change whole system or vga card ?

[benjy20]

Hi guys, am wondering at the moment whether to get a new graphics card or wait and get a new system.

Spec : Athlon xp2000, 768mb ram, geforce fx5500

Well i didnt really know anything about graphics cards when i got mine a while back and have lately been reading alot about graphics cards etc, only to find out that any geforce fx card must be avoided for good gaming backthen i thought the more memory the better but now i kinda know differently!!
I am looking at getting a 6600gt agp but am wondering if 1st : my system will hold back the card, and also would i need a new power supply, if so what one?
On the other hand im thinking of waiting a bit and saving up and then buying a whole new gaming system perhaps in 6 months or so, but i get kinda impatient with such poor frame rates that i wanna solve the problem now would you suggest that i buy a new graphics card for now or just wait and use the money to get a new system???
Thanks

 

[vnf4ultra]

I think a 6600gt agp would be a decent match to that system, assuming you do have an agp slot(fx5500's come in pci as well).

You would only need a new power supply if adding the new card would draw more power than your current power supply can put out. What psu do you have? Make, model, wattage, etc. A 6600gt should only use about 20w or so more than your fx5500.

A new system would be a big upgrade. What would your budget be? Would you be building yourself or buying it prebuilt?

If you would build yourself you could get a 6600gt now, and then in 6 months build a new system, and reuse your 6600gt if you got this motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081
The board supports both agp and pci-e x16 cpus, so you can use your 6600gt until you think you need more power, then you can get a pci-e x16 card with more power later.

Edit: Welcome to techspot!

 

[vegasgmc]

Also if your motherboard will run at 333 or 400 mhz front side bus you can get an XP 2500 to 2800 really cheap on Ebay. That would work even better with the new video card and make the system more appealing if you wanted to sell it.

 

[benjy20]

Thx guys, sorry not replied sooner, been away for a few weeks. Yeah think i will definately go with 6600 gt (looking at xfx version).
I have an agp slot thankfully, not a standard pci!

Have a 300w power supply but am doubting thats gonna be a true power as it was standard with system.

I think the whole system upgrade will have to wait for now, priced all the components up etc, for more of a top end system but not gonna be able to afford it for a while so think this is perhaps the best option to keep me going until then at least!

I have a question about the power supply though! Both of my Hard Disks are ATA not S-ATA and when i look at all the power supplies they all seem to have S-ATA connectors. Would this mean that they would not be compatible with my current system, or do they also have ATA connectors as well???
Can you recommend any PSU's which are about 350w-400w and would be compatible???

Upgrading the processor to a 2500xp or 2800xp would be good as well, i just checked my motherboard specs, dont know all that much about them though but i here they are below :

Front Side Bus speed - 2 x 133mhz (266 mhz data rate)
Maximum FSB speed/ max memory speed - 2 x 166mhz/2 x 200mhz

I guess FSB is too low to run those processors??

Thanks for your help earlier guys!!

 

[jaroddog]

Power supplies with sata connectors are just a plus, they'll work with any older technology that requires the standard 4-pin molex. So, yes, this will work with your old drive.

I'm sure that's your FSB right now, which would be too slow. But it can probably be adjusted in the BIOS. Do you know your motherboard model?

 

[benjy20]

This is what i get if i use software sandra :

SiSoftware Sandra

System
Manufacturer : VIA Technologies, Inc.
Model : KT400-8235
ID : FFFFFFFF-FFFFFFFF-FFFFFFFF-FFFFFFFF

Mainboard
MP Support : 1 Processor(s)
MPS Version : 1.10
Model : KT400-8235
System BIOS : 07/11/2003-KT400-8235-L7VTAC-00