Whats Next??

Im running the following system;
AMD xp3200+
Biostar M7NCD (with nForce2 Chipsets- complete with software overclocking
available)
768MB DDR PC2700 RAM
120Gig HD
Abit 256meg GeForce FX5600 (again software overclocked to 355mhz clock -
420mhz RAM)
300W PSU
ect ect- whats next on my upgrade list do you reckon? case mods? better PSU?
faster RAM?
and also what level of overclocking is recommended on the CPU for PROLONGED
use of the system?
Bearing in mind the system is mainly used for video editing and gaming.

Any info on this would b great as im fairly new to overclocking...
Dal.

"FingAZ" wrote in message
...

" whats next on my upgrade list do you reckon? case mods? better PSU?
faster RAM? "


Without knowing your budget, it is difficult to be more exact. However, I
would advise the following:

First, sell your RAM on eBay and get 2x quality 512MB PC3200 DIMMs.

When the Radeon X800 XT and the 6800 Ultra arrive on retail shelves, you
will see all the cards below them drop in price. Sell your 5600 then, and
upgrade to something amongst the following:

Radeon 9800 Pro
Radeon 9800 XT
FX 5900
FX 5900 Ultra
FX 5950 Ultra

Depending on the quality of your PSU, you may need to upgrade it alongside a
better graphics card.

I can't really comment on whether you should do more case mods, as I don't
know what you have. However, if your case doesn't exhaust hot air very
well, I would definitely recommend one of these:
http://www.evercool.com.tw/products/pcac.htm

"FingAZ" wrote
Any info on this would b great as im fairly new to overclocking...


Hi,

I agree with what Cuzman has already posted. Get some good PC3200 or even
better PC3500. 1GB (2x512) would be sweet!. Regarding the PSU you should
really upgrade that. I was running a similar build to yours with a 300w
ANTEC and all worked fine, except the PSU Blew-Up after 5 months. I wasn't
there when it happened but I got a phone call from my Client who was
practically in tears thinking it was her *whole* PC that had blown, also it
released a small of curry/kebab? I just replaced it with the 350w
Smart-Blue PSU that came with a ANTEC LAN-Boy I just bought.

You got a nice system there, maybe you could treat yourself to a new
hard-disk to store all your films/MP3/Divx etc?

Lastly the graphics card, I would imagine that the FX5600 should be cutting
it fairly well in most games. I guess it all depends how you like to play
and what resolution you use. If you play using 1600x1200 with 6x AA and 16x
AF then fair enough you need the most expensive graphics, but if you play
using 1024x768 with 2x AA and 8x AF then a RADEON9800 would be great (I
don't know about nVidia Cards since my first Geforce256 DDR). I bought a
Sapphire *Atlantis* Radeon 9800 (R350) last august, totally awesome card.
It was clocked at 325/280 by default but has know been modded a bit and
overclocked to 440/390 totally mental! Faster than a stock 9800XT

Money doesn't grow on trees, and there are too many Hardware *Snobs* on
usenet who will laugh at you if you can't clear 20k in 3DMark01, but that's
nonsense!

Enjoy and spend carefully, hardware loses its value fast, overclocking is
neat!
--
Wayne ][

Thanks for your tips- judging by whats been said- i think ill go for some
case-cooling mods and get this peice of kit running better than ever- and
your right Wayne maybe i should knock into some more space- gotta love DivX!
btw- sweet stuff on overclocking your graphics card! But first its
definately all about PC3200 RAM- ill take a look at whether my board can
take 3500 but if not ill jus overclock the stuff i get
Thanks anyway- btw if any help on a 'small' matter im having at the mo can
be given too thatd be great- subject line "WindowsXP boot problems" and
author is "Darren Gibbard"
Thanks again.
"Wayne Youngman" wrote in message
...

"FingAZ" wrote
Any info on this would b great as im fairly new to overclocking...


Hi,

I agree with what Cuzman has already posted. Get some good PC3200 or even
better PC3500. 1GB (2x512) would be sweet!. Regarding the PSU you should
really upgrade that. I was running a similar build to yours with a 300w
ANTEC and all worked fine, except the PSU Blew-Up after 5 months. I
wasn't
there when it happened but I got a phone call from my Client who was
practically in tears thinking it was her *whole* PC that had blown, also
it
released a small of curry/kebab? I just replaced it with the 350w
Smart-Blue PSU that came with a ANTEC LAN-Boy I just bought.

You got a nice system there, maybe you could treat yourself to a new
hard-disk to store all your films/MP3/Divx etc?

Lastly the graphics card, I would imagine that the FX5600 should be
cutting
it fairly well in most games. I guess it all depends how you like to play
and what resolution you use. If you play using 1600x1200 with 6x AA and
16x
AF then fair enough you need the most expensive graphics, but if you play
using 1024x768 with 2x AA and 8x AF then a RADEON9800 would be great (I
don't know about nVidia Cards since my first Geforce256 DDR). I bought a
Sapphire *Atlantis* Radeon 9800 (R350) last august, totally awesome card.
It was clocked at 325/280 by default but has know been modded a bit and
overclocked to 440/390 totally mental! Faster than a stock 9800XT

Money doesn't grow on trees, and there are too many Hardware *Snobs* on
usenet who will laugh at you if you can't clear 20k in 3DMark01, but
that's
nonsense!

Enjoy and spend carefully, hardware loses its value fast, overclocking is
neat!
--
Wayne ][