Advice on Upgrading my PC

[Baja]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for advice on upgrading my pc. It would be great if you could tell me what orader I should ge the parts and recommended specific manufacturer etc for each. You have a very nice website and forum and all seem to know what you are talking about so I thought I would post a message and see if anybody could give me a hand. I built this PC myself 2 years ago with the aid of a friend, I didn't really know what I was doing and have been learning as I go, I have made some mistakes selecting parts origonally but I have upgraded some the past few monts such as video card (should have spent more money) cooling, Power supply and memory. Before I start, I think this is a hardware issue, I have tried doing some tricks but maybe I am missing something, turned off vsync, 75hertz refresh rate etc.

PC Specs
Motherboard
ECS Elite Group P4S5A/DX. 533Mhz FSB, 4XAGP, socket 478. max memory speed is PC2700. Info Here my model isn't the + version but I don't notice any difference from mine in the link

CPU
Intel Pentium 4 1.9Ghz 400Mhz FSB

Memory
Ultra (company name) 1 stick of 512mb DDR PC2700

Video Card
XFX Geforce 4 Ti4200 128mb 4XAGP

CD-RW
LG 32X10X40

Power Supply/Cooling
Thermaltake 420w Pure Power silent dual fan PSU
two Thermaltake SmartFan II Temperature sensitive case fans (1 exhaust, 1 intake
Thermaltake Spark 7+ CPU cooler, manually controlled
under normal load and CPU cooler on max, I get 31C, under load, 41 so there is room for overclock, which I cannot do with this motherboard (I think)

Monitor
Daytek 17" .25

aaalright I think that's everything. Here is what I know so far and my situation:

In 3dmark 2001 se I get 8400 3Dmarks3DMark Compare Link Here which I think is way below par and way below where I want to be for both that magic number and my FPS in games are lower than I would like them to be. I have tried overclocking my video card up to 300/553 (if I remember properly) with no problems but would like to run it at 280/540 just ot be safe (numbers might not be correct as I can't remember and don't overclock anymore). This made an increase of less than 1 Frame per second in my games and I think 40 extra 3dMarks. This leads me to believe the Motherboard is the bottleneck. Another reason I believe this is from a review from 3DGameMan when he use a P4 2.66Ghz, a Geforce4 Ti4600 and he only achieved 10,xxx using my motherboard. any thoughts here? There are no options to increase voltage or any kind of overclocking in the Bios. There is one pagepage where you can choose a memory and FSB speed, it can be set to 133/xxx (xxx is your RAM spd), instead of 100/xxx. my Ram speed is set ot 166Mhz however, when I change the FSB speed (I think that's what it is can't remember right now) to anything other than 100, say 133, the computer will not Boot up at all, the power must be shut off by the power supply and I have to set it back to 100. because of no voltage options etc. and it not letting me increase FSB makes me want to get a new mobo. what is your thoughts here, and why can't I increase the FSB?

I know my video card is getting dated now and I should have spent more cash on it at the time (does having 4X AGP on the card really make much difference?) but I still think my system is performing far less than it should be for the card memory and CPU. is that correct?

been thinking about getting a new mobo that can support faster memory say, PC3200 and get 512mb of that and it has to have hyper threading, 800mhz FSB and 8XAGP. can you recommend how fast memory I should be purchasing for overlocking and good use into the future?

ok i'm gonna stop blabbing now I think i've told everything I can that would help you understand what i'm thinking. Just take a look at what I have said and advise me on the weak parts of my system, what is slowing me, and my mobo issue. I NEED HELP!

Thanks in advance, Steve

 

[Baja]

oh ya I forgot, my HDD is a maxtor 7200RPM 40gb, only used 16gb and that's over 2 years so I don't think I need an upgrade there.

and BUMP

 

[Mr. $T$]

Your processor needs to be upgraded seeing that it is a willamette core which are very slow compaired to northwoods core P4's, and your motherboard is not of a brand that I see as reliable, If you upgrade your processor I suggest to upgrade you motherboard becuase it is the heart of your system and with a slow motherboard your entire system is slow.

Parts that I suggest you get is:

P4 "c" series chips which are 800FSB and HT enabled,

abit IS7 or IC7 series boards (just a note I have had problems with abit's northbridge heatsink holddown loops and suggest they be reniforced) or the ASUS P4P800 or P4C800 series of motherboards.

Good name brand PC3200 or 3500 DDR in Dual channel or single if money is tight.

I can be more precise If I know your budget.


You would also be suprised on what a Ti4200 Video card will do, I have a GF2 in a second system that still plays BF42 no problem, a Ti4200 also overclocks to Ti4600 speeds and even higher.


Also WELCOME TO OC-FORUMS

 

[Baja]

heh thank you for the advice and for welcoming me. I think I may do what you said. I'm 16 and have no winter job (just allowance), I currently have $1000 canadian but am spending over $500 to get broadband hooked up. It is wireless and my only choice, I can't stand 56k anymore for games.

that sounds like a good idea, I just considering blowing big bucks and getting a mobo and a 9800pro of FX f900 Ultra 256mb so I wouldn't have to worry about being behind, at least for a little while. I'm tired of having to turn down all my graphics. for instance, playing need for speed underground I have almost everything on lowest settings and get 40 frames per second. of in combat flight simulator 3, I get 25 frames with everything except for aircraft on lowest.

so you are saying my money will be best spent on a mobo, memory and CPU rather than video card? ouch, that's alot of cash, I may be able to do it just gotta think about it some more.

parents intended this to be our last computer before I move out so I doubt i'll get any suppor financially from them. any more info you can give me wil lbe great, need to think about this alot don't go and majorly revise your suggestion though, I don't want to cut corners---see where I am now? lol

 

[WildMonkey]

If you are going to move out soon then why not just use all of your money for a computer?

I'm sorry to say that otherwise you will not have enough for a decent system. And if gaming is your biggest concern then you'll need a good video card.

I suggest something like:
Abit AI7 mobo
Intel 2.6c CPU
OCZ 4000 mem. at least 512MB
and a 9800np vid card.

But I would wait about a month. The Prescott's are going to be released early Feb. and they say they are going to be about the same price as the current Intel CPUs, even if they turn out to be disapointment I'm pretty sure the "C" models will lower in price.

 

[Baja]

well, in a couple of years I will be gone. ok thanks both for your help. I'll just wait a while and get a new mobo, memory and CPU that truscott sounds nice but I hear it'snot as good as the AMD 64-bit. what can you tell me about that? I have no experience with AMD chips and no NOTHING about them. would it bet better to get an AMD or is the truscotta actually going to be better? and If I have cash left, then a video card. the ti4200 is gonna REALLLY suck by then lol

 

[VMU]

trustcott? dont you mean prescott? lol. Just changed from Intel to AMD. And its actually pretty good. Now remember prescotts have yet not been released. Some have been send to be tested, but know one knows how it is going to work until it is mass produced. If its a MUST to upgrade then do so. Other wise i would wait a couple of months till prescott is released. P4's prices will drop significantly. And i think AMD is also going to realse new chips. And remember that both AMD and Intel are going to release new sockets. And Chisets. Also some other good stuff. Now u can upgrade if you want to, and keep upgrading if money is not a problem. But IMO it is better to wait now prescott does and then decide if you want to stick with Intel or got with AMD.

Vic