuttering at the start of each level, the framerate is solid. At least 30fps all the time.

If you are not planning on dropping money for a complete new system in the next year or so, I say go for it. Ram is dirt cheap and you can probably find the x1950pro for a really good price. You'll see a huge boost. My second system is actually an Athlon 2600, 1 gig and 9800pro. Needless to say, there's a big difference.

 

[cleeve]

Your 3000+ coupled with an X1950 PRO will give you alot more life out of the system, at least a year or two.

Still, upgrading the whole system is probably the better bet if you can afford it.

 

[nevasumma]

Hey! I have an Athlon XP 2600+, 768mb junk ram, X1600PRO 512mb AGP "!" on an ASUS A7n8X-Deluxe, IDE drives, 450w PSU AND I play Oblivion maxed out w/HDR etc. I play Black and White 2 maxed out, I play X-3 maxed out, I play @1280x960 85mhz... VERY good frame rates. I assume you'll get much better performance out of your setup esp. w/2gig of ram and the X1950PRO AGP...
I agree w/ cleeve at least another 1-2 years.
I have the X1950PRO 512mb PCI-E version (on my gaming rig) and I expect it to last me until they get DX10/10.1+ going strong and cards that run it well come down in price. One year. Maybe. (I should mention that I OC everything. My vid = 631 GPU, 1,444 DDR3) stable and huge increase in Futuremark tests. *I also OC the X1600PRO AGP 512mb to 590 GPU + 910 DDR2 ALSO increases Futuremark test scores by hundreds and FPS in Oblivion etc. an increase of 20+
...hope this helps some.