Is This The Right Time To Upgrade???

[caleb]

Hello Gentlemen,

My current PC is used for gaming for at least 5 hours a day between my 3 children & me. I mostly play games such as Far Cry, Serious Sam II, Juiced whereas my kids play games such as King Kong, Spiderman & Harry Potter series etc

I Currently own a PC with the following config:
PIV 2.4Ghz
Mercury 845GVM Motherboard
533Mhz FSB
1Gb Ram 333 DDR (512mbx2)
GeForce 6200 AGP-8x 256MB DDR
120Gb + 40Gb ATA Hard Disk(s)
Win XP Professional SP2
LG Dual Layer DVD Writer
Pinnacle 50i TV Tuner/Capture Card

After having read The Penny Pincher, Flatter Platters & Bazaar section(s) in Digit AUG 2006 issue the upgrade bug has bitten me and the maximum budget I have for an upgrade is Rs.20000/-

The following is the upgrade that I'm looking at (after having read Agent001' suggestions):
Intel Pentium D 805
Intel Original 945GNTL
Transcend 512 MB DDR2 667 MHz
Forsa GeForce7600GS 256mb DDR2
Samsung 80Gb SATA

And my questions are:

1). Do you think that my current config is good enough for at least another year?
2). Do you think that the upgrade I’ve mentioned above is worth it? keeping in mind my current configuration?
3). Which of my current hardware will I be able to still use with the above mentioned upgrade (apart from DVD writer & TV Tuner)?
4). The above upgrade will cost me approx Rs.23500 (as per the price list in the AUG 06 issue) i.e. Rs.3500 more than my MAX budget so where can I compromise? Or do you have an alternative config which will fit in my budget?

Thankyou in advance for all your valuable advise & Suggestions,
Caleb

 

[Stalker]

1) once directx 10 cards next year are released, the Geforce 7 series will be outdated..
2) if u play Farcry, serious sam, ur current config is OK!!If u want to play FEAR, oblivion at the highest settings .......u require a better gfx card
3) ur HDD..........
does 845 support agp 8x??

 

[Third Eye]

just hold down...wait for Dx10 cards.

 

[NikhilVerma]

I don't really know what people have in mind when they say a card will become outdated ... Sure u won't be able to play the games at 10x7 with AA and AF but are u that kind of a gamer ? Even the geforce 4 series isn't outdated yet ... I've played Doom III on mine ... with medium settings. So the whole outdated issue is not really important.

 

[Stalker]

@NikhilVerma - isn't Doom 3 kinda old......i mean to say that with Dx10, newer technologies will be released, like sm3.0 was released with dx 9.0c
even i had a Geforce 4 mx, but nowadays almost every game demands a pixel shader support, which tat card didn't have!

 

[tarey_g]

I suggest to wait for DX10 breed of cards if u can wait 6 months . or dont go for a complete system upgrade , just upgrade the card to 7600gs then do a complete system upgrade after a year.

 

[NikhilVerma]

@NikhilVerma - isn't Doom 3 kinda old......i mean to say that with Dx10, newer technologies will be released, like sm3.0 was released with dx 9.0c
even i had a Geforce 4 mx, but nowadays almost every game demands a pixel shader support, which tat card didn't have!

I was just giving an example of the fact that even the oldest of cards can play rather new games well enough ... so when the DirectX10 cards come out 7 series can't really be ignored ... And yeah new technologies will be release d but again when Dx10 card come they won't be any cheaper ... You might have to wait a long time before one is affordable ... so if one can wait quite a long time then sure go on ...

 

[paul_007]

I don't really know what people have in mind when they say a card will become outdated ... Sure u won't be able to play the games at 10x7 with AA and AF but are u that kind of a gamer ? Even the geforce 4 series isn't outdated yet ... I've played Doom III on mine ... with medium settings. So the whole outdated issue is not really important.

hi nikhil you have made an important point which is very true and i completely agree with u...

even older cards an still play most of the current games , though at lower settings , i am sure even geforce 6 series cards will last for many years if u r an average gamer...


and also u cant simply wait for better technology(DX10 cards), as said by nikhil , DX10 cards wont b cheaper when they arrive , by the time they will b affordable then again DX11 cards will appear and this circle will go on

what at most u can do is go for best affordable hardware u can buy
geforce 7 series are really good and will last for many years( even my AGP 8X 6800 GT is still going strong , and i have played every game at 1024 x 768 resolution , though not at max details)......dont wait for DX10 cards

 

[caleb]

Hello Stalker, Tech Mind, Nikhil Verma, tarey g & Paul007,

Thanks a million for all your replies & have read them with great interest as I was eagerly waiting for them. I know that this reply is rather long but I'd like you to know what I "think" know rather than keep clarifying myself in each post. I do understand where most of you are coming from as far as the DirectX10 is concerned and am also aware that sometime in 2007 gaming will go thru "major overhaul".

