Old dog new tricks

[pgp_nc]

I have been in the proccess of upgrading my computer over the past few months and it is comming along well, but not as well as I had hoped. I bought a GeForce 6600 AGP 256mb card but am not that satisfied with it. What are some better cards I can look into that are also AGP. Also, is there a large difference in performance between pc333 memory and pc400. I also have an old 3.06ghz pentium 4 with hyperthreading and a 533mhz bus speed. how much will I gain if I upgrade to a newer pentium 4?

 

[Pepsiboy700]

The ram and cpu combo upgrade will **** in speeds of loading stuff and probably higher fps. The video card is a major weak point there depending on what games.

Edit: One thing alot of people usually say as an option is sell your current rig and take that money and whatever money you have right now and build a new computer.

 

[Ridlyn]

I would try and find a 6800gs, 7600gs, or even a 7800gs if you have a bigget budget.

 

[Trotter]

DDR400 is a little faster than 333, but I wouldn't upgrade unless you were going from 512 or 1 gig to 2 gigs.

Depending on whether your CPU is a 478 or a 775, you're upgrade options may be limited. You pretty much have top of the line if its a 478. If you have a 775, look at the Pentium D's or a C2D.

The cards Ridlyn suggested are the tops for AGP.

If you're up to upgrading your mobo for a 775 and PCI-E, but can't afford to buy RAM and a new graphics card all at once, check out this one:
http://techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=117654

 

[Syrillian]

Check the 2nd post on this link to another thread on this forum, it concerns AGP video card options.

I hope that it helps.

http://techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=117336

Good Luck!

 

[pgp_nc]

thanks for the advice. That's basically what I wanted to know. I will probably go for another GPU. My only other question is whether or not I will see perormance increase by upgrading to a slightly faster CPU with a higher bus speed.

 

[Lord AnthraX]

Well like trotter said, it all depends on what socket your running on.


478 or 775.


You can check my download CPU-Z

 

[Spartan]

thanks for the advice. That's basically what I wanted to know. I will probably go for another GPU. My only other question is whether or not I will see perormance increase by upgrading to a slightly faster CPU with a higher bus speed.

Not much of a performance increase. Maybe just a few percentage points, even less in gaming which is much more GPU dependant.

 

[pgp_nc]

I have a socket 478. My mobo says it supports pentium 4 but if its a socket 478 can I use any 478 pin CPU?

 

[Ridlyn]

Ya, i was pretty positve that you had a agp mobo, because i know of very little mobos that have a socket 775 and a agp slot. If you have the money to upgrade to a new cpu/mobo Pretty much no matter what you get now is gonna be ddr2 memory, unless you go skt 939 from AMD. Which i dont suggest.

I would go with an amd athlon 3000/3200/3500+ If you dont have alot of money, and maybe ddr2 667mhz. I recommendt ddr2 800, but it's fairly expensive.

If you have a little more money i suggest a Core 2 Duo e6300. I dont know the mobos fairly well, but i do know is that there are a few mobos under $100. I highly recommend getting ddr2 800 with the c2d and aftermarket heatsink and do a small oc to 2.4-2.6ghz or more.

Then for gpus, if you're low on money after the cpu upgrade 7600gs or even a 6600/gt. But if you have a bigger budget 7600gt/7900gt may be a possibility.

EDIT:I suggested this stuff if your looking into upgrading cpu/mobo. If you want to upgrade the cpu, you'll have to upgrade mobo because they 3.0ghz pentium is top of the line for 478.