Upgrade Recommendation

Hello all, I could use a little help deciding which upgrade option is best
for me. I would like to upgrade my graphics card because I currently have a
Geforce FX 5900 (non-ultra) an am interested in playing games like Oblivion.
my current specs a



Athlon 64 3400+ (socket 754, 2.4 GHz)

Abit KV8 Pro motherboard

1 GB Corsair XMS DDR 400 RAM

GeForce FX 5900 graphics card

WD 160 GB Hard drive, 7200 RMP



I am limited to AGP due to my motherboard, and am resistant to upgrading to
PCIe because if I were to get a new motherboard I would most likely want a
socket 939 board for future upgrades, so I would have to buy a new processor
as well, and I think my Athlon 64 3400+ probably has some life left in it.
I have been thinking of going with the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, but
understand they are not up to par with their PCIe models due to fewer pixel
pipelines and other factors because they are AGP.



In any case, I guess I have three options:



1) Get a cheap socket 754 motherboard with PCIe and get a PCIe card. This
would also let me increase my RAM as I have the two slots in my motherboard
filled as it is. This would, of course, limit future upgrades if I want to
get a socket 939 processor in the near future. My current Ram would still
work in a newer board, correct?



2) Go ahead and get the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, which is still a major
improvement over my current card, and hope it will get me through the rest
of the year with solid performance. I could go with the 6800, which is
cheaper, and then upgrade my whole system sooner, or go with the 7800 and
hope it lasts longer.



3) I could wait a bit longer, holding off on playing some of the games I
want, and then do a full upgrade to PCIe with a faster processor, a newer
video card, and more RAM in the near future.



Money isn't a major issue, but I'd like to get as much life out of my
current processor as I can. However, I also want games like Oblivion to
look good with at least most of the settings at higher levels.



I'm not really sure what to do here, and could use a little advice. I sort
of feel like the socket 754 deal is holding me back - otherwise I'd probably
just go for the motherboard upgrade.



Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend a hand.



-Tom

'Eremor' wrote, in part:
| Hello all, I could use a little help deciding which upgrade option is best
| for me. I would like to upgrade my graphics card because I currently have
a
| Geforce FX 5900 (non-ultra) an am interested in playing games like
Oblivion.
_____

One thing to consider is that you will have to reinstall your operating
system (assuming that you are using Windows 2000 or XP) if you change your
motherboard. Also, if you are using XP, you will need to activate the new
installation by phone with Microsoft. If you go the route of just upgrading
to a 7800 GS AGP, then if you decide to upgrade the whole system later, the
7800 GS AGP should still be worth pretty good money if you sell it. If you
sell your 5900 now, upgrade to a 7800 GS, and then sell the 7800 GS later
(or your entire system), you will have a very good performance boost at a
relatively reasonable cost of ownership. And you could push off the total
upgrade until you see what 2007 brings.

Phil Weldon

"Eremor" wrote in message
...
| Hello all, I could use a little help deciding which upgrade option is best
| for me. I would like to upgrade my graphics card because I currently have
a
| Geforce FX 5900 (non-ultra) an am interested in playing games like
Oblivion.
| my current specs a
|
|
|
| Athlon 64 3400+ (socket 754, 2.4 GHz)
|
| Abit KV8 Pro motherboard
|
| 1 GB Corsair XMS DDR 400 RAM
|
| GeForce FX 5900 graphics card
|
| WD 160 GB Hard drive, 7200 RMP
|
|
|
| I am limited to AGP due to my motherboard, and am resistant to upgrading
to
| PCIe because if I were to get a new motherboard I would most likely want a
| socket 939 board for future upgrades, so I would have to buy a new
processor
| as well, and I think my Athlon 64 3400+ probably has some life left in it.
| I have been thinking of going with the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, but
| understand they are not up to par with their PCIe models due to fewer
pixel
| pipelines and other factors because they are AGP.
|
|
|
| In any case, I guess I have three options:
|
|
|
| 1) Get a cheap socket 754 motherboard with PCIe and get a PCIe card. This
| would also let me increase my RAM as I have the two slots in my
motherboard
| filled as it is. This would, of course, limit future upgrades if I want
to
| get a socket 939 processor in the near future. My current Ram would still
| work in a newer board, correct?
|
|
|
| 2) Go ahead and get the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, which is still a major
| improvement over my current card, and hope it will get me through the rest
| of the year with solid performance. I could go with the 6800, which is
| cheaper, and then upgrade my whole system sooner, or go with the 7800 and
| hope it lasts longer.
|
|
|
| 3) I could wait a bit longer, holding off on playing some of the games I
| want, and then do a full upgrade to PCIe with a faster processor, a newer
| video card, and more RAM in the near future.
|
|
|
| Money isn't a major issue, but I'd like to get as much life out of my
| current processor as I can. However, I also want games like Oblivion to
| look good with at least most of the settings at higher levels.
|
|
|
| I'm not really sure what to do here, and could use a little advice. I
sort
| of feel like the socket 754 deal is holding me back - otherwise I'd
probably
| just go for the motherboard upgrade.
|
|
|
| Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend a hand.
|
|
|
| -Tom
|
|

