Built this computer April of 07.
Windows XP Media Center 2002
CoolerMaster WaveMaster Case(Great Case)
2x Lightscribe 20x DVD-RW(Dual Layer, etc, the works.)
AMD 64 x2 6000+(3.0ghz at stock speeds, no OC'ing)
2g Kingston Hyper-X DDR2 800 240-Pin(800mhz)
Seagate 500g HDD 7200RPM(Speed is just fine, more space than I need tbh)
eVGA 768mb 8800GTX(Awesome card)
Creative Labs SoundBlaster XtremeGamer X-Fi Soundcard 7-1(Seems to work fine)
ASUS M2N SLI Deluxe Motherboard(Great Board for everything I need, atm)
Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU ATX12V / EPS12V 750W Power Supply
Great system, has performed nearly flawless so far besides a few driver hiccups regarding the graphics card and it crashing the computer while playing COD4.
But this computer was designed to incorporate everything I enjoy doing on the computer from photo/video editing to gaming. And with almost every popular PC game imaginable on this computer, I definitely have not been neglecting those key features that first played a part in the initial design of the computer.
So we're closing in on a year of ownership and action for this computer and it comes to that moment where new technology is released and old technology becomes outdated and you need to upgrade, so I began thinking of possible ways to upgrade my computer's performance.
Upgrade 1
First of all, with the current price of 2gigs of Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 RAM at 51.99 at Newegg.com, it would seem that boosting the RAM from 2 to 4gigs would be an almost un-costly upgrade. Unfortunately with the current 32-bit architecture of my O/S, I would not benefit from the full 4 gigs, but just the 3-3.5gigs. But it does leave the possibility if I was to ever upgrade the O/S, the significant amount of RAM would be present. But given the current state of affairs, I won't be leaving XP Media Center for a good amount of time. But would the 1-1.5g increase in RAM be worth the price and a noticeable performance increase?
Upgrade 2
Although my current GPU has the ability to thoroughly play mostly any game on maximum settings without a hiccup. Crysis does pose a small fps issue when playing(About 28-32 avg fps with max dx9 setting and AA/AS). But I was wondering, would it be worth it to buy another eVGA 8800GTX GPU and run it in SLI. Would the graphical performance increase warrant the cost?
I have no real interest in the 9 series cards, the GX2 being the only card that I would possibly put cash towards if I was to get one. Though I don't know if the card requires PCI Express 2.0 strictly or not, but probably under the price of getting that card and without losing the functionality of the 8800GTX, I could just get another 8800GTX and run them both in SLI.
Upgrade 3
The processor, as much as I hate the comments from AMD and Intel fanboys as they display their OC'ing abilities in a e-p33n comparison contest, and as much as Intel users will stress the uselessness of AMD dual core processors. I have thoroughly enjoyed this processor which has performed flawlessly this past year. But unlike most people, I don't overclock my CPU, or I haven't yet, for two main reasons: I don't have the cooling supplies and I don't really know the nitty gritty details besides BIOS.
I'm going to be honest, I don't really know how to overclock my video card, RAM, or CPU. But I have been happy with the stock speed of 3.0ghz on this processor thus far but I was looking in the possibility of getting the 6400+ AMD BE with a stock speed of 3.2ghz(Yes, 162.99 for a .2ghz increase). My motherboard doesn't support any Intel Processors nor does it support the AMD Phenom series, but that doesn't bother me because as far as I have observed, the Phenom series hasn't quite proved itself yet.
If I wanted to completely do a overhaul of this system, I would dedicate some cash to possibly getting a Intel motherboard that can still support the components on this motherboard as well as future upgrades(PCI Express 2.0/1066-1200 RAM) and possibly a Q6600 or higher-end dual core intel processor and some cooling gear to over clock it all.
So that pretty much sums up my upgrading strategy and plan thus far. Any tips, suggestions, straight up outlandish verbal slaughter is welcomed.
