A few quick questions

[flatliner684]

Im going to be giving my computer a complete overhall just after christmas and have been searching around for what hardware I'll be needing. My computers about 3 years old now and low and behold, everything seems to be requiring an upgrade.

I just have a few questions about what to be looking @. Any help will be greatly apprieated.

Firstly the graphics card I have @ the mo (and want to keep using) is AGP compatible. Iv'e been reading a lot about PCI-E and most graphics cards ive taken a look now use this. Is it worth me settling for a motherboard that has AGP and or should I get a new graphics card that PCI-E? can I get a motherboard with both a PCI-Express and AGP Port? If I just keep to AGP, I don't want to be restricting myself so I cant upgrade to a better graphics card when the time comes without getting a new motherboard.

Secondly Im going to be getting a AMD 64bit processor. Is it worth making the leap to 2.4GHZ, or should I settle for 2.2?

again, I don't want to settle for something that I will just have to upgrade too soon. I dont mind spending the extra if its going to last.

Thanks for any help, and appologise if these questions have be answered before.

 

[Quintox]

Def. go for PCI-E. That is the way of the future, and cards in PCI-E aren't really any more expensive than AGP. And no, you can't have both AGP and PCI-E.

Good choice on the AMD 64. You do know that an AMD 64 2400+ is NOT equal to 2.4 ghz, right? It's clocked diff. or something like that (all AMDs are) but its more powerful. Hard to explain, sorry if I suck at that.

So I'd just go for around 2.2 (3400, 3500+). You won't see that much of a jump, esp. for the price IMO.

How much money will you have, for that'd help quite a bit.

 

[flatliner684]

Thanks for the speedie reply

You do know that an AMD 64 2400+ is NOT equal to 2.4 ghz, right? It's clocked diff. or something like that (all AMDs are) but its more powerful.

Ha, yea. First thing I double checked . So your saying I should stick to 2.2? well that will save some money.

Ive got around £600 (about $1050), although i'd be quite happy not to spend that much.

The graphics card I have @ the moment is an ATI RADEON 9800 Pro, and I was unsure of whether that was decent by todays standards (it was when I bought it, they go out of date faster than I can keep up!). If it were, it would be a shame to replace it if theres some use left in it, ya know?

Is there anything else I should look out for when buying a motherboard? @ the moment im just going by whats compatible - is there anything that I should look out for, or avoide?

 

[flatliner684]

Ok, here is what Im looking at @ the moment:

Graphics Card:
XFX GEFORCE 6800GS XXX PV-T42G-UAD7 256MB DDR3 TV + DVI Extreme Gamer Ultra PCI-E

Mother Board:
Asus A8V Deluxe Socket-939 VIA/KT800Pro - ATX Sound IEEE1394 USB2 800FSB Retail no wifi

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3700 Skt 939 San Diego Retail inc Heat Sink Fan

RAM:
Kingston 1GB 400MHz DDR DIMM x2

Any comments or suggestions? will this be a decent specs to run a game life BF2 maxed out? if it can, that would be a fair sign that it will last me sometime.

Alot of the names just seem like a whole lot a numbers to me, but ive done my research and as far as I can tell these parts will suit just fine. Other things such as Hard drive, etc, I can just haul over from the machine im currently using.

I've been oggling over AMD X2 64bit (dual processors) and iv'e been recommended them for multi tasking, espesially with things like Photoshop. Photoshop is something I use a lot. Its often open whilst im doing other things like browsing the net and listening to music through my PC. Would having a dual core processor make this smoother (a problem I have @ the moment) or will these specs deal with that themselves? When im using photoshop with large files, at high res it can become impossible to work.

I appologise for my noobish questions. Any help again is much apprieated and I thankyou for your time.

 

[macdude425]

Don't get an XFX video card. Get Leadtek or eVGA.

 

[flatliner684]

Not meaning to question your knowledge, but why? are they not as reliable, or have you have bad xp with them?

thanks

 

[Ste]

When you upgrade you may need to get a better/bigger power supply.

What are your current components?

 

[flatliner684]

Current specs are:

AMD Athlon XP 2400+
RADEON 9800 PRO
80GB IDE (5400rpm) Harddrive (getting a new one, converting this one too a external if possible)
NVIDIA NForce motherboard (tbh, i don't know its whole name)
Onboard sound

The only thing ive upgraded was I added a 512 RAM to the existing 512 already installed and updated the graphics card from the onboard graphics to the Radeon.

BTW, this computer wasnt one I built myself.

As it stands now, i dont think anything can be salvaged from my current system anymore.

Ive already looked into getting a new power supply. Going to get a 400watt, unless I can get away with the 300watt that would come with a case im looking @ getting.

thanks for your time, as always

 

[flatliner684]

Okey dokey. It now stands out @:

AMD Athlon 64 3700 CPU Skt 939 (San Diego)

Asus A8N-E SKT 939 NFORCE 4 AUDIO LAN PCI-Express ATX

Leadtek WinFast GeForce 6800GS 256MB DDR3 PCI-E TV + DVI

Kingston 1GB 400MHz DDR PC3200 DIMM (x2)

Compucase 6C29 Beige/Silver Mid Tower Case with 300W PSU

For now im going to use my current harddrive, and upgrade it at a later date.

Just a few last min questions. I've read 300W PSU will support the graphics card well, but im not sure how it will fair with the processor and 2 gigs of RAM. Will I need anything higher than 300w?

Some places I have read that this system should run something like BF2 Maxed out, other places I've read i would need to get something like 7800GT to even come close. How well do you think this system would fair?

Lastly, have I missed anything ? 5 items dose'nt seem like a lot in retrospect, but as far as I can see this should be it.

Thankyou for your time, as always