MB upgrade is not a good move, AMD and Intel are coming this summer with new CPU and NEW MB !!

It make no sense to change your MB now.

The best move for now would be the 7800GS overclocked...this is the fastest AGP and as fast as it's pcie
express counterpart.

and the best move for later.., wait for new CONROE and ewn AMD and see which one is faster...

since money is no object, then change everything, MB, CPU, memory, video card SLI etc...

now you're talking !




"Eremor" wrote in message ...
Hello all, I could use a little help deciding which upgrade option is best for me. I would like to
upgrade my graphics card because I currently have a Geforce FX 5900 (non-ultra) an am interested in
playing games like Oblivion. my current specs a



Athlon 64 3400+ (socket 754, 2.4 GHz)

Abit KV8 Pro motherboard

1 GB Corsair XMS DDR 400 RAM

GeForce FX 5900 graphics card

WD 160 GB Hard drive, 7200 RMP



I am limited to AGP due to my motherboard, and am resistant to upgrading to PCIe because if I were to
get a new motherboard I would most likely want a socket 939 board for future upgrades, so I would have
to buy a new processor as well, and I think my Athlon 64 3400+ probably has some life left in it. I
have been thinking of going with the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, but understand they are not up to par with
their PCIe models due to fewer pixel pipelines and other factors because they are AGP.



In any case, I guess I have three options:



1) Get a cheap socket 754 motherboard with PCIe and get a PCIe card. This would also let me increase
my RAM as I have the two slots in my motherboard filled as it is. This would, of course, limit future
upgrades if I want to get a socket 939 processor in the near future. My current Ram would still work
in a newer board, correct?



2) Go ahead and get the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, which is still a major improvement over my current
card, and hope it will get me through the rest of the year with solid performance. I could go with the
6800, which is cheaper, and then upgrade my whole system sooner, or go with the 7800 and hope it lasts
longer.



3) I could wait a bit longer, holding off on playing some of the games I want, and then do a full
upgrade to PCIe with a faster processor, a newer video card, and more RAM in the near future.



Money isn't a major issue, but I'd like to get as much life out of my current processor as I can.
However, I also want games like Oblivion to look good with at least most of the settings at higher
levels.



I'm not really sure what to do here, and could use a little advice. I sort of feel like the socket 754
deal is holding me back - otherwise I'd probably just go for the motherboard upgrade.



Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend a hand.



-Tom

"Eremor" wrote in message
...
Hello all, I could use a little help deciding which upgrade option is best
for me. I would like to upgrade my graphics card because I currently have
a Geforce FX 5900 (non-ultra) an am interested in playing games like
Oblivion. my current specs a

snip


I would also feel bad about ditching a CPU like that right now, but with
both AMD and Intel coming up with new offerings this year (along with new
motherboard chipsets), I would not make big changes right now. My advice if
you want a performance boost and without making major changes would be to
get a 6800GS (or even a 7800GS if you can justify the extra cost). Either
card will be a lot faster and feature-rich than your current card and should
easily be able to carry you through a good part of 2007 if you wanted it to.
This way, you can avoid being an early adopter of these new CPU's and
motherboards coming out this year, and may even be able to look at not
buying a new video card again until the first DirectX 10 video cards get a
product refresh. If Windows Vista turns your crank, you could get that as
well when you do get around to building a new system.

I was also thinking of upgrading my video card and upping the memory to 2GB
on my current system (P4C 2.8GHz) in order to extend it's longevity for the
reasons above, but my 9800 Pro video card still performs to my satisfaction
even with games like Oblivion. Money's not a concern for me either, but I'm
not sure if I want to spend anything more on this system unless I have real
reason to do so. Decisions, decisions. In your case though, I think a new
video card would be worthwhile.

