Performace gain of upgrading vs. all new

Z-95 · 05-09-08, 07:36 PM

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!

Wayward_Son · 05-09-08, 11:08 PM

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.

cabose1227 · 05-09-08, 11:12 PM

new build time, any core 2 duo will hand you the buttocks of your current rig.

Freezer7Pro · 05-10-08, 05:57 AM

Yes, by far. I'd go for an E7200 and 3870/8800GT for a fairly cheap setup that'll still last for a good while.

TombKeeper · 05-10-08, 10:24 AM

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.

SoumaKyou · 05-10-08, 01:08 PM

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.

Evilsizer · 05-10-08, 02:33 PM

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/Produc...82E16819116064
2gigs ddr2-800 cas4 $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231087
motherboard $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128337
video card $179
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150252
PSU $89
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007
500gig drive $99.99x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

total = $659.93

or sub out the E1200 for the E7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115052
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...

Z-95 · 05-10-08, 08:03 PM

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!

Evilsizer · 05-10-08, 09:13 PM

yea,NP!!

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.

terran2k · 05-11-08, 01:25 AM

if you want a quad go for it.

05-09-08, 07:36 PM	Thread Starter #1
Z-95 Registered Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: USA	Performace gain of upgrading vs. all new 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! __________________ Intel Core2Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz (OC coming soon!) with a Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme in an Asus P5K Premium NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB (max 800core/2000shader/1100mem atm) powering a Dell 2407WFP Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 PC8500 4GB RAM Seagate 7200.11 1TB SATA2 HDD Antec P182 with a Corsair 550VX PSU Auzentech Prelude 7.1 powering a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 system Logitech G15v2 keyboard and Logitech Mx518 mouse on a custom self-made stainless steel pad :] Windows Vista Enterprise x64 SP1
	QUOTE Thanks

05-09-08, 11:08 PM	#2
Wayward_Son Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Southeast Texas	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. __________________ \m/ OverClockers mATX L33T Club \m/ MOBO....Gigabyte....GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H .............................HT Link : 222 x 11 = 2442 CPU.......AMD..........1090T : 222 x 18.5 = 4107 @ 1.475v, 46C .............................CPU-NB : 222 x 12 = 2664 @ 1.225v RAM.......GSkill........2x4gb Ripjaws DDR3 : 222 x 6.67 = 1480 @ 1.6v GPU.......XFX...........5870 1gb : 938/1325 @ 1.2v, 70C SSD.......OCZ..........Vertex II 120gb HDD.......WD...........Caviar Blue 320gb CASE......Antec........P180 Mini PSU.......Corsair.......HX620
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05-09-08, 11:12 PM	#3
cabose1227 Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: California 805 ftw	new build time, any core 2 duo will hand you the buttocks of your current rig. __________________ \m/ OverClockers mATX L33T Club \m/ New Rig : D, thanks to all the people in the classifieds hooking it up with the good parts! Silverstone FT03 Titanium ASUS Maximus V Gene Intel i5 3570k @4.8 ghz/ s1283 ATI HD 5970 Corsair Dominator Platinum 2x8 1600 Antec 650W 80 plus Platinum OCZ Vertex 4 120gb WD Re4 500gig WD Veloci Raptor 300gb HEAT : caboose1227
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05-10-08, 05:57 AM	#4
Freezer7Pro Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: FINLAND. EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE HERE.	Yes, by far. I'd go for an E7200 and 3870/8800GT for a fairly cheap setup that'll still last for a good while. __________________ E7400 4GHz 1.4V GTX260 c216 730 Core 1458 Shader 2430 RAM 4GB 800MHz XMS2 4-4-4-12 ASUS P5Q Pro Xigmatek HDT1283 Xonar DX Samsung Spinpoint F1 320GB I fold in honor of those who fight the same deadly battles as my uncle Peter Flinck once did. May he rest in peace.
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05-10-08, 10:24 AM	#5
TombKeeper Member Join Date: May 2004	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. __________________ MB:............Asus P5Q Pro CPU:..........Intel Xeon E3110 @ 4.0 Ghz @ 1.35V in CPU-Z HS:............Noctua NH-U12P (push-pull) w. MX-2 TIM RAM:.........2x2Gb Mushkin 1066s VIDEO:......MSI 275 GTX SOUND:.....X-Fi Prelude + Logitech Z-5500s HD:............2 x 640Gb WDs PS:............Corsair 750TX CASE:.......Coolermaster Stacker 832 (painted Black in/out) DISPLAY:..Dell 30" 3007 OS:............Windows 7 Pro Other:........Logitech G15 kb, Logitech MX Rev mouse, APC BX1300LCD ups
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05-10-08, 01:08 PM	#6
SoumaKyou Registered Join Date: May 2008	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.
	QUOTE Thanks

05-10-08, 02:33 PM	#7
Evilsizer Senior Fourm Spammer Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Austin,Texas	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/Produc...82E16819116064 2gigs ddr2-800 cas4 $49.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231087 motherboard $89.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128337 video card $179 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150252 PSU $89 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007 500gig drive $99.99x2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288 total = $659.93 or sub out the E1200 for the E7200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115052 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... __________________ i7 920@3.6ghz \| Asus R2G \| GK F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH \| Galaxy GTX660 GC \| C650TX \| OCZ VERTEX EX 120GB, VERTEX 250GB i3 330m \| Jetway NF98 \| 2x2gig DDR3-1066 \| pico 120WI i5 2450 \| Jetway JNF9G-QM77 \| 2x2gig DDR3-1333 \| WIP "I Love To Camp!" "Commensing Shock Therapy!" I'm jonnyGURU of jonnyGURU.com and we don't overload PSU's - JonnyGURU HeatWare
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05-10-08, 08:03 PM	Thread Starter #8
Z-95 Registered Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: USA	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! __________________ Intel Core2Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz (OC coming soon!) with a Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme in an Asus P5K Premium NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB (max 800core/2000shader/1100mem atm) powering a Dell 2407WFP Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 PC8500 4GB RAM Seagate 7200.11 1TB SATA2 HDD Antec P182 with a Corsair 550VX PSU Auzentech Prelude 7.1 powering a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 system Logitech G15v2 keyboard and Logitech Mx518 mouse on a custom self-made stainless steel pad :] Windows Vista Enterprise x64 SP1
	QUOTE Thanks

05-10-08, 09:13 PM	#9
Evilsizer Senior Fourm Spammer Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Austin,Texas	yea,NP!! 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. __________________ i7 920@3.6ghz \| Asus R2G \| GK F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH \| Galaxy GTX660 GC \| C650TX \| OCZ VERTEX EX 120GB, VERTEX 250GB i3 330m \| Jetway NF98 \| 2x2gig DDR3-1066 \| pico 120WI i5 2450 \| Jetway JNF9G-QM77 \| 2x2gig DDR3-1333 \| WIP "I Love To Camp!" "Commensing Shock Therapy!" I'm jonnyGURU of jonnyGURU.com and we don't overload PSU's - JonnyGURU HeatWare
	QUOTE Thanks

05-11-08, 01:25 AM	#10
terran2k Member Join Date: Nov 2004	if you want a quad go for it. __________________ Workstation - Windows 7 x64 AMD 1055T Server - ESXi 5.0 INTEL E5-2603
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