[bmass]

Well I'm currently looking to make a couple of upgrades to my computer to have the latest video games run a little smoother on it, I'm currently running the following:
AMD 3200+ 2.2GHZ
ATI Radeon 9800se
1GB Kingston Tech RAM

I bought this sytem about 4-5 years ago, the first thing I know I need to upgrade is my video card, and I only have an AGP slot (it was big at the time) and so my options are limited. I was thinking the Sapphire X1950Pro 512M which I can get for $190 (CAD).

Second I want to throw another 512mb at least of RAM, or maybe a full GB, even though it's not necessary it might just be cheaper and it can't hurt.

Lastly, and here is my big dilema, my processor. I'm not sure if I should upgrade, because right now I have an AMD Barton, and Bartons are godlike, and I really don't know if it's slowing my performance down. What do you guys think? Is there any need to upgrade my processor?

And are there any tests I do to see what parts are really affecting my performance? I know the video card is for sure, but I'm not sure how much the RAM is affecting it, maybe a little but not likely much, and I'm clueless as to the processors affects. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[b1gapl]

Hey bmass,
Welcome to T.F.!!

wow...4-5 years ago....Time for a new system. How much do you have to spend, overall?

[Sora]

First off the Barton is not "godlike" it is a single Core chip about 4 1/2 years old. it's not a "bad" chip either and it will play games pretty well however it is not that powerful.

When you upgrade a system like that even if you threw in an X1950PRO AGP and another gig of ram you would only be delaying the inevitable. DDR ram is more expensive than DDR2 while being slower and AGP is more expensive than PCI E for the same card.

Your best bet is to really just sell that for 150-200 bucks or so and throw another 300 in and you can get something like

E4300
2Gb DDR2-677 ram
7900GS

[vernong1992]

Originally Posted by Sora

First off the Barton is not "godlike" it is a single Core chip about 4 1/2 years old. it's not a "bad" chip either and it will play games pretty well however it is not that powerful.

When you upgrade a system like that even if you threw in an X1950PRO AGP and another gig of ram you would only be delaying the inevitable. DDR ram is more expensive than DDR2 while being slower and AGP is more expensive than PCI E for the same card.

Your best bet is to really just sell that for 150-200 bucks or so and throw another 300 in and you can get something like

E4300
2Gb DDR2-677 ram
7900GS

bartons are god-like??? i suggest what sora suggested sell ur current system, and go get what
e4300
2gb ddr2 ram
xfx 650i ultra (is 100$)
7900gs

[bmass]

Sorry, just woke up, bartons were, ahead of their time is what I think I meant to say, but obviously not up to date with things so far. I think I will defineatly be getting a new system with a pci-e vgc and ddr2 ram, but I don't use intel chip and can't use a 64-bit chip due to certain software complications that can't be overcome. I am still looking around and will get back to you. Thanks for the advice.

[Nagasama]

uh ....the athlon 64 cpus can run 32 or 64 bit software, and while running 64 bit o.s. it can execute both simultaneously. so, i f you have 32 bit software that you have to run, it will still work.
i dont know about intel.

[Vaanish]

Maybe he just got mixed up with a 64- Bit OS.

[hmammen]

Bartons were some of the best single core AMD chips ever made.

But go with what Sora said.

[bmass]

How does this look?
AMD DualCore 180CD 2.4G L2=2 x 1MB Rev E6 Retail Box (OSA180CDBOX) at $200 CAD (S939)
OCZ DDR2 2GB (2x1024M) PC2-5400 Dual Channel Value Series 5-5-5-10 (OCZ26672048VDC-K) at $85 CAD
ASUS SKT.939 NFORCE4 SLI ATX3PCI/2PCI-EX 4D.DDR SATA, AUDIO (A8N-SLI SE) at $90 CAD

and either:
SAPPHIRE RADEON X1950PRO 512MB PCIE DUAL DVI TV OUT RETAIL (100196) at $180 CAD
or
ATI RADEON X1650PRO 512MB PCIE (100-437808) at $200 CAD

All of these prices are exactly what I pay, not tax or anything. So if you know where I can get it cheaper, keep that in mind (taxes where I am are 14%).

Plus Chasis, PSU and HD. Anyways, please let me know about these. Thanks.

[bmass]

About the 64bit processors, no there is some server software that just won't work with AMD64 unfortuneatly, so none for me

HD question: is SATA2 faster than SCSI? Thanks.