[biosboy4]

Here are my current specs.... Dual-core Celeron e1400 oc'd to 3Ghz stable and cool. 512MB 2600xt, 4GB of DDR2, 580watt psu etc....

So what should I upgrade if I only have 100 bucks to dish out? a better cpu like an E2220 which has twice my current cache and should reach higher clocks?

A new video card (I found an 8800 GT for 100 bucks but it's 256 MB -_-)

Or should I pop another 2600xt in there and do crossfire? Any other ideas?

I can't decide if I want to upgrade my machine or if I should fix my girlfriend's pickup in here guitar lol....

[White_Pawn]

See if you can save up a few bucks and try to get the E7200. That would be quite a bit of a jump.

Otherwise, wait for the E5200 to come out.

Don't get another 2600xt, it wouldn't help that much and isn't worth the money. If you want more videocard power, i'd say sell it and grab something a bit stronger like a hd4850.

[mdamda]

If you game at larger resolutions, I'd say something like 9800GTX/HD4850 first before getting a new CPU. The celeron really isn't so bad especially when it's @ 3ghz.

[Pro Noob]

Originally Posted by mdamda

If you game at larger resolutions, I'd say something like 9800GTX/HD4850 first before getting a new CPU. The celeron really isn't so bad especially when it's @ 3ghz.

+1: Agreed. If your Celeron is stable at 3.0 Ghz...well that's pretty damn good. Video cards make more of a difference in games any way. I guess it depends on what you want to use it for. I say....save $$ for a 4850 (infact, if I had the $$, I'd ditch my 9600 and get the 4850).

[biosboy4]

so what about running 2 2600 xt's? How much of a difference would that make? Plus it would only be about 70 bucks

[Pro Noob]

Originally Posted by biosboy4

so what about running 2 2600 xt's? How much of a difference would that make? Plus it would only be about 70 bucks

Not quite sure off hand, but it wouldn't be as good as the 4850. I'm guessing simply because the 2600's are only 128 bit. But 70 bucks is a great price, and you should see a definite improvement with either choice. Do you play at high resolutions? If not, you may want to go with another 2600...can't really beat the price (especially if you only have $100 to spend).

[BlackEdition]

you might be wondering why people are asking about what resolution that you game at.

at low resolutions, there is a greater burden on the CPU, and thus, your frame rates can be CPU limited. this means that it doesn't really matter what graphics card you have, you're CPU is going to pull everything down. your celeron dual core is not terrible at 3ghz, but, i am sure that you would benefit from an upgrade...

the higher the resolution you game at, the more your GPU (graphics card) is going to handle the frame rates. thus, you will get drastically different frame rates with more powerful cards.

the 4850 is a great card for the money, but it is $200. the intel e7200 cpu is a great upgrade, and much closer to the price range you talked about, at about $130. the e7200 is basically an e8*** series processor with some cache disabled, so it should overclock well. if you search tom's hardware, they used the e7200 in a recent build...i am going to search and post a link...

hope that helps

what kind of pickup in your gf's guitar? we have to assess that situation as well! if it is a cheap squier or something, you may be able to get a cheap replacement. if she is rocking out with a set of emg's in a les paul...that needs immediate attention!

[tonadoocing]

is the intel core 2 duos , extremes and quads that much better than the amd phenoms and x2
and is it worth having to get a new mobo

[Pro Noob]

Originally Posted by tonadoocing

is the intel core 2 duos , extremes and quads that much better than the amd phenoms and x2
and is it worth having to get a new mobo

People say that current AMDs don't overclock as well as current Intels. But I don't have first hand experience to confirm that (although I assume it's true). I say, if you have the means ($$) to do it, and if you're a gamer...go for it.

[LilBuddy]

If you game a lot I'd get the GPU. There are 8800GS's for $70 AR or I think Newegg has an 8800GT 512mb for $120AR right now.

[biosboy4]

Ok, so now lets say I can squeeze out about $180 Max.... Then what would be a good buy?

I'm trying to figure our if I'm bottled by my cpu of gpu. I can already play Crysis on max settings (Dx9) with no AA on a 1400x900 resolution which is native to my 19 inch. I've played Assassin's Creed Maxed out with no problems also. However, when I tried the Crysis hack that allows you to run on "Very High" setting with Dx9 it wasn't quite playable and I want it to be. Plus I would like to be able to put AA on at least x2 but that's not as big of an issue to me.

