The Commissar Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 I have about $650 to spend on hardware upgrades saved up. My current specs are a measely AMD Athalon 650Mhz 64 RAM 32 MEG TNT2 9 Gig HD I plan to buy 256 Megs of RAM, a 20 Gig HD, and with about $450 remaining, Im thinking if I should purchase a brand new GeForce 2 with 64 MEGS (somehwere around $300), or a Processor-motherboard combo of an AMD Thunderbird with 1.1 Ghz ($315) Im skeptical about the current speed and performace of my Video Card, but I am also none too pleased with the processor speed (games including CM slow down and run choppy very often). Which would give me the most bang for my buck? Ge Force2, or Processor? Thanks in advance! ------------------ "...Every position, every meter of Soviet soil must be defended to the last drop of blood..." - Segment from Order 227 "Not a step back" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GriffinCheng+ Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 IMO, both, the new Althon 1.2G may even be better. Or better check Tom's Hardware. Griffin. ------------------ "When you find your PBEM opportents too hard to beat, there is always the AI." "Can't get enough Tank?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaSCa Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 You may be able to do both if you go for a 1 gig t-bird. Sharkyextreme.com lists the low price on the web at 174 bucks. That's oem and buying online, but you may find one locally for not much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted December 21, 2000 Author Share Posted December 21, 2000 The whole reason I am asking is because I cannot afford both! It's a tough choice, but I must choose which will benefit me more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted December 21, 2000 Author Share Posted December 21, 2000 Hmm, thanks for the info Casca. Do you think my current motherboard will support the large jump in processor speed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Heidman Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 What's your current mobo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuka Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 I may be of some help here as I have recently purchased a new system with the 900 Thunderbird chip (I'm told it is easily clockable to 1.1Gb) and a Hercules geforce 2 MX card (32mb). This has no problem with even a large scenarion such as "Eagles lair" I too was looking at the 64mb GTS card, however it appears that the gains made by going to the 64 do not equal the extra cost involved as the 4 speed interface of the card to board acts as a bottle neck to all that extra card memory. The 32mb GTS is cheaper and only slighter down on performance, although that difference will be barely noticible except at really high resolution. In the end I saved money by getting the MX card and it works great! Smooth motion and nice support of smoke/fog etc. 256 RAM may also not give the sort of gains you are looking for so I would recommend to make your initial purchase of a new chipset and see how that goes. Woops, just re-read your post, I see you have 64mg RAM, Go up to 128mb for sure. [This message has been edited by Stuka (edited 12-20-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GriffinCheng+ Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 Commissar, Okay, I see ya situation now. I was talkin bout an ideal solution. I have a lowly P2-450 with GeForce DDR but can still play pretty smooth, ok for extereme large scenario like "South to Sword Beach". I can see your main issues may be the RAM and the 3d card. So I suggest get yourself a G2GTS and another 64MB RAM. Though Geforce 2MX is just a tag better GeForce DDR, but that is much better than a TNT2 you have now, and the price is low that it may also enable you to get a 1G Althon, too. ATA3 HDD is so cheap that it is a steal nowadays. You can get only 120MB HDD 10 years ago with roughly the same price Have yourself a merry xmas! Griffin. ------------------ "When you find your PBEM opportents too hard to beat, there is always the AI." "Can't get enough Tank?" [This message has been edited by GriffinCheng+ (edited 12-20-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaSCa Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 What Jeff asked.(Or head to your mobo manufacturers site and check out the specs)It's going to depend on your mobo. And if your 650 is a Slot A Athlon you may need a Slocket connecter for the T-bird, which is Socket A. You also hopefully already have a 300w power supply, Athies are guzzlers. You would also like to have pc133 ram, which I would suspect you do with that fast of an proc already. The Video card is probably the upgrade that would have the fewest compatibility issues and possible hidden upgrade ambushes, if that is a factor in your decision. Oops, I just reviewed the thread and sorry, I missed the mobo part in your first post. If you need a new mobo then you really are out of luck on the double barrelled upgrade. Maybe then go for a g-force2 Ultra, they go for about five hundred, plus or minus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dschugaschwili Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 Take a new graphics card before a new CPU. I recommend a GeForce2 card, but I wouldn't take 64MB. 32MB seems more than enough. An Athlon 650 seems still adequate for such a system. I have a Duron 700 + GeForce2 32MB combination, and it works just fine. Dschugaschwili Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bakker@home Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 Ahum, well it depends on what you generally use your computer for really. CM would benefit more from processor power than an new video card, but a new video card is a big win for other games like First Person Shooters. So what are you craving for; faster turn calculations are higher resolutions ? But more importantly the CPU and the Video card you have now are still decent enough at the moment in my opinion. I would advice you to buy some more ram (at least 64mb more) and try some ways to tweak your system (newest drives, bios settings or overclocking) and save your money for half a year and then take an upgrade you will really notice. Greetings, stefan. PS: he Dschugaschwili what's your duron running at ? 850? [This message has been edited by Bakker@home (edited 12-21-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fangorn Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 Commissar, Get yourself a cheap duron and a nice mobo (Asus A7V, MSI KT7pro2a or ABIT KT7), then overclock it (just be sure you have decent cooling). Perfect for games. Then save your money until february - NV20 should be out. Then you pick the best board you can afford, and switch to a 1.2 gig thunderbird, which should be damm cheap by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_PanzerLeader Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 Trust me NEVER buy and OEM processor IT is NOT worth the pennies you save!! ------------------ SS_PanzerLeader.......out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dschugaschwili Posted December 21, 2000 Share Posted December 21, 2000 To Stefan: 700 MHz. I haven't tried overclocking it yet. By the way, why are you wasting time on this forum when you could tell your men to get their lazy butts into action? Dschugaschwili [This message has been edited by Dschugaschwili (edited 12-21-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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