$500 budget - what upgrade

[Guest Richard_H]

I'm actually very happy with my PC and the way it runs FS. I've just got upgraditis, a desire to be ready for FS2K4, a desire to move all the sliders to the right, and a spare bit of cash.Here's the deal:Currently have a home built 2 year old PC:AMD 1400 Athlon512Mb DDR RAM (2100 I think)unfortunately occupying both available slotsEpox 8K7A Mobo - allows a max upgrade to AMD 2400 Thouroughbred40 GB HD 7200 RPM (from previous PC - now 4 years old)Radeon 7200Windows XP (recently upgraded from Win98)I'm thinking of an incremental build to the tune of $500.My thoughts are:new AMD 2400 CPU - c$90new Radeon 9800 Pro - c$400Worried that the AMD 2400 CPU won't show off the 9800 to best advantage so maybe the solution is:new AMD 2400 CPU - c$90new Radeon 9700 Pro - c$300and save the money or:may be throw out one of the RAM modules and get a 512Mb Module taking me up to 768Mb - c$100or maybe get a top of the range Mobo and CPU and heatsink, (3ghz), and possibly 512Mb of 2700 DDR RAMand wait a year or so for the Video card.What to do? what to do?...

[Guest FPSFREAK]

How about this...XP2500+ BartonAsus A78NXRadeon 9500 ProTotal through Newegg.com is just under $500. If you wanted to you could up it to just under $600 and throw in 512 Megs of PC2700.Just another thought. And pretty quick too. :)Bobby

[Guest Richard_H]

Wow - lightening response Bobby!Food for thought indeed. Do you think it's a more balanced solution? My train of thought now goes: in a year or 2s time with that set up, would I be happy or would I want to do another $500 incremental?I just feel that with at least a close to top of the range video card, in a year or 2s time, I will be looking for a quantum leap in the mobo and the processor - you know 6ghz or something :), and the 9700 or 9800 would still hold it's own, and the incremental upgrade would be c$300.See where I'm coming from...

[Guest ccgr]

what kinda of video card you have now? I would upgrade RAM when possible, it's not that expensive these days

[Guest FPSFREAK]

I meant fast as in the system I put forward..Lol. That's the problem with this hobby we call Computers. 90% of anything you purchase today will be considered old hat 2 years from now.The setup I just gave you should more than carry you for the next 2 years. Yes upgrading your CPU and Video card is a great idea but yourA: Still looking at whats now considered midlevel for a cpu saddled w PC2100 memory.B: While your choice of Video card is top notch, I can gaurantee you it won't be in 2 years.The 2500+ Barton runs on a 333 Mhz FSB which works out nicely when paired w PC2700 (333 Mhz) memory. They can be set to run at the same FSB which is optimum for the setup. The 9500Pro can be made to perform at levels that are in line w a stock 9700Pro and the MB will allow you to mess around w Overclocking should you feel inclined as well as Dual Channel memory and some other great features.Your other choice is to just say screw it and go with a 3.06 533 P4 which are really getting inexspensive paired up w an Intel MB ( Don't laugh, Intel is making some great MB's lately :) ) and some PC400 from Corsair. Wrap this up w a 9700Pro and your looking at a system that should keep you smiling well into the next 3-4 years depending on what you use it for.JMO...:)Bobby

[Guest FPSFREAK]

CC,Normally I would agree but he's already got 512 Megs. The performance he would see by going to 1 Gig would be so slight w his current setup it really wouldn't pay. And a jump to PC2700 would be a waste w his current CPU unless he Overclocks it.Me thinks the only way he'll be happy is a CPU and at the minimum MB, Video card upgrade....But that's just me.Have a good one.Bobby

[Guest Richard_H]

Sorry I haven't got back sooner - nightmare day at work yesterday.Thanks for more food for thought. This is really useful. There follows my brain dumping...I'm convinced now that all the proposed upgrades would still end me up with a mid range system, and $500 for a relatively small incremental move seems not particularly cost-effective. The reason why I did a home build was to get to understand PC's, but also to avoid those $2k type spends every 2-3 years which I was doing, which was both expensive, leaving me feeling decidedly out of date by the end of the 2nd year, and have a high WAF.Small incremental spends are my solution. In fact last year, I only bought the 256Mb of RAM, a CDWriter and Windows XP (maybe only $300).On that philosophy, I want at least 1 upgrade out of every mobo I buy, so I want to reutilise my Epox.Given if I upgrade with this mobo - the performance leap will not be quantum, I'll accept the marginal change with:the AMD 2400the Radeon 9500$230 in total, and save for bigger investment next year. I think that gives me most bang per buck.Now that I have thought this through, I can either erase the message or leave it... oh what the hell...Where are the links for making the 9500 work like a 9700 :)?

[Guest FPSFREAK]

WWW.Rage3D.comThat's the link....Search the Forums. It's all there and very easy to do. :)Bobby

[Guest Richard_H]

Hi all,Just wanted to report back on this upgrade.First I upgraded the Power Supply from 250 Watts to 400 Watts - c