Issue #2 I do allot of video editing and specials effects (Adobe Premier pro and Adobe After Effects CS3) and I would like to speed up rendering times....


*edit: My Gf's guitar is an Alvarez (acoustic) I bout for her for about 1,300. It's nice, but her pickup messed up....

edit#2: Here's what I'm looking at (lots of options lol) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500023

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814186037

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125086

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102719

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500006

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814261018

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

[BlackEdition]

the e 8400 is smoking...that is a sick proc that you will be able to clock up to 4ghz.

of the graphics cards that you have there, the best ones are the 4850, then the 8800gt's.

4850 best
8800gt next best
in terms of graphics cards...the other ones aren't worth it...

the 1gb 8800gt is not supposed to be worth it...but, if it is close in price you might want to try it. i just heard that the 8800gt is never able to use that much memory...

[biosboy4]

So what do you think? 8800gt, 4850, or the E8400?

Which one will help me the most? One thing is though, I have a crossfire mobo, so if I buy an 8800 now, and decide to sli later, is that even possible?

If I buy the 4850, will it crossfire with my 2600xt at all? or would it bottle the better card so much it would make things worse?

Last variable: (I think) I have a cheap 580 Watt psu with no power connector for a vid card.... Would an adapter fix that?

So we have things narrowed down... 8800gt, 4850, or the E8400?

[wingman99]

Originally Posted by biosboy4

So what do you think? 8800gt, 4850, or the E8400?

Which one will help me the most? One thing is though, I have a crossfire mobo, so if I buy an 8800 now, and decide to sli later, is that even possible?

If I buy the 4850, will it crossfire with my 2600xt at all? or would it bottle the better card so much it would make things worse?

Last variable: (I think) I have a cheap 580 Watt psu with no power connector for a vid card.... Would an adapter fix that?

So we have things narrowed down... 8800gt, 4850, or the E8400?

What is your power supply model

Get the 4850 most video cards come with adapters

Your CPU is already running at 3GHz you will get no improvement with a new E8400

[biosboy4]

It's a Case Gears Black Steel BKS580

[DumpALump]

For gaming get an 8800gt or 4850. I'd say since your max res is 1400x900 then you'll be ok with the lower ram version. You won't be able to run the high res texture packs that many games are starting to provide. So you could decide to save up just a little more to get atleast the 512 version of the 8800gt.

I was thinking of selling my 8800gt and getting an 4850 as I would only spend another $20-30 just to get it, but realized that I pretty much run everything in really high detail, just certain games I only run 2xAA or no AA. Not a big enough deal for me to bother getting a 4850.

[wingman99]

Originally Posted by biosboy4

It's a Case Gears Black Steel BKS580

your +12V: is only 25A

You could try it but i don't think your pc will start up with that PSU

[Freezer7Pro]

That PSU will barely run an 8800GT. It's under spec (25A vs 26A req), so I wouldn't recommend an 8800GT, unless you've also got the cash to change PSU. A 9600GT or 3850 might do better with that PSU.

[BlackEdition]

"Your CPU is already running at 3GHz you will get no improvement with a new E8400"

i would definitely contest that. your celeron, even though it is at 3ghz has but 512KB of L2 cache whereas the e8400 has 6mb...that is a huge difference...and you are probably going to be able to clock up an 8400 to about 4ghz...

personally, i think that you are gaming at a resolution that is low enough to be relatively cpu dependant...thus, i think that you will benefit most from the cpu upgrade.

that being said...if you are going to get a graphics card, i think that you should go with the 4850 as your motherboard supports crossfire... two 4850s are an extremely potent graphics combo... thus, you could buy a 4850 now, and wait to buy a second 4850 later. that is actually what i did with the 8800gt. however, like people have said, it seems like your power supply will not be able to handle these graphics solutions. thus, a $200 4850 plus a new power supply puts you well over your desired dollar limit.

finally, you cannot crossfire cards from different series

Q: I have a 38x0 card and a 2x00 card can I Crossfire them?
A: No you need to have two (or more) of the same family of cards ie a 2 lots of 38x0 cards or 2 (or more 2x00 cards.

[biosboy4]

so basically what you guys are saying is, if I can't afford a new power supply, I should go with the cpu? Would my psu be able to handle 2 2600's in crossfire? because I may just do that because it's cheap and I feel like it would make a decent difference....

Otherwise, I may be fixing a guitar lol