MalachiConstant

Hello friends. It's been a long time since I posted here.

I'm thinking of extending the life of my PC a little by making a small upgrade. Don't think I can get much more power in a CPU without upgrading the mobo, and therefore the RAM, and therefore pretty much everything, so thinking instead about graphics. Not that I'm terribly dissatisfied with the graphics now--almost all the games I play are a couple years old--but it would be nice to bump up the detail, get a little more AA and AF, and maybe play some of those massive battle scenes in X3: Reunion without having to drop my detail levels all the way down.

My profile specs are current, but essentially I have a Connect3D Radeon X800 GTO running on a DFI Lanparty UT with an X2 3800 (that's a 939 chip if you were wondering). The PS is solid (Antec True Power Trio 650W).

I'd like to keep it on the cheap since I expect I'm probably near the bottleneck anyway and I'll end up building a new one in a year or so. Ideal price $50-60, but I'd go as high as $80 if it's really and truly worth it. What's your thinking? Is it even worth trying to upgrade at that price point?

Thanks in advance.

linderman

I am not too convinced the X2-3800 could keep up with any video card more than the X800 ?

so I would have to say ...........NO ---dont waste your $80.00


be content with your system as is; or start spending $800.00 ?

linderman

overclock your 3800 ?

MalachiConstant

That sounds like a fair assessment. I don't overclock right now and actually haven't tried it since I replaced the motherboard. I kind of doubt I'll get very impressive results, at least without a better cooling system, but it's worth a try.

It's not really that hard to be content with my system for now. Video and image editing are both very reasonable, although working in Flash can be slow, and like I said I'm mostly playing older games. Once I'm finally done with Oblivion, X3: Reunion, and Team Fortress 2, maybe I'll start thinking about a new system.

linderman

a faster cpu would defintely be needed to harness the power of a faster video card

IMHO overclocking would squeeze your system enough to be worth it .......although you would need to spend about $30.00 to $40.00 on better cpu cooler

MalachiConstant

I need to open up the box and take a look at the cooler. I don't think it's the OEM, but I've forgotten. Might look into a new one anyway. Thanks.

Cannibalsnail

Is your mobo PCI-E or AGP?

linderman

his mobo is the DFI Lanparty UT which is an SLI board which means PCI xpress only ..........no SLI for AGP

MalachiConstant

Very adept observation. Yep, it's a PCI-E.

I do have a Thermaltake fan on the CPU, although it's nothing fancy--it looks like any stock heatsink I've ever had. Looking at my temps I think the northbridge is the one that needs a new cooler. A second case fan might also prove useful.

linderman

yes; it would be very smart to add an after markert NB cooler/fan like the ones zalman offers ..........the NForce motherboards run VERY hot

a second case fan of higher rpm would be a smart move ....... all case fans are not created equal .........look at fan speeds before moving