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 01:11:52 GMT, "Phil Weldon"
wrote:

motherboard. Also, if you are using XP, you will need to activate the new
installation by phone with Microsoft.

Huh? Not heard of online activation?
--
Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

'Andrew' wrote:
| Huh? Not heard of online activation?
_____

When you change the motherboard and reinstall Windows XP you must activate
with a telephone call to Microsoft.

Phil Weldon

"Andrew" spamtrap@localhost. wrote in message
news | On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 01:11:52 GMT, "Phil Weldon"
| wrote:
|
| motherboard. Also, if you are using XP, you will need to activate the
new
| installation by phone with Microsoft.
|
| Huh? Not heard of online activation?
| --
| Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
| Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
| please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
| Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

Have you thought about overclocking your card? I have an fx5900 which was
overclocked up to ultra speeds and has been so for over a year. I used the
coolbits reg fix to do it and took about 5 minutes to set up. Might put off
that upgrade for a while?

J.

"Eremor" wrote in message
...
Hello all, I could use a little help deciding which upgrade option is best
for me. I would like to upgrade my graphics card because I currently have
a Geforce FX 5900 (non-ultra) an am interested in playing games like
Oblivion. my current specs a



Athlon 64 3400+ (socket 754, 2.4 GHz)

Abit KV8 Pro motherboard

1 GB Corsair XMS DDR 400 RAM

GeForce FX 5900 graphics card

WD 160 GB Hard drive, 7200 RMP



I am limited to AGP due to my motherboard, and am resistant to upgrading
to PCIe because if I were to get a new motherboard I would most likely
want a socket 939 board for future upgrades, so I would have to buy a new
processor as well, and I think my Athlon 64 3400+ probably has some life
left in it. I have been thinking of going with the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs,
but understand they are not up to par with their PCIe models due to fewer
pixel pipelines and other factors because they are AGP.



In any case, I guess I have three options:



1) Get a cheap socket 754 motherboard with PCIe and get a PCIe card. This
would also let me increase my RAM as I have the two slots in my
motherboard filled as it is. This would, of course, limit future upgrades
if I want to get a socket 939 processor in the near future. My current
Ram would still work in a newer board, correct?



2) Go ahead and get the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, which is still a major
improvement over my current card, and hope it will get me through the rest
of the year with solid performance. I could go with the 6800, which is
cheaper, and then upgrade my whole system sooner, or go with the 7800 and
hope it lasts longer.



3) I could wait a bit longer, holding off on playing some of the games I
want, and then do a full upgrade to PCIe with a faster processor, a newer
video card, and more RAM in the near future.



Money isn't a major issue, but I'd like to get as much life out of my
current processor as I can. However, I also want games like Oblivion to
look good with at least most of the settings at higher levels.



I'm not really sure what to do here, and could use a little advice. I
sort of feel like the socket 754 deal is holding me back - otherwise I'd
probably just go for the motherboard upgrade.



Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend a hand.



-Tom

With XP, if you install a new motherboard, you have to reactivate and
reinstall Windows. (At the very least, a repair install, but I've found a
complete reinstall much more stable and faster.) You do not necessarily
have to call Microsoft though if it activates through the Internet. (Which
normally it will work.) If you have an OEM version of XP, then you're in
trouble because you probably won't be able to activate no matter what you
do. Even if you get a new computer built, you may be able to reactivate XP
without problems, but if you do lots of component changes AND frequently,
you could be in trouble and you may have to call Microsoft explaining what's
up and what you've done to require re-activation.
"Jester" wrote in message
...
Have you thought about overclocking your card? I have an fx5900 which was
overclocked up to ultra speeds and has been so for over a year. I used the
coolbits reg fix to do it and took about 5 minutes to set up. Might put
off that upgrade for a while?

J.

"Eremor" wrote in message
...
Hello all, I could use a little help deciding which upgrade option is
best for me. I would like to upgrade my graphics card because I
currently have a Geforce FX 5900 (non-ultra) an am interested in playing
games like Oblivion. my current specs a



Athlon 64 3400+ (socket 754, 2.4 GHz)

Abit KV8 Pro motherboard

1 GB Corsair XMS DDR 400 RAM

GeForce FX 5900 graphics card

WD 160 GB Hard drive, 7200 RMP



I am limited to AGP due to my motherboard, and am resistant to upgrading
to PCIe because if I were to get a new motherboard I would most likely
want a socket 939 board for future upgrades, so I would have to buy a new
processor as well, and I think my Athlon 64 3400+ probably has some life
left in it. I have been thinking of going with the 6800 gs or the 7800
gs, but understand they are not up to par with their PCIe models due to
fewer pixel pipelines and other factors because they are AGP.



