What would you upgrade first?

Status
Not open for further replies.
hello all im new here and i like the fact that i found a spot were it seems like people know what they are talking about when it comes to computing.
Anyway the system i have been slowly building is also slowly outdating it self and id like to ask what should i upgrage next best bang for the buck and what do you think is really slowing me down. other then that im still happy with the game play but like us all i want more.
my system is a
1200mhz AMD with VIA VT8363/5 KT133/KM133 system controller
384 pc133 RAM
ATI Radeon 9000 AGP4x
Acer 17 inch monitor
5.1 sound system
burner that reads at 32X and writes at 8X
.
Thanks any help is great.
 
Yeah i was thinking the same thing but i was thinking that maybe the 1200mhz AMD might still be able to take advanage of maybe a better card like a 9700 or so i have noticed that yall think the 9000 is a little doggy. but maybe the 9700 or so may be just over kill for my system at hand?
 
.

Well I would first look at a better video card. The 1.2 Athlon you've got there is still a decent processor. A video card upgrade from the 9000 is well advised. If you can't find a cheap 9700 Pro.. you can always try a 9600XT or if your lucky get a cheaper 9800 Pro from Sapphire.

(Sapphire makes almost all of ATI's cards, so they will perform the same, Sapphire is usually a bit cheap than ATI)

While a general upgrades are always good, you can find grab a cheap CPU upgrade to give yourself some extra power that way for cheap. Unless you've got a ot of money to spend, just a little to upgrade the Video card, then CPU will show the greatest improvement and doesn't lock you down cash wise too much.

If you end up getting a new system, I would wait for a Socket 939 for the AMD Athlon 64. Also another reason to upgrade the video card is if you get a good one you can put it in your new system if your looking to buy soon.

You also might want to consider waiting till about mid-may to buy a new grahpics card. By then Nvidia and ATI "should" have their next generation of graphics cards out. That "should" drive down the prices of today's latest and greatest video cards.

Hope that helps you make up your mind.

-A-
 
Thats cool i think i will keep my eye out for a new card for a good price and id like to wait for the prices of the 64bit processors to drop. i know that is where it is all heading to thanks for the reply:)
 
I would start with upgrading RAM to at least 512, 768 is better though, but it depends on which applications you are using.
Then I would upgrade video.
Your burner, does it have burnproof featire? if it doesn't, I would buy a new one. They are reasonable cheap nowdays and burnproof feature eliminates lots of headache and coasters.
 
:wave: Hello & Welcome to TechSpot :wave:

The first thing of that system that I'd upgrade would be the motherboard and ram, not the cpu... You can use the cpu in a new motherboard with DDR memory, and it's not that slow yet.

I'd then look at getting a new graphics card, 9600XT sounds about right with that cpu.

And then I'd start saving up money for the next upgrade where you might end up having to change everything.
With PCI-Express just around the corner, Intel pushing the BTX formfactor, DDR2 making it's debut and SATA gaining ground, it's just not worth it shelling out too much now.

You could of course get a new system now, but with current tech, but doing that won't let you upgrade the system anymore afterwards...
So I think the upgrades I've outlined above should let you do what you want for now (maybe with adding a cpu upgrade a bit down the road), before taking the plunge with a brand new system.
 
If you choose to go the Athlon64 route, the platform is not likely to go through many changes anytime soon except maybe for PCI-e. AMD is not in ahurry to support DDR2 / BTX & PCI-e won't phase out AGP completely before 2005 if not later ( I mean AGP8x still isn't faster then AGP4x so... ).
 
I think you should get a complete new machine ;)

Only kidding.

Getting a better CD-RW or even a DVD-RW would be good.

Upgrade your memory to 1GB RAM.

And I am ALWAYS in favour of buying a new monitor of some sort if you think its a nice one that will last a few years.

Yeah, there's plenty you can do besides just getting a new motherboard and chip.

Overall, what to do is to think about how you use your machine, and then try to put your finger on what bit exactly is letting you down most and upgrade accordingly. That's the best way.
 
Originally posted by Phantasm66
Upgrade your memory to 1GB RAM.

Yeah, there's plenty you can do besides just getting a new motherboard and chip.

Whereas I'd usually recommend upgrading ram too, I wouldn't do so with PC133 SDram... It's getting quite old now, and so buying new chips are quite expensive, plus the improvement won't be as much as it would be by going DDR...

And I fully agree on buying a good quality monitor! That's the part you're actually looking at, and going substandard there will hurt you more than anything.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back