ScoobyJawa

I'm looking to upgrade my system before Call of Duty 2 comes out, but have absolutely no idea what to do! I use it alot for games, but also other things like DVD ripping, and have just bought a DV camcorder so would be used to create movies etc also................

I'm currently running a Medion system thats as it was when I bought it. Essentially , MS6701 mainboard, 2.6Ghz P4 400mhz FSB 512k cache, DDR-333 PC2700 512Mb Mem, 128MB Radeon 9600TX, 120GB HD Ultra ATA/100 7200rpm Seagate.

Its starting to get a bit sluggish on the latest games with any decent level of detail.

So the question is, can I keep any of the system and just upgrade certain parts to help, or do I need a new system and if so what would you recommend. Money is an object, it would be absolute max of £500 to spend but cheaper would be good. Components or buy a pre built system?
I could get either of these, are they any good?

Intel Pentium 4 3.4Ghz Processor
i915P Chipset Motherboard
1024MB DDR Memory
250GB SATA Hard Drive
DVD Drive
DVD-+RW Drive
ATI X600Pro-4 256MB Video Card
Sound on board
Stereo speakers
Internal v90 Modem
USB2 ports
Keyboard and mouse
Windows XP Home Edition

or

Intel Pentium CPU Prescott 3.4GHz Hyper Threading 800MHz 1MB Cache
1024MB 400DDR Memory
2 x 160GB Hard Drive
DVD-ROM
DVD-+RW Drive 32x16x40x12x8x4x double layer
Leadtek LR2960 256MB DDR nVIDIA FX5500 TVout
6 in 1 MM Card Reader
Sound on board
Stereo speakers
Internal v90 Modem
USB ports, Firewire Port (IEEE1394)
Keyboard and mouse
Windows XP Home Edition

Both are £449 inc VAT.

There's also:

Intel Pentium 3.6GHz Processor with HT technology and 1MB Cache
1024MB 400DDR Memory
250GB SATA Hard Drive
DVD-ROM
DVD-+RW Drive
256MB ATI RadeonX600
11 in 1 MM Card Reader
Audigy Sound System
Stereo speakers
Internal v90 Modem
USB ports, Firewire Port (IEEE1394)
Keyboard and mouse
Windows XP Home Edition

£499 inc VAT

Any thoughts grately received.

GaryScoobNCBR

hmm tough one, you could either go with any of the new systems, or just buy a better graphics card for you current spec

About £170 will get you an Nvidia 6800GT AGP card and could make a big difference.

Im not sure how the new machines will perform as the cpus are ok but the Graphics Cards aren't top spec.

Would be ideal if you know someone who could lend you a decent card to see if it makes any difference

MJW

I you switch the graphics card, and put another 512Mb stick of RAM in (or better still swap it for 2 x 1Gb sticks) that should see you out for at least another year.
I'm running a P4 2.4Ghz with a Radeon X800XT and a gig of PC2700 RAM and it copes with Battlefield 2 just fine.

ScoobyJawa

The cheapest option would be graphics and mem as you guys say, is the proc really good enough though to last with the new load of games about now?

MJW

Yeah, IMO the CPU should hold up. Like I said, my P4 2.4 is still coping with the strain now I've invested in a better (256Mb) graphics card.
I think Battlefield 2 is currently the most resource-punishing game at the moment, and with my X800 XT I can run it at high resolutions with all details set high, and anti-aliasing on as well.
I will probably change my motherboard and buy some matched RAM sticks in the future, but I'll keep my CPU for another year I reckon.

Graphics card wise, have a look at the 6800GT as mentioned above, and also the X800 Pro VIVO as this can be BIOS-flashed to the same clockspeeds as the XT Platinum Edition.

ScoobyJawa

Cheers mate

DrEvil

Agreed with MJW - your best bet is GPU and memory.

All those specs you listed have awful GPUs.

ScoobyJawa

X800Pro (with the reflash) or 6800GT it is then. Suppose both will do but should I lean to one over the other. Mobo supports 8x AGP at the mo.....

Current memory is Samsung, should I stick another 512MB in of that or replace it with a Gig of other stuff?

