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Performace gain of upgrading vs. all new

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Z-95

Registered
Joined
Oct 20, 2004
Location
USA
I've been out of hardware researching for a while so I thought I'd ask here where I got the info for my current system :)

Right now I currently have a Pentium 4 3.0E on an Asus P4C800E Deluxe with 1GB of memory and an ATI x800 PRO modded to an XT. I also have 4 250GB SATA drives in 2 RAID 0 arrays. My vid card is partly fried I think (too much OC) and can't change resolutions properly without crashing (its not drivers, formats have done nothing). But that is not the problem. My question is, given my current system, will a new system really give that much more performance over upgrading my current setup?

Case 1: Upgrade to 2GB of memory and to an AGP Radeon 3850. Cost: $220ish
Case 2: Build a new system with Quad Core, 2GB of memory, PCI Express vid card (not quite top of the line, not looking to SLI/crossfire either), prolly 2x 500 or 640 or 750GB SATA2 in RAID 0. Cost: ??? $1000ish or something around that

Will the extra performance gained from the new system really warrant the increased cost? I will be looking to choose sometime this summer and will be on a budget. I'm not looking to play Crysis at full resolution with all the bells and whistles, but I want to be able to keep up with current games better. I've been having to play games on my laptop because of my vid card problems, but that gets to be a hassle (it can play Crysis though, on Low). I want to have my gaming machine back!

So basically, would P4 -> Core 2 Quad and AGP -> PCI-Express (not to mention DDR -> DDR2 and SATA -> SATA2) be worth the $1000ish versus the $220ish. Thanks!
 
Definitely time for a new build. You could build an antiquated AMD socket 939 setup that would blow that P4 out of the water, nevermind a Q6600 setup.
 
Yes, I would upgrade... I just upgraded from my AMD Opteron 146 system... which, with my previous video card would probably have been faster than yours is.
 
definitely time for an overhaul.

i just upgraded, myself. had a P4 3.0GHz, 1GB DDR RAM, GeForce4 Ti4200. my new system is in my sig, all parts brand new, and the difference is night and day... and it cost me less than $650.
 
no need for a quad unless you spend 90% of your time encoding video's or 3d rendering.

i good setup for kinda cheap...

E1200 $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116064
2gigs ddr2-800 cas4 $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231087
motherboard $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337
video card $179
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252
PSU $89
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
500gig drive $99.99x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

total = $659.93

or sub out the E1200 for the E7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052
would then make it,$744.93

in short yes spend the extra money on new setup. will be so much faster then what you have now...
 
Haha wow, overwhelmingly one side.

Ya I would def go for at least a C2D. Its way worth it over a Celeron. I do do some video encoding but gaming is definitely the main use of the computer. So it looks like a C2D would be best.

I also require at least basic RAID, though a mobo supporting RAID 5 would be very nice. That would be worth some extra $$ but at least basic RAID is required.

I am also a modest overclocker so I'll prolly spring for some aftermarket cooling.

Looks like I'll be starting my research again! As well as hoping to get a good job to pay for it :p. Heck, I'll probably spring for some better parts if I get the job. Thanks for the help guys!
 
yea,NP!! :beer:
btw the E1200 while labeled for the celeron line is a C2D,just has less cache. still worth the money and even clocked at 3ghz would blow the doors of the current P4 3ghz cpu you have.
 
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