Now my primary concern is that my mobo has a 8xAGP (yes Stalker, Mercury 845GVM mobo does support 8xAGP). Unfortunately it has now become reletively difficult to find 7000 series AGP cards in Mumbai (even in Lamington road) as almost all dealers & retailers prefer to keep the PCI-e cards. When you do find an AGP card, in 7000 series, there is a considerable difference in price when it comes to the same graphics card in PCI-e (i.e. PCI-e cards are far more cheaper than AGP). Also the PCI-e, as you all know, is 16x whereas AGP is just 8x

Now if I take your suggestion to upgrade only the graphics card (rather expensive AGP 7000 series) than once again I'm stuck with an 8xAGP. A few months ago I played FarCry on another PC with GeForce 6200 PCI-e card (my PC has the same card in AGP version) and I saw that there is a major boost in performance in PCI-e card.

The future is obviously the PCI-e, so coming back to my original questions, IF I UPGRADE THE CONFIG I'VE MENTIONED IN MY POST, this time...without buying a graphics card as I don't mind waiting for DirectX10 cards (especially after the convincing suggestions from all of you)...I say this on the basis of what Digit's Agent001 said in AUG 2006 issue about the D 805 with Intel 945GNTL chipset being able to play all the current games at slightly lower settings (since I am doing the same anyway with the my current 8xAGP6200 card) DO YOU THINK THAT I'LL BE ABLE TO JUST ADD DIRECT X 10 COMPATIBLE GRAPHICS CARD LATER ON TO THAT CONFIG?

Stalker could you please clarify how I will be able to use my HDD in a SATA supporting mobo as my curent HDD is not SATA? if you can guide me to a link or give a detailed reply regarding the same will be much appreciated...Thanks.

Also if I do upgrade will my current 1gb memory be totallly redundant?

I'm also waiting for your suggestions regarding some best alternative upgrades in Rs.20000

Once again gentlemen thank you for all your replies...keep'em coming...will read each of your replies with great interest...sorry about the long post.

Caleb

 

[Stalker]

@caleb
my friend had brought the foll config last month
P4 2.66Ghz with EM64T & HT
D101GGC..........with X200 onboard gfx
*www.intel.com/products/motherboard/d101ggc/index.htm
the mobo supports both SATA and ATA IDE interfaces, supports lga 775
640 mb DDR RAM
he can play aLL the latest games at medium settings and also has a x16 pci-e slot for future upgrades. The upgrade cost him abt 12k

 

[s18000rpm]

hey caleb, why not upgrade to Core2Duo processor & M/B. they themselves will cost around 20k & then just increase your budget for the Gfx card, which'll cost 7k.
i think this upgrade will make your PC "future proof" for another 2-3 years. (excluding gfx. card)

 

[Stalker]

945GNTL supports pci-e, so u will be able to add a dx10 card later, but i feel an AMD solution will be better
Also don't invest in AGP, cards are expensive and the newer cards eg. 7800 do not have AGP support

 

[tarey_g]

I too suggest to go for an AMD processor and motherboard in mid range procesors , 3200/3500 will be a good choice with a pci-e motherboard . Core 2 duo are costly but if u have that kind of budget they are currently the best ones .

 

[caleb]

Once again Thank you for all your answers & suggestions. Here is another question:

I went thru the Intel link (provided by Stalker) for D101GGC board and found the following 3 pieces of information in the "Expansion Capabilities" section:

1.) Two PCI Conventional* bus connectors
2.) One PCI Express* x1 bus add-in card connector
3.) One PCI Express* x16 bus add-in card connector

Does that mean that there are 2 PCI-e slots i.e. I can add 2 PCI-e cards if I want to? ... If YES explain if NOT explain.

I ask this question because I keep reading that same or similar info on almost all new motherboards.

