New System yes or no!? :(

Hi,
been offline for a while on this forum but have been keeping up a bit with current hardware etc. anyway before I ask the question:
Current Rig: Abit NF7-S Rev. 2.0 Barton 2800+ 1024MB 333DDR, 9800Pro 128MB, Plextor Premium CDR + Philips DVDR 1640, 160GB Seagate 7200.7 SATA + 200GB 17" Samsung TFT + 19" Iiyama VMPro454 CRT Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black

As you can see a fairly “old” system but I have everything I need to get a: A64 X2 4400+, Geforce 7800, 1GB DDR2, Mobo, plus WC (thinking about zalman here): which would set me back roughly 1400 euros or £1100. hardware is more expensive here in europe.
Is it actually worth upgrading? I do play new games like HL2, BF2, Doom3 (or soon Quake 4), but these games still play well on my machine on medium settings and they look amazing.
How will tm games run on my old machine and the new one (6 months time and for the new system a years time)? Will there be a completely new hardware design for processors? new mobo chipsets? Should I wait another 6 months to upgrade? is it actually worth it since i only play 1 or max 2 hours a day. Shall I just get a fast processors and get myself an Xbox 360 to play games?!

I am so confused at the current situation. When i see people on most forums it seems a good 70% has a 64 bit system and last gen graphics or current gen. cards. Hardly find anyone with a system as old as mine. Also to note that system would be nearly be my whole pay cheque, (and I dont have much money saved just started work, but dont have to pay rent or much food since I am living again at home ((yeah))).

what would you guys do?

If your computer is still able to do everything you require it to do then I'd wait. AMD is transitioning to socket M2, so if you can hold out for that then you'll have more options available to you.

I'm a bit of a hypocrite btw since I got a new 3800+ x2 just a short time ago, but I'm definately not much of a gamer.

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR - $160
OCZ EL DDR PC-4800 Dual Channel Platinum Elite Edition (2x512MB) - $257
GeForce 7800GT 256-MB PCI Express - $359
Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Retail - $526
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic - $115
Water Cooling, zalma reserator 2 - $192.99
= $1600 OMG!

You could go with the x2 3800+ and shave a couple hundred off that. Additionally I know nothing about the reserator 2, but that seems rather steep for water cooling. I have a fairly slick water cooling setup myself and have less than half that into it...though it is completely immobile.

Julian, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm currently running XP2500, 1.25GB ram, 9800pro. For me it the upgrade path revolves can I afford the upgrades to make the jump worthwile to me. While the core of my components are semi-current, the rest are showing their age. I'm running all Pata hd's, maxed out my pc2700 ram and the powersupply is just keeping it's head above water. I've decided to wait 6 or so months, and build an almost completely new system. Up to this point I've always been a piecewise upgrader.
If you're only looking at an hour or two of play a day then, if I were you, I'd keep the system for another 6 months. I play 2-4 hrs/day and am content with my box. (BF2/HL2) They are still a good number of people out here with socket 462 systems, we all just might not post as much as the A64 people.

Good Luck.

If you're happy with the framerates you're getting with current games, and you're willing to deal with a significant performance hit with newer games, then you don't need to upgrade. However, if you really like to game, then I think you'll be itching to upgrade VERY seen. I had a similar setup to yours (see my AXP rig in sig), and it was bottlenecking my 6800GT so much that my framerates were not satisfactory in HL2 and Doom3 (I was not happy with less than 40FPS). There was a world of difference when I put the 6800GT in my A64 system. Newer games require a lot of memory bandwidth--something that you're lacking with your DDR333 memory and outdated AXP architecture.

germanjulian said:

As you can see a fairly “old” system but I have everything I need to get a: A64 X2 4400+, Geforce 7800, 1GB DDR2, Mobo, plus WC (thinking about zalman here): which would set me back roughly 1400 euros or £1100. hardware is more expensive here in europe.
I
what would you guys do?

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There is no DDR2 on an AMD system yet. For DDR2 you need to wait for socket m2 or go intel.

ckj said:

There is no DDR2 on an AMD system yet. For DDR2 you need to wait for socket m2 or go intel.

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why the hell did I think A64 use DDR2 hahah thats embarrassing

anyone know when this m2 chipset will be released? sometime around vista?