MJW

With the memory, it depends how many free slots you have on your motherboard. If there's only two, buy a 1 gig stick. If you have 4 slots buy another 512 and it leaves you room to expand further if you need to.
It might be a good idea to do away with your existing RAM and buy a 1Gb stick of DDR400. It's backwards-compatible and will work with your existing motherboard. Plus it has the added benefit of working at a higher speed should you decide to upgrade your motherboard for one thats capable of running PC3200 at a later date.

You will probably find the X800 Pro fast enough without flashing the BIOS, but bear in mind it's only the X800 Pro VIVO (video in, video out) which can be flashed, as the non-VIVO's have 4 of the texture pipelines crippled with a laser cut, and there's no easy workaround for it.

There's an Anandtech article which does a comparison of various VGA cards using Battlefield 2 as a benchmark, which you should find useful in picking a new card.

GaryScoobNCBR

i've edited my post above i said graphics are top spec... I meant areN'T

ScoobyJawa

Thanks for the help mate

ScoobyJawa

So looks like this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=63702

could be a good buy? upgrade the bios to the XT and stick in a gig of ram!

DrEvil

seems a good price and the Connect3d cards often flashed to XT ok - not always thou.

Have fun

ScoobyJawa

Cheers Alex!

MJW

Yep, Connect3D are pretty good.

When you get it, click here for step-by-step instructions on how to convert it to an XT PE.

[edit] Also make sure you have good airflow round the card at least 2 PCI slot's worth. You will also need a bigger power supply to drive it, as you need to connect it to the PSU with a molex connector. 300w just won't cut it go for a 400w at least.

DrEvil

May I recommend the Enermax Noisetaker 480 or the hiper 480, both on OCuk + other sites. Both have good stable rails in my experience.

ScoobyJawa

Current PSU is 250W, can you just straight swap them out or do you have to tweak anything else?

Daz34

Straight swap. Simple job.

ScoobyJawa

Ta

DrEvil

Make sure the one you get has the 24 pin -> 20pin converter - I'm guessing your mobo will need a 20pin. I believe the Enermax and Hiper's do - but check the descriptions.

bigsinky

250W OMG you need a more powerful supply especially if running cards with their own molex connectors. as abover enermax or hiper are both solid brands.

ScoobyJawa

LOL! Its done the job so far on the stock stuff - but aye, defo upgrade for the new card!

MJW

Another thumbs up for the Hiper, bought one myself last week (for the sole purpose of powering my new graphics card)
I've also owned Enermax PSU's in the past and found them to pretty solid too.
The 425W Hiper I bought was bout £40 from CCL Computers

DrEvil

ScoobyJawa - do you know what you've done!!!!
You've gone and made me upgrade too!

XFX GeForce 7800GTX Extreme Edition 256MB GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PVT70F-UDD7) (GX-052-XF)
Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)
Enermax Noisetaker 600W EG701AX-VE(W) SFMA ATX2.0 SLI Compliant PSU (CA-021-EN)
Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)

Hopefully, it will arrive tomorrow - there goes my weekend

ScoobyJawa

Bloody hell mate - you nutter! LOL!!!

Those 7800's aren't cheap, thats for sure! Should keep you going for quite a while! Well, couple of months at least

DrEvil

Got the bug again ... Might go X2 as well

Do you think it will play BF2 OK? My CPU is currently an FX53...

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Thats insanity, y bother upgrading when u have a FX53 powering ure rig, crazy

ChrisB

Flippin heck Mr Evil, you're as bad with PCs as you were with cars!

DrEvil

Well I think you've hit the nail on the head Chris!

Seriously though, my current gaming rig is a bit poorly and not sure which component (if any - as it might be s/w install order at fault) is causing me grief. So thought I'd take the opportunity to go PCI-E, and upgrade.

Of course, if I find no h/w was at fault.. ah well, at least the retail therapy helped

DrEvil

Its all arrived and guess what... looks like I have a driver conflict under SP2 when I did a s/w rebuild last time... H/W seems fine... Ah well, time to rebuild h/w & s/w