Excuse my ignorance as I've recently taken to computers and pretty much learned EVERYTHING about computers from reading Digit Magazine each month so pls bear with me and my age (I'm almost 40) and explain to me in the most simplest form possible.

Having said that I've learned immensly reading the discussions in this forum (I've been reading this form for about a year now...but have just decided to join now because I didn't want to look "too dumb" for you advanced gentlemen...btw it is not meant to be sarcastic I turly have learned much from all of you and look forward to more. What I'm really impressed about all of you is the ability to convey your message in so few words but to the point & effectively...but give this old man a break & reply with a few extra sentences for me as I'm not as fast as you gentlemen.

Hey but don't forget my question.

Thanks a million

 

[QwertyManiac]

1.) Two PCI Conventional* bus connectors
2.) One PCI Express* x1 bus add-in card connector
3.) One PCI Express* x16 bus add-in card connector

Does that mean that there are 2 PCI-e slots i.e. I can add 2 PCI-e cards if I want to? ... If YES explain if NOT explain.

PCI 'Conventional' is the same slot as was there on your 845, its not the Express variant which is only 1 on your motherboard. So think of it to be a slot for Soundcards or TV Tuner and NOT Graphic cards which nowadays need only AGP 8x or PCI-E x16. I dont know if any cards (non-graphic cards) are available yet made for the x1 slot.

For adding 2 graphic cards, your motherboard must support a feature called "SLi" [Scalable Link interface] and you will have 2 PCI x16 slots in those special motherboard series.

If you're upgrading, better try for a minimal Core2Duo system, cause that's a lot better than any other processor and is the latest by Intel. It beats AMD by a comfortable margin too!

 

[caleb]

Hi QwertyManiac,

Thanks for your extremely helpful explanation...it was very clear to understand.

 

[dOm1naTOr]

I think AMD dual cores will be lot better than Intel's 8XX series. Go for AMD ATHLON X2 3800+[8k] along with ASUS A8NE mobo[5.5k]. It features:
* nforce 4 ultra chipsets with lots of overclocking options.
* 1*16x PCIE slot for Graphics.
* 2*1x PCIE for network, sound etc cards.
* 1*4x PCIE for Physics nd sound etc.
* 3*PCI slots.
U can use your old HDD PATA and u can also run your old DDR 2x 512 in dual channel in this motherboard. The board is rock solid.And the 3800+ is better than a 3.2 Ghz Intel 8XX dual core nd overclocking it is a piece of cake.
As gor Graphics card u can either go for:
7600GS 256 DDR2 for 7.5k
7600GT DDR3 for 11k.
The GT varient is much better than GS and is surelly worth it. But even the 7600GS is better than a 6600GT 256, and the 7600GT is better than a 6800GT256.

 

[akshayt]

You won't be able to buy Dx10 soon in such a low budget.

I suggest you extend your budget do and do a much better overhaul
__________
no need to get s939. Get AM2 or Core 2 Duo

 

[caleb]

I think AMD dual cores will be lot better than Intel's 8XX series. Go for AMD ATHLON X2 3800+[8k] along with ASUS A8NE mobo[5.5k]. It features:
* nforce 4 ultra chipsets with lots of overclocking options.
* 1*16x PCIE slot for Graphics.
* 2*1x PCIE for network, sound etc cards.
* 1*4x PCIE for Physics nd sound etc.
* 3*PCI slots.
U can use your old HDD PATA and u can also run your old DDR 2x 512 in dual channel in this motherboard. The board is rock solid.And the 3800+ is better than a 3.2 Ghz Intel 8XX dual core nd overclocking it is a piece of cake.
As gor Graphics card u can either go for:
7600GS 256 DDR2 for 7.5k
7600GT DDR3 for 11k.
The GT varient is much better than GS and is surelly worth it. But even the 7600GS is better than a 6600GT 256, and the 7600GT is better than a 6800GT256.

Thanks Arvind...this processor + mobo sounds like what I'm looking for & definately fits into my budget...asf ar as graphics card goes I think I'll have to stick to 7600GS due to budget constraints... one question though, my RAM is DDR 333mhz (512x2), it is not DDR 2 do you think ASUS A8NE mobo will support it?

 

[Stalker]

7600GT is better than a 6800GT256.

u sure abt that?? the 6800 is the one of THE best cards out there........