Upgrade

[bibble]

Hey all (it has been awhile since coming on here), time for an upgrade but am not sure which way to go. Currently I have:

Athlon XP 3000
1gb ram - single channel (does dual channel make much difference?)
200gb disk's
ati 9700 (non-pro)


so..

if I added in a X800 GTO from gecube would it make much difference or is teh CPU/MEM holding me back more.

B&W2 groans a bit at 800*600 and HL2 is a bit poor. Guild wars is ok but most new things e.g. quake 4 had to be on minimums. I added in another 512mb of memory at xmas which sped uploading dramatically but I would like more candy. The question is wait and upgrade it all or do a gcard now and the rest later. Any responses appreciated as usual

[Wombat]

That's a tough call. If that were even a 9700 Pro, I'd say just go with the CPU. But as it is, go for the vid card. Your CPU won't max out the X800, and you can get future gains later in that area. 1GB of RAM should be fine. I know my machine doesn't use my 2GB optimally.

And yes, dual-channel helps.

[Technoid]

Athlons don't seem to care much about dual channel (a64's loves low latencies due to onboard mem controller).
CPU wont make it go much faster untill you get something faster than a A64 3500+
Adding more ram wont make it faster in games (might even make it slightly slower)
The X800 gto will depending on games you can get all from 50% to 200% speedbump

[bibble]

Cheers guys. I was hoping you would say that. I read about the x800 gto in a games mag under the what to but if you skint but want to play games section - the expensive one is 7800gtx - way out of my reach.

would you recommend anything else or would that be a good one to choose?

[Gurm]

Wow, that's a "needs an upgrade" system for you?

*sigh*

Now I'm all sad. My machine is still a mobile 2500 overclocked with a gig of PC3200 on an nForce2 with a Radeon 9600Pro.

I need a job.

[bibble]

Gurm, long time no see - I think I have been working too hard. yes the upgrade is because I want to play LAN games with my son. The 9700 will go in my wifes to replace the g400 and thus we can thrash each other locally. He is one of those really annoying 13yr olds that is really good at UT2004 - since uni and having to get a job I have been remiss on my gaming. I think of it as bonding - also I like to try out new games and the ati just wont play things as I want.

[Mehen]

another option would be a 6600GT, you can find them really cheap and they are a solid card. can't really go wrong with the GTO either though