Which Upgrade is Better

[Raje]

Ok boys and girls here is the new situation. I want to upgrade, but I don't want to spend more than $500.00 Well lets just say its hard to keep this budget. Both options I've choosen go over.

Now this may sound crazy but just listen.. I was thinking about sticking with a AGP slot for now to save me some cash. I currently have a BFG Geforce FX 5500 video card. And maybe its not top o the line, its still decent and less than a year old. Both options have an AMD 64 atholon 3700+ san diego. But keeping my old card for a while will save me a ton of cash. take a look at the two options. ANY COMMENTS are appreciated. Good or Bad.

AGP - I will not get this video card right away... I will most likely wait a while so just board and processor.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...on=HISTORY&ID=1657178&WishListTitle=cheap+cpu

PCI-E I have no idea how good this card is but an express card will be neccesary if I choose this board. The card has a good rating and was in my price range.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...tion=HISTORY&ID=1744533&WishListTitle=w/pci-e

Thank you in advance

 

[floppybootstomp]

Raje - you've provided links while you were logged in as a customer.

This means unless we have your user name and password the links won't work for us

You wanna link direct?

 

[Raje]

Yea... I actually made them shared files... then logged out.. and accessed them... I will need a little while to fix it.

Edit... turns out the public lists I made take 24 hours until they are "public"
Both getting same procesor
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103539
so here are the items....
with pci-e
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813136159 board
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814161145 v card


stayin AVG --- will get video card at later date
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131510
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130202
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103539

 

[floppybootstomp]

Quick comments:

I love DFI boards, I think they're the best. That one doesn't have Sli but if you're using an ATI card I don't suppose it matters.

Good vid card.

The Asus board has a Via chipset. They're Ok, but Nforce 4 would be better.

Money for money and performance wise, I think I'd prefer a 6600GT 256Mb RAM over a 6800 Vanilla 128Mb AGP card.

Check out the new(ish) BFG board, from reviews it looks as though it's right up there with DFI.

There is one issue with some DFI boards worth mentioning. The positioning of their large North Bridge cooler fan means that some larger, longer, video cards won't fit, they bump into the NB heatsink/fan. It's worth checking this out before you purchase.

 

[Raje]

That ASUS board may have actually been the best one available that would fit a 939 and an AGP card.... this is the only other that was similar in spec and did not have a VIA chipset
EPoX EP-9NDA3+ Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813123222

 

[tomsega]

Quick comments:

Money for money and performance wise, I think I'd prefer a 6600GT 256Mb RAM over a 6800 Vanilla 128Mb AGP card.
.

I would agree, if you have 512mb RAM. However, if you have a Gig of fast RAM, a 6800 Vanilla coupled with a 256mb AGP aperture will give you much better overall results. The texture mode may be set to 'medium' in a few games, but everything else will be set higher than what a 6600 would achieve - and antialiasing and high resolutions really make more of a difference. I recently changed from a 128mb 6800 Vanilla with a 256mb aperture, to a 256mb 6800gt with a 128mb aperture. Pah... hardly worth it.

The 'ASRock 939Dual-SATA2' is I think the ONLY board that supports PCI-E and ALSO AGP. I was dubious, but CustomPC gave it a very good review this month - 86%.

 

[floppybootstomp]

The 'ASRock 939Dual-SATA2' is I think the ONLY board that supports PCI-E and ALSO AGP. I was dubious, but CustomPC gave it a very good review this month - 86%.

Very true.

I'd forgotten about that. Well worth considering.

The EPoX EP-9NDA3+ Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra board seems like a good option as well but remember that whatever AGP vid card you choose to put in it now will be there for good.

It's unlikely you'll ever be able to upgrade as fairly soon AGP cards will be extinct except for the 2nd hand market.

 

[Raje]

yes I understand..., what ever AGP I choose will most likely be the last of its kind. So basically I'm going to max out what I can with the AGP option... My next endeaver will be a laptop in a few years, so not too concerned. So lets decide what 939 AGP board is the best. I have a Gig of Kingston ram now... If need be I will upgrade to *up to 2gb high speed if neccesary and get what ever card will perform best in that situation. Also I'm gonna stick on this cooler so that I can mess around with some OCing.

KINGWIN Aquastar AS-3000 Multi-Color LED Light AquaStar Liquid Cooler System
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835124007

Also if someone wants to recomed a good AGP card I am open to suggestinon.

 

[Raje]

I think I have made my choices for upgrade... so here are the parts as follows

ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Socket 939 ULi M1695 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $68.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813157081

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3700BNBOX - Retail $233.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103539

KINGWIN AWC-1 80mm Ball Liquid Cooler System - Retail $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835124005

Grand Total is $390.00 USD. w/tax and shipping. So definately with in reason, and I can use my older AGP card and upgrade to a PCI-E when I'm ready. Thanks everyone.