Windows XP Media Center 2002
CoolerMaster WaveMaster Case(Great Case)
2x Lightscribe 20x DVD-RW(Dual Layer, etc, the works.)
AMD 64 x2 6000+(3.0ghz at stock speeds, no OC'ing)
2g Kingston Hyper-X DDR2 800 240-Pin(800mhz)
Seagate 500g HDD 7200RPM(Speed is just fine, more space than I need tbh)
eVGA 768mb 8800GTX(Awesome card)
Creative Labs SoundBlaster XtremeGamer X-Fi Soundcard 7-1(Seems to work fine)
ASUS M2N SLI Deluxe Motherboard(Great Board for everything I need, atm)
Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU ATX12V / EPS12V 750W Power Supply
Great system, has performed nearly flawless so far besides a few driver hiccups regarding the graphics card and it crashing the computer while playing COD4.
But this computer was designed to incorporate everything I enjoy doing on the computer from photo/video editing to gaming. And with almost every popular PC game imaginable on this computer, I definitely have not been neglecting those key features that first played a part in the initial design of the computer.
So we're closing in on a year of ownership and action for this computer and it comes to that moment where new technology is released and old technology becomes outdated and you need to upgrade, so I began thinking of possible ways to upgrade my computer's performance.
Upgrade 1
First of all, with the current price of 2gigs of Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 RAM at 51.99 at Newegg.com, it would seem that boosting the RAM from 2 to 4gigs would be an almost un-costly upgrade. Unfortunately with the current 32-bit architecture of my O/S, I would not benefit from the full 4 gigs, but just the 3-3.5gigs. But it does leave the possibility if I was to ever upgrade the O/S, the significant amount of RAM would be present. But given the current state of affairs, I won't be leaving XP Media Center for a good amount of time. But would the 1-1.5g increase in RAM be worth the price and a noticeable performance increase?
Upgrade 2
Although my current GPU has the ability to thoroughly play mostly any game on maximum settings without a hiccup. Crysis does pose a small fps issue when playing(About 28-32 avg fps with max dx9 setting and AA/AS). But I was wondering, would it be worth it to buy another eVGA 8800GTX GPU and run it in SLI. Would the graphical performance increase warrant the cost?
I have no real interest in the 9 series cards, the GX2 being the only card that I would possibly put cash towards if I was to get one. Though I don't know if the card requires PCI Express 2.0 strictly or not, but probably under the price of getting that card and without losing the functionality of the 8800GTX, I could just get another 8800GTX and run them both in SLI.
Upgrade 3
The processor, as much as I hate the comments from AMD and Intel fanboys as they display their OC'ing abilities in a e-p33n comparison contest, and as much as Intel users will stress the uselessness of AMD dual core processors. I have thoroughly enjoyed this processor which has performed flawlessly this past year. But unlike most people, I don't overclock my CPU, or I haven't yet, for two main reasons: I don't have the cooling supplies and I don't really know the nitty gritty details besides BIOS.
I'm going to be honest, I don't really know how to overclock my video card, RAM, or CPU. But I have been happy with the stock speed of 3.0ghz on this processor thus far but I was looking in the possibility of getting the 6400+ AMD BE with a stock speed of 3.2ghz(Yes, 162.99 for a .2ghz increase). My motherboard doesn't support any Intel Processors nor does it support the AMD Phenom series, but that doesn't bother me because as far as I have observed, the Phenom series hasn't quite proved itself yet.
If I wanted to completely do a overhaul of this system, I would dedicate some cash to possibly getting a Intel motherboard that can still support the components on this motherboard as well as future upgrades(PCI Express 2.0/1066-1200 RAM) and possibly a Q6600 or higher-end dual core intel processor and some cooling gear to over clock it all.
So that pretty much sums up my upgrading strategy and plan thus far. Any tips, suggestions, straight up outlandish verbal slaughter is welcomed.
