Help With Upgrading

[RichM499]

Hello, I want to start by saying my grammar is horrible, and i dont feel like fixing it. So if your ocd please click the back button=) and thanks for reading.

Alright here we go, im using an athlon 3800+ 2.0ghz @ 2.55ghz, with an Nvidia 7600gs 400/260 @ 540/279 (the ram must be crap or something, i cant get it to budge above 286 and i dont trust it at the brink.. the core will go up to 580 but its a very minimal performance benefit for the added heat).

Im using an Asus a8v-x PCI X 1, AGP, and DDR400 motherboard with Corsaid XMS ddr400 @ 212.5mhz (425ddr).

Ok i've done a very minimal ammount of testing, because i dont have access to 3dmark right now, and i only REALLY care about 2 things, 1. Ps2 emulation (very cpu dependant). and 2. Online gaming such as CSS/TF2/DoDS/CoD4.

Test1- counterstrike source stress test.@ 1280x1024 with all default (high) video settings, 4xmsaa, trilinear filtering.

2550mhz cpu, 540/279 video - 43.61 1st test 44.28 2nd test
2550mhz cpu, 400/261(stock) video - 39.49 1st test 40.27 2nd test.
2000mhz cpu, 400/261(stock) video - 38.9 1st test, 40.3 2nd test.

decent performance increase-- Video bottleneck---

Test2- PCSX playstation 2 emulation-
Video difference test-
400/261 - 40 minimum, 48 max for 3-4 min, 39.2 min, 45.73 max after 3-4 min
540/279 - 48 max, 45.73 min ??? spiked at 49.26. .. minimal change after 3-4min

minimal performance increase-- CPU bottleneck---



I run an Online gaming community for these 4 games, (although we might branch out to L4D soon). and this is all i really care to play.


given my current system specs:
athlon x2 3800+ @ 2.55ghz,
Asus a8v-x
corsair XMS ddr400 @ ddr425
Geforce 7600GS @ 540/279

I have determined that WITHOUT upgrading the motherboard, my best upgrading options are:

AMD athlon 4800+ (gonna overclock it as far as i can and stay under 60c load)
and
HIS Radeon 3850 IceQ AGP (its factory overclocked, and i <3 the blue UV LED fan =D)

Anyone have any other suggestions how to squeeze a bit more power from this aging machine for minimal money?

By the way the HIS radeon card is 200 on newegg, but i got a deal for 60 bucks from a buddy of mine as a trade for a 500 gig hard drive i had collecting dust.

 

[Hussein19891]

If you get G2 stepping with a VID of 1.3 and under. Then you should be able to achieve 3.00ghz OC, with stock heat sink, and decent temperatures.

How much you getting that 3850 for? There are better cards in the same price range. So unless your getting it for real cheap, I would pick up a 8800GT or 9600 GT instead. Maybe even a 4850

 

[RichM499]

=P this is an AGP motherboard, it doesnt get any better than the 3850 for AGP platform

i just thought maybe there was a better card than the HIS IceQ radeon 3850


oh-- and i've got an Antec Freezer 64 pro cooler, quite a bit better than the stock

(dont mean to start a flame war)
based on the reviews i've read, its right up there with the big typhoon, and the zalman 9500

 

[Hussein19891]

Have you ordered your CPU already? If not go for a 5400+ BE instead.

 

[RichM499]

do they make 939 5400s?

i googled it earlier and didnt see anything... i guess i'll go back to the research grind.

 

[Hussein19891]

s939 awww.

Finding a X2 4800+ s939 itself is not easy.

 

[RichM499]

yeah tell me about it, i found some on ebay for 60 bucks but i dont have a paypal accuont.

everyone else wants to sell these opteron 165 / 185 and fx-60 (the top of the line 939 chips) for 500 bucks!

wtf are they thinking? 500 dollars? i wonder if anyone is stupid enough to actually buy it..

its not even a 10 pack or anything, its a single processor....

i fell out of my chair laughing when i saw "FREE SHIPPING" in bold letters...


i guess i'll just get myself a 3850 and call it quits untill i upgrade the mobo to am2+

 

[RichM499]

Moderator just delete this thread plz..
i hate e-commerce...

and these idiots selling crap that was 80 dollars NEW for 600 bucks 1 year later.......

 

[Hussein19891]

Your pc isn't that bad. You still have a dual core @2.55ghz which handles the games you listed. Yet I still don't know how much ram you have.

Best advice, save up like 500$ for a better rig. If you can't wait that long though. Then go with the 3850. Then you'll have a Dual Core @2.55ghz with a good GPU. So running COD4 and PS2 Emulations won't torture your computer.

 

[RichM499]

cod4 wont, but ps2 emulation still does,

you'd need a 6000+ to get 60fps consistently in the games i play (ffx works 40-60fps, 30~ minimum), but unless its 50-60 you REALLY notice the difference between 30 and 60 on ps2 emulation, its not the same as "playable" 30fps in cod4, its slow motion


i have 2 gigs of the corsair memory, so my ram is fine for now

also i have another 2 gigs of Corsair XMS2 ddr2 800 ram sitting in a box in my closet, so i guess if i upgrade the mobo/cpu in a combo deal somewhere, and get a video card i'll be good to go for 200~ or 250.

i can get a quad core phenom 9600 and a gigabyte board for 130 online, and PCIX cards are alot cheaper than AGP.