What will give a higher performance boost

[ShawnD1]

I've decided it's time to upgrade.....but what to upgrade to?
Remember, I want GAMING performance here.

Here is my current system
AthlonXP 1700+ (the core before thoroughbred. palamino was it?)
KT266A chipset (266mhz FSB that is)
GeForce FX5200 (non ultra)
1gb PC2700 ram


Now I can either get a faster CPU/mobo or I can get a faster video card.

mobo and CPU
Gigabyte 7N400-L (nforce 2) 400 FSB / 400mhz Dual DDR / 8X AGP / Lan
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 333 FSB / 512KB Cache
total cost: about $200

I was looking for a review on the 9600 Pro at Anandtech when I found this article about the different video cards
http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1812&p=4
Remember that the Ti4800 is a tad faster than the Ti4600

video cards
GeForce4 Ti4800SE
Radeon 9500 Pro
Radeon 9600 Pro



Both changes are similar cost but which one gives a better performance boost? If the mobo and CPU gives more boost, is the difference really worth the trouble of replacing the CPU and mobo? (something I really hate doing).

[DallasDon]

the wise guy move would be to buy an Nforce7-m (onboard video), And 2500+ Barton for 200.

Sell the current mobo/cpu/vid card bundle for cash, or trade for a T1 4200 or better.

good sized performance increase with room to grow.

IMO, at least

[slinky]

Processor upgrade first, then try to trade that 5200 for a Ti 4200 or wait for something newer (i like to go by the skip a generation rule). too bad that 5200 you have isnt an ultra because i've heard from owners of it say it actually felt faster than a Ti 4200.

[ShawnD1]

the wise guy move would be to buy an Nforce7-m (onboard video), And 2500+ Barton for 200.

Sell the current mobo/cpu/vid card bundle for cash, or trade for a T1 4200 or better.

I can't exactly sell my current setup because it's not worth anything. Go to Best Buy and you'll see an AthlonXP 2200+ (thoroughbred) on a motherboard about as fast as mine complete with a video card (integrated probably), hard drive and WindowsXP for like $400. I would have to sell my current setup for like $100 which is just a huge waste. It would be better use the old setup to upgrade my server.

Ok now, keeping in mind that I only have $200 and I absolutely can't sell anything I currently have, which upgrade would you choose?

Those guys who said the 5200 Ultra is faster than the 4200 are on crack. There isn't a benchmark out there that will support that theory.

[twiztidtruckie]

IMO:

Truckie says, go get yourself atleats a XP-2400+ AMD CPU, and a K7S5A MoBo for a total of 127$ shipped through www.newegg.com since its a gaming machine (thered be no REAL need for ocing) so that setupo should do just fine. I agree with DON that you should then sell your current setup here (cause id take it for the right price) and go grab a nice vid card for the extra 73$ and what you make on the sale for the video card upgrade. Youll be in good gaming shape for a good while.

Good Luck!

Truckie

[uethello]

In answer to your actual question: the video card will definitely give a bigger boost than any CPU you can get for $200. Particularly with your qualification of "gaming performance". I'm an nVidia man, but the 9500 Pro looks like a fantastic deal right now.

Don't bother upgrading your CPU. A 1700+ will work fine for any game on the market. I went from a Duron 900 @ 1066 to a 2100+ and barely noticed a difference in games. I felt it the most in DirectX games like Dungeon Siege. Neverwinter Nights hardly blinked. Unreal 2 was a little faster. I doubt you'd see any appreciable difference unless you went to a 3000+ or higher and a 333Mhz FSB. But that's just my opinion.

As for video cards, the 9500 is still the top performer in most things compared to the other two. Ti4600 beats it on a few things, but is not DX9 compliant. I didn't have any trouble with my 9500 Pro and the KT266A chipset (it doesn't like my nForce chip combined with my power supply though for some odd reason). They are a bit power hungry (have their own power connection via floppy four pin power), but tear up games. I went from a Ti4200 to the 9500 Pro and it was a HUGE difference.

I'm far from being anti-nVidia (I loved my Ti4200), but Radeons are just the way to go right now it seems (I've done a fair bit of research regarding them due to some technical difficulties I had with mine - as seen above).

If you decide to go with a Ti4800, I'm sure you won't regret that either.

BTW, my old gaming system was that 2100+ Palomino, 512 PC2100, and a KT266a. Ran everything just fine.

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by twiztidtruckie
Truckie says, go get yourself atleats a XP-2400+ AMD CPU, and a K7S5A MoBo for a total of 127$ shipped through www.newegg.com

How did you come up with that price? I can't find a mobo with nforce2 chipset and 400mhz bus for less than $80. 2400+ are out of the question because they are Thoroughbreds, I want a Barton. The retail 2500+ (Barton) costs $90. Total cost: $170 + shipping.

Don't bother upgrading your CPU. A 1700+ will work fine for any game on the market. I went from a Duron 900 @ 1066 to a 2100+ and barely noticed a difference in games

Are you sure about that? I play this game called JK2. With my Athlon 1700+ and FX5200, I get around 40 fps at 800x600 in 32 bit color, low polygons and low texture detail on the map artus_topside (very open and laggy map). JK2 was crashing my computer a lot so I put it on my room mate's computer to see if it crashed his. His computer is an AthlonXP 2200+ (thoroughbred) on a 333mhz bus mobo (KT400 chipset I think) and a GeForce4 MX440. My video card is better than his.... a lot better. On his computer, I could play at the same resolution, same colors but medium detail and medium polygons at a steady 90fps even in the laggy moment of the game when there's like 40 beams of light comin my way.





Ok well thanks for the advice everybody, I'll buy the 9500 Pro

[slinky]

video card performance is quite dependant on the processor speed as benchmarks show, so there's another thought to keep in mind.

[speedyvision]

go with the new processor and mobo then sell the old ones and ur vid card and depending on how much u get try to get urself a radeon 9600 or an fx 5600, thats wat i would do