To upgrade or wait?

by **{CN}Doomfarer** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 1:56 am

With many of the newer games that have been coming out lately, as well as those on the near horizon, I have been considering a few things...

Please minimum laghter here, I am still running on a GeForce 4 4200, 2.4 p4, 1 gig RAM system that I picked up roughly two years ago. I have been looking forward to eventually building my own system probably starting in about 6-8 months. I am pretty much not willing to try and upgrade my current rig, as it is a Dell (nuff said I think). Putting my own rig together will probably take me another 6 months or so to complete once I start. So I am looking at about a years time minimum before this pipe dream can happen.

My question is this. Would it be worth my money to pick up a graphics card to throw into my current system and then later into my project PC? Or should I sit back and ride my current set up as it is and wait for the project to get underway? Keeping in mind that I am not the most financially well off, yet PC gaming is pretty much my way of life.

by **AnimalCracka** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 2:05 am

If I were you, Id go ahead and get a good vid card now as it will do wonders for your gaming right now. That 4200 is a piece of shite compared to a 9800 pro or better, I know, I still have my 4200 sitting around collecting dust. Thats just my opinion but Im an instant gratification kinda guy.

by **JimmyTango** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 7:20 am

A really high end video card would be bottlenecked by your CPU. You would be paying for an ulta fast video card but not getting everything out of it.

by **Major SONAR** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 8:29 am

I agree with JimmyTango. CPU will throttle back your video card... but, it will help your games run faster and at higher resolutions. You won't be able to maximze the true potential of the video card until you have a faster CPU.

That being said, I have a similar configuration (excecpt 2.5 instead of 2.4) and I'm thinking about getting a 9800 Pro or X800 Pro. Video card is cheaper than a complete system and should improve performance on most games.

My $.02

by **jnkcrp** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 8:37 am

Though a p4 2.4 shouldn't have any trouble with the vid cards out today..

by **BladeRunner** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:14 am

Originally posted by jnkcrp
Though a p4 2.4 shouldn't have any trouble with the vid cards out today..

i agree with Conan. a new ATI 9800pro might give you
more time to save money for the real upgrade.
I think the 9800pro is going to be with us for a pretty good
while. a 9800pro is going to be my next (on a budget
gamer) upgrade.
:beer:

by **residue** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:25 am

if you want to upgrade then a video card is the way to go. i was running a 9800 pro with a 2.0ghz system and my bottleneck was ram (rdram).

i am now running at 2.8ghz, 1gb ddr with my 9800 and everything is smooth except for the mysterious stutter. i suspect a 2.4ghz will be fine as well.

a faster video card would probably last you a while and though there will be better cards out in 6-12 months you probably won't be buying them at their initial price anyway.

by **AnimalCracka** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 5:46 pm

I had a AMD 2400 with a NVidia 4200 and it wasnt very nice. Kept the 2400 and dropped in a 9800pro and everything improved tremendously. If your looking for better gaming now without spending a shit load of money, get a new vid card.

by **smithpa68** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 5:54 pm

I would hold off if the games you are playing today run well enough. I know it is so tempting and I visit NewEgg almost daily... but a year from now prices on everything will most likely have dropped. Then you will get more bang for your buck.

If the games you play now or new games you buy in this time period run like crap... then by all means upgrade.

My two cents.

by **RCglider** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 6:42 pm

A vid card will do wonders, and don't pay attention to the so-called "bottlenecking" by your cpu. It's pure hogwash unless you live by benchmarks.

If your hardware is working properly, your os is running correctly, and you have adequate ram that's freed up, a 9800 pro will really liven things up.

As for waiting, you could wait 5 years for prices to drop. Only you can decide if the price is right.

by **shockwave203** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 10:28 pm

Originally posted by JimmyTango
A really high end video card would be bottlenecked by your CPU. You would be paying for an ulta fast video card but not getting everything out of it.

a 2.4 Ghz CPU would not bottle kneck a high end graphics card to make it a waste of time to upgrade.

I have a P4 2.4 Ghz and a 9800pro, and games are fast. Heck, I can even use 2XAA 2XAF 1280 X 960 on BFV while most people have a ton of performance issues with everything set at low.

if he bought a X800XT or a 6800, he'd see a huge increase in FPS and IQ over a 9800pro, which is proof that a CPU doesn't always bottlekneck a system.

and dont forget he's going to be upgrading his CPU soon as well

by **SkiloDog2000** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 10:52 pm

i got an NVidia GeForce4 MX 440+ and 512mb ram so i feel the hurt doomie

im gunna upgrade to the radion ti 9800xp and im hoping that if i do that and get 2 gigs of ram ill fly but when i overclock the card ill scream
get the vid card now
its an easy transfer and reguardless of the choke. it cant hurt

by **Mr. Slayer** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 11:44 pm

Originally posted by SkiloDog2000
i got an NVidia GeForce4 MX 440+ and 512mb ram so i feel the hurt doomie
im gunna upgrade to the radion ti 9800xp and im hoping that if i do that and get 2 gigs of ram ill fly but when i overclock the card ill scream
get the vid card now
its an easy transfer and reguardless of the choke. it cant hurt

Wow listen to this smacker... hope the upgrade to the Radeon Ti9800 xp goes well.
(I was saying Radeon 9800 pro not "Radeon ti9800 xp" ya :tard:

)

Doom: I'd really go for the Radeon 9800 pro if you decide to do this, get it off Newegg for about $200.

by **SkiloDog2000** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 1:05 am

its late and im smoking too much crack give me a break

by **shockwave203** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 3:21 am

if you want to really bite the bullet, get an ATI X800 XT Platinum Edition....that card is SMOKIN fast! Fastest card on the planet right now. I wish i could buy one

To upgrade or wait?

To upgrade or wait?

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