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John Doe · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 8:52 am Post subject:

Gah Simpleman!!!

The 9600XT is a far superior card to the FX5200's. Um, well if JD would ever send you a email about upgrade suggestions you may do ok.

My two bits worth though.......go back to the 9600XT, pick up a second hard drive and reinstall XP on it and then migrate over all your data and such from the first hard drive. If things dont cooperate then you always have the ability to go back to the old drive and the old video card.

But......A new motherboard would also be a good call. I personally recommend Intel bases solutions right now as the AMDs run too damned hot. If you do for a new board (intel path) then you also need a new CPU and new ram, if you decide to go the AMD route then you may be able to get away with just a new board and use all your old components for now (CPU, ram, etc). Thats the only reason I could see following the AMD path, small steps in upgrading your system.

As I said before I like the intel route more than the AMD route. AMD has locked down the Bartons and such so overclocking isnt as easy, I dont know if you wish to overclock or not but if you do the best bang for the buck is still an Intel 2.4C. If not then buy as much CPU as you can and be happy with it

The fastest CPU out there right now is one of the 64 Bit AMD's, but that means your buying the highest end system you can build and I dont know if you wish to drop that much coin on a machine. Also, the numbers that show the 64 bit AMD as being the fastest over the fastest Intel solution is based on overclocking each of them, so again if you have no plans to overclock then trying to get the fastest might not be the best way to go.

Thats all for my ramblings this early in the morning, keep on reading and asking questions and I am sure the most logical path will become clear to you.

JD
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The Nanite · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 9:14 am Post subject:

Or...you could just "borrow" that magic pixie dust from your office. Works well when Sharky and I do that...
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Blown · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 9:31 am Post subject:

Me, Id just do a xp2500 with the 512 cache and maybe a slight overclock if ya wanted. Get a good cpu cooler like a slk800. Nforce2 motherboard, maybe an Epox. (What I have and love it) You can go pretty cheap in price and have a pretty kick ass system. But if you really want the fastest then its the 3400 but I never buy the fastest cause its not worth the extra money to me. AMD will overclock the same as an intel since both have the multipliers locked, its just raise the fsb and get some good fast ram. Some of the older xp's are mult unlocked and I dont recall when they stopped or what speed. I know my xp2400 is unlocked though. Id return that card like JD said and stick with the ATI, a much faster card. The 5200 is a pretty crappy card.

SilverOne · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 9:49 am Post subject:

Ahh 2.4c.. just got one of those and for $150 bucks its amazing. Some great advice in this thread. Simpleman, you have some good options.

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Vulcan · Registered User Joined: 29 Dec 2001 Posts: 2773

Overclocking the Barton isn't too complex if you have the right motherboard. The ASUS A7N8X Deluxe unlocks it for you and you just have to change the settings in the bios. The newest version of this board, the Deluxe - E, comes with Gigabit lan(useless unless you have other hardware to support it). And yes, the Radeon is FAR superior to the GeforceFX that you got. The 5200 is just a slight upgrade to the Geforce 4 MX.
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Simpleman · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:52 pm Post subject:

Well if I could use the ATI I would I still have it sitting here looking at me

. Along with it's HL2 coupon that I won't ever be able to use because some people won't get there head out of there @$$ But anyways.

The MOBO I have right now is CRAP it only has 4x AGP so as far as using the ATI it is pretty pointless.

This is the Mobo I am looking at ($200.00 to $260)http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-185&depa=0

HD WD 160 GIG or 2 80 GIG ($150.00 to $180.00)
DDR pc3200 1GIG to start ($150.00 to $200.00) Good Ram
3.06 GHZ P4 ($300.00 to $350.00)
Case ($ 179.00) It has 7 fans temp control 500 watt PS.
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Blown · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 1:17 pm Post subject:

Dont let the 8X agp make you think it gives you tons of performance. They did lots of tests and as of right now it is almost nothing. Maybe in the future that will be different.

xp2500 is 80-90 bucks, better performance than a 2.4 p4.

Clay Pigeon · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:06 pm Post subject:

Clay Pigeon · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:15 pm Post subject:

Blown · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:24 pm Post subject:

ya, the new Intel chips are going to put out more heat than the AMD ones. So thats not an issue anymore. Only at the high speeds though. Price/Performance AMD wins.

Clay Pigeon · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2004 2:05 pm Post subject:

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1693/

The new core pentium 4s (prescott) have problems with heat and current leakage.