In any case, I guess I have three options:



1) Get a cheap socket 754 motherboard with PCIe and get a PCIe card.
This would also let me increase my RAM as I have the two slots in my
motherboard filled as it is. This would, of course, limit future
upgrades if I want to get a socket 939 processor in the near future. My
current Ram would still work in a newer board, correct?



2) Go ahead and get the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, which is still a major
improvement over my current card, and hope it will get me through the
rest of the year with solid performance. I could go with the 6800, which
is cheaper, and then upgrade my whole system sooner, or go with the 7800
and hope it lasts longer.



3) I could wait a bit longer, holding off on playing some of the games I
want, and then do a full upgrade to PCIe with a faster processor, a newer
video card, and more RAM in the near future.



Money isn't a major issue, but I'd like to get as much life out of my
current processor as I can. However, I also want games like Oblivion to
look good with at least most of the settings at higher levels.



I'm not really sure what to do here, and could use a little advice. I
sort of feel like the socket 754 deal is holding me back - otherwise I'd
probably just go for the motherboard upgrade.



Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend a hand.



-Tom

Not true. In fact you can on-line activate multiple times as long as some
time has elapsed since last activation. I think it's like 3 months.

DaveL


"Phil Weldon" wrote in message
ink.net...
'Andrew' wrote:
| Huh? Not heard of online activation?
_____

When you change the motherboard and reinstall Windows XP you must activate
with a telephone call to Microsoft.

Phil Weldon

"Andrew" spamtrap@localhost. wrote in message
news | On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 01:11:52 GMT, "Phil Weldon"
| wrote:
|
| motherboard. Also, if you are using XP, you will need to activate the
new
| installation by phone with Microsoft.
|
| Huh? Not heard of online activation?
| --
| Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
| Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
| please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
| Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

With that philosophy, one would never upgrade because there is always
something else around the next corner.

DaveL


"John" wrote in message
...
MB upgrade is not a good move, AMD and Intel are coming this summer with
new CPU and NEW MB !!

It make no sense to change your MB now.

The best move for now would be the 7800GS overclocked...this is the
fastest AGP and as fast as it's pcie express counterpart.

and the best move for later.., wait for new CONROE and ewn AMD and see
which one is faster...

since money is no object, then change everything, MB, CPU, memory, video
card SLI etc...

now you're talking !




"Eremor" wrote in message
...
Hello all, I could use a little help deciding which upgrade option is
best for me. I would like to upgrade my graphics card because I
currently have a Geforce FX 5900 (non-ultra) an am interested in playing
games like Oblivion. my current specs a



Athlon 64 3400+ (socket 754, 2.4 GHz)

Abit KV8 Pro motherboard

1 GB Corsair XMS DDR 400 RAM

GeForce FX 5900 graphics card

WD 160 GB Hard drive, 7200 RMP



I am limited to AGP due to my motherboard, and am resistant to upgrading
to PCIe because if I were to get a new motherboard I would most likely
want a socket 939 board for future upgrades, so I would have to buy a new
processor as well, and I think my Athlon 64 3400+ probably has some life
left in it. I have been thinking of going with the 6800 gs or the 7800
gs, but understand they are not up to par with their PCIe models due to
fewer pixel pipelines and other factors because they are AGP.



In any case, I guess I have three options:



1) Get a cheap socket 754 motherboard with PCIe and get a PCIe card.
This would also let me increase my RAM as I have the two slots in my
motherboard filled as it is. This would, of course, limit future
upgrades if I want to get a socket 939 processor in the near future. My
current Ram would still work in a newer board, correct?



2) Go ahead and get the 6800 gs or the 7800 gs, which is still a major
improvement over my current card, and hope it will get me through the
rest of the year with solid performance. I could go with the 6800, which
is cheaper, and then upgrade my whole system sooner, or go with the 7800
and hope it lasts longer.



3) I could wait a bit longer, holding off on playing some of the games I
want, and then do a full upgrade to PCIe with a faster processor, a newer
video card, and more RAM in the near future.



Money isn't a major issue, but I'd like to get as much life out of my
current processor as I can. However, I also want games like Oblivion to
look good with at least most of the settings at higher levels.



I'm not really sure what to do here, and could use a little advice. I
sort of feel like the socket 754 deal is holding me back - otherwise I'd
probably just go for the motherboard upgrade.



Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend a hand.



-Tom