Opinions?

[Evan]

Which upgrade do you guys think would be better?

CPU:

Athlon XP 2800+ @ 333Mhz -> Athlon XP 3200+ @ 400Mhz

Video Card:

Radeon 9600 Pro @ 128MB -> Radeon 9800 Pro @ 128MB

WHy not both? :o

Anyways for the time being, the 9600 pro should be fine.

[Evan]

Originally posted by LordShard
WHy not both? :o

Anyways for the time being, the 9600 pro should be fine.

Because they are about the same price and I can only afford one or the other.

CPU, if you have pc3200 mem too....the jump from 333MHz bus to 400MHz bus will be greater than from a 9600 to a 9800 (same architecture).

Upgrade the CPU first for now. You won't be gaining much at all with the 9800 pro from the 9600. And by the time you're ready to upgrade video again, they'll all be cheaper.

[BladeRunner]

Evan, imo it's according to the games you are going to be
playing in the near future. (do they need more cpu or vid
card power)

if you like playing at high resolutions and your vid card is
holding back your frames per second then you should go
with the 9800pro upgrade.

in pure pixel throwing power the 9800 is twice the card
that the 9600 is. (it has twice the pipelines)

i'm running an amd 2600xp barton oc to 2800 and an
ati 9600pro card. my next upgrade is going to be a 9800pro
card.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-11.html

[deathBOB]

... or you can save and grab a 6600GT for about 200... Supposedly 10-20% faster than the 9800pro...
IMO, i would get the 9800pro or wait and get the 6600GT. Really how much of a difference are you gonna feel with a different processor? Besides, you would need to buy new ram just to take advantage of the higher bus speed...

[Evan]

Originally posted by BladeRunner
Evan, imo it's according to the games you are going to be
playing in the near future. (do they need more cpu or vid
card power)

if you like playing at high resolutions and your vid card is
holding back your frames per second then you should go
with the 9800pro upgrade.

in pure pixel throwing power the 9800 is twice the card
that the 9600 is. (it has twice the pipelines)

i'm running an amd 2600xp barton oc to 2800 and an
ati 9600pro card. my next upgrade is going to be a 9800pro
card.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-11.html
I':beer:

This will be for HL2 and the future Source games. Right now I get an average of about 40FPS in CS:Source, and during firefights on certain maps I get about 20.

Originally posted by deathBOB
... or you can save and grab a 6600GT for about 200... Supposedly 10-20% faster than the 9800pro...
IMO, i would get the 9800pro or wait and get the 6600GT. Really how much of a difference are you gonna feel with a different processor? Besides, you would need to buy new ram just to take advantage of the higher bus speed...

I'm not going to touch an Nvidia card. I've had way too many problems with their cards and drivers to trust them again.

Also, I already have my 1GB of Dual Channel DDR400. I just never had the money to match the CPU to the memory speed.

[BladeRunner]

I have not read to much about the requirements for HL2 but
my best guess is that a new vid card will help the most.

to me if a game drops below 30fps it's not playable.

[JimmyTango]

HL2? Upgrade the card and stick with ATI.

[Weasel Meat]

Originally posted by Evan

I'm not going to touch an Nvidia card. I've had way too many problems with their cards and drivers to trust them again.

I feel the exact same way about ATI cards, never had a problem with NVidia cards.

[igloo17]

Originally posted by Evan
Which upgrade do you guys think would be better?

CPU:

Athlon XP 2800+ @ 333Mhz -> Athlon XP 3200+ @ 400Mhz

Video Card:

Radeon 9600 Pro @ 128MB -> Radeon 9800 Pro @ 128MB

My 1st guess without knowing more info, would be the videocard.

[Jim0322]

Is your CPU multiplier locked Evan? I have the 2800+ and mine is. I was able to overclock it from 166 to 173 FSB with no adjustment in voltage. It takes it from a 2.1 to 2.2GHz. I thought about upgrading to a 3200+ but don't think it would make a big difference. You might try upping the FSB up some if the CPU multiplier is locked. You won't get to 200 on your 2800+ (200x2 is the 400 on the 3200+) unless the multiplier is unlocked, then you could do 11 x 200.

Jim

[Evan]

The multiplier is unlocked.

[BladeRunner]

Originally posted by Evan
The multiplier is unlocked.

Hey, maybe turn Bullhead loose on that AMD with some
coolers and fans and you might not need a cpu upgrade
for a long time.
of course you might have to put bricks on the box to keep it
from floating above the floor.