Hi techPowerUp members,
I've been sort of lurking on this forum for a few days now, and have been impressed by the amount of knowledge and help that the forum members give out. I'm trying to figure out what might be the best route of upgrading for my system, and hoped to get some advice, as I have not kept up with the latest in hardware for quite some time now. This is what I have been running for a few years now:
AthlonXP 2500+ (1.83ghz) Barton core oc'd to 3200+ (2.2ghz), 200mhz fsb
1 gig Crucial ram
Powercolor Radeon 9800se 128mb soft-modded to pro, not oc'd, AGP of course
ASRock K7V88 RAID Socket A (Socket 462) VIA KT880 motherboard
400watt ps
From what I have read, it seems that I can keep most of my system and get a big performance boost by replacing my vid card with something like a x800gto and hopefully being able to open up the last quad of pixel pipes. I do not have a lot of money and so am hoping for something under $200, preferably a little less. I don't think I really need to jump to a pci-e system and replace everything just yet (I couldn't anyway with my current budget), but I'm open to hearing what others have to say about possibly waiting until prices come down or until newer tech emerges.
I want to be able to play Oblivion with a few more of the goodies turned on and with a better resolution that I'm currently stuck at. I don't need anything close to top of the line; I just want a smooth gaming experience with a few nice things to look at. I doubt that I would play any game at higher than 1024*768 resolution if that helps. Any advice that people could give me would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
I've been sort of lurking on this forum for a few days now, and have been impressed by the amount of knowledge and help that the forum members give out. I'm trying to figure out what might be the best route of upgrading for my system, and hoped to get some advice, as I have not kept up with the latest in hardware for quite some time now. This is what I have been running for a few years now:
AthlonXP 2500+ (1.83ghz) Barton core oc'd to 3200+ (2.2ghz), 200mhz fsb
1 gig Crucial ram
Powercolor Radeon 9800se 128mb soft-modded to pro, not oc'd, AGP of course
ASRock K7V88 RAID Socket A (Socket 462) VIA KT880 motherboard
400watt ps
From what I have read, it seems that I can keep most of my system and get a big performance boost by replacing my vid card with something like a x800gto and hopefully being able to open up the last quad of pixel pipes. I do not have a lot of money and so am hoping for something under $200, preferably a little less. I don't think I really need to jump to a pci-e system and replace everything just yet (I couldn't anyway with my current budget), but I'm open to hearing what others have to say about possibly waiting until prices come down or until newer tech emerges.
I want to be able to play Oblivion with a few more of the goodies turned on and with a better resolution that I'm currently stuck at. I don't need anything close to top of the line; I just want a smooth gaming experience with a few nice things to look at. I doubt that I would play any game at higher than 1024*768 resolution if that helps. Any advice that people could give me would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance!