You may have seen me post a while back saying that I was going to upgrade, but due to lack of themuch needed cash, I can't. So, all I can do is upgrade. Here's the spec: Intel P4 3.4GHz HT (S478) (cooled by a ZALMAN CNPS7000-ALCU) ASRock P4i65G Mobo ATI Radeon 9600XT-4 AGP 8x 80Gb & 250Gb WD Caviar HDDs Vista Ultimate 32-Bit So, what I want to know, is what can I do from here? Any better processors on the market that would work? I use my computer primarily for gaming, Internet surfing, and a lot of music and films. I rip DVDs to my PC for use on my iPod and the same for music. Ideally, I would like something that is can play all my games (CSS, BF2/2142, HL2, MOHAA), and be able to rip DVDs and CDs quickly. Though, as I said before, price is an issue.
I would get a new graphics card and leave your system alone until you get the cash to get a new system. Maybe something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130274
I wouldn't recommend a 7800GS, as they don't offer much more performance then a 7600GT but are usually much more costly. The x1950pro AGP is usually cheaper then one and offers much more performance. Assuming you have enough ram to make use of the card, the x1950pro AGP it is a good card. If you can't afford one look at 7600GT AGP, one of them should be fine if you can't afford an x1950.
I was going to get an X1950Pro, for my new build, but for an upgrade, that would have ot wait, not enough cash.I'm only 17 working part time when I'm not in college (UK, not US). After Easter seems the most likely. And a 7600GS or 7300GT seem more my price range, any thoughts? I'm off to bed now, I'll reply in the morning.
Bought a 7600GS this afternoon. Working great, except that CS:S wont recognise servers, though I doubt this has anything to do with the GFX. And in the way of processors, is there nothing better in the way of S478? Nothing I can get for 478 that's better than my 3.4 P4? I OC'ed it to 3.75GHz, but under load it became unstable (not due to temperature), so knocked it back down. No, you're not. I never mentioned my price range, so that people would give me what they would get under a tight budget. My budget was flexible, but only to a certain degree, so if I specified a budget, then people might only suggest cards of that price, with no thought that I might stretch my budget a bit.
Nothing is realistically better on S478, it's a dead socket, with DDR memory, there's no upgrade path on Intel chips without going to an LGA-775 mobo. And no, CS's ridiculous bugs are nothing to do with your graphics card, everyone has stupid problems that a simple debugging operation would solve.
i personally would not get anything more expensive than a 7600GS or GT, as it will only be a waste of money. and all the ATI cards below the X19xx series are a waste due to poor performance. the 7800GS and X1950Pro AGP are a huge waste of money!! Brand new high end AGP gfx's cards are a waste of hard earned cash now a days.
I see your point there, with DX10 round the corner. Though DX10 cards are extortionately priced... I'll wait for a complete new build before I do anything more on this system I think, though perhaps get a matched pair of 1Gb sticks of RAM (2Gb in total obviously), as my mobo supports dual channel DDR.
