I was just looking for some upgrade advice for gaming performance. Here are my specs: MSI K7n2 mobo, amd xp 2500+, 1 GB 2700 ram (512x2), xfx 128mb 5200, sb16 sound, onboard lan, Microsoft Intellimouse optical, Zboard. WD 80 Gb HD 8mb cache, XP pro, Cable internet.
First off I know my soundcard is junk, I usually play when the wifey is asleep and dont listen very loud so I never bought a good card. I usually set my sound quality to low settings in game. Prolly going to buy SB live card or cheap audigy on ebay because it may be causing critical errors in Americas Army. Everyone seems to get those in that game though. I also know my video card is junk too but have been waiting till last minute when bf2 comes out to upgrade. I was going to build a new pc soon with good mobo and AMD 64. I realized that by the time I get all that, good matched pair of ram, SATA drive(s) (2 eventually for Raid 0) I would be spending a pretty penny. Then you throw a good video card on top of that and I cant really afford it. So here's what I was thinking please tell me what u think. I am obviously going to get a video card soon but dont want to buy something right before new stuff drops or when current stuff gets a price drop. Most interested in 6800gt. Anybody know about scheduled price drop or when new cards come out? The next thing I was gonna do is get a good water cooled case. I figured I'd need it for my AMD 64 when I do that down the line anyway so it would be a good investment. Also it would allow me to overclock my current setup and I hear ppl have much success overclocking with my setup. Hopefully water cooling should get cheaper real soon since everyone will need it with AMD 64. After that maybe a matched pair of Dual Channel Low Latency 3200 ram. How long do u suppose it will be before 1GB is not enough and I gotta chuck that stuff? Also my mobo will run a SATA drive so thats on the list. Eventually I'd prolly get two and run Raid 0. Once thats all done hopefully this time next year I can get new mobo and AMD64. Then I should be able to still use new ram, case, drives, vid card. The only thing I'm wondering about is if I get the vid card first I'd have to get AGP and I know PCIexpress is out. People seem to be having probs with PCIexpress so maybe its smart to wait anyways. Basically what I'm looking for is advice on which order to do this all in and if my thinking is correct. I think vid card would make the biggest diff 1st but should I do SATA drives next or RAM or case so i can overclock. Money is a concern with me so doing this in an economical way is important. Sorry for the huge post thanks for your adivce in advance.
First off I know my soundcard is junk, I usually play when the wifey is asleep and dont listen very loud so I never bought a good card. I usually set my sound quality to low settings in game. Prolly going to buy SB live card or cheap audigy on ebay because it may be causing critical errors in Americas Army. Everyone seems to get those in that game though. I also know my video card is junk too but have been waiting till last minute when bf2 comes out to upgrade. I was going to build a new pc soon with good mobo and AMD 64. I realized that by the time I get all that, good matched pair of ram, SATA drive(s) (2 eventually for Raid 0) I would be spending a pretty penny. Then you throw a good video card on top of that and I cant really afford it. So here's what I was thinking please tell me what u think. I am obviously going to get a video card soon but dont want to buy something right before new stuff drops or when current stuff gets a price drop. Most interested in 6800gt. Anybody know about scheduled price drop or when new cards come out? The next thing I was gonna do is get a good water cooled case. I figured I'd need it for my AMD 64 when I do that down the line anyway so it would be a good investment. Also it would allow me to overclock my current setup and I hear ppl have much success overclocking with my setup. Hopefully water cooling should get cheaper real soon since everyone will need it with AMD 64. After that maybe a matched pair of Dual Channel Low Latency 3200 ram. How long do u suppose it will be before 1GB is not enough and I gotta chuck that stuff? Also my mobo will run a SATA drive so thats on the list. Eventually I'd prolly get two and run Raid 0. Once thats all done hopefully this time next year I can get new mobo and AMD64. Then I should be able to still use new ram, case, drives, vid card. The only thing I'm wondering about is if I get the vid card first I'd have to get AGP and I know PCIexpress is out. People seem to be having probs with PCIexpress so maybe its smart to wait anyways. Basically what I'm looking for is advice on which order to do this all in and if my thinking is correct. I think vid card would make the biggest diff 1st but should I do SATA drives next or RAM or case so i can overclock. Money is a concern with me so doing this in an economical way is important. Sorry for the huge post thanks for your adivce in advance.
