Compatibility issues?

[Psychoe]

I am new, so hello everyone!!!!!!

Currently have:

a7n8x deluxe
amd athlon xp 1500+ mmx
768 mb ram
nvidia geforce4 mx440 agp8x 64mb

looking to upgrade cpu and vid card (thats why there are 2 posts - one here, one for vid card)

unsure of the xp2800 barton or xp3000 barton.
thinking of asus v9570td gf fx5700 256mb or ati saphire 9600xs 256mb

Curious of any issues with these potential setups, and what ppl would recommend.

thx
E!

 

[agent-k]

You may have noticed that both myself and praetor have xp2500 processors. These have the barton core and normally run on a 333Mhz Fsb.
If you increase the Fsb on your motherboard to 400Mhz then your computer will detect the processor as an xp3200. If you went out and priced up the two processors separately you would see a difference of about £80.00.
There is more to it than that though, you may have to make other alterations which I won't discuss here as this isn't the overclocking thread.
If you want to know more about this, post a question in the cpu and overclocking thread before you purchase a new cpu.

 

[Praetor]

unsure of the xp2800 barton or xp3000 barton.

Get the XP2800, you can easily OC it to XP3200 ... even without, its not that far behind the XP3000

thinking of asus v9570td gf fx5700 256mb or ati saphire 9600xs 256mb

Both cards about on par as far as chips go (although ive not heard of the 9600XS) but i'd the the ASUS simply because they make stellar vid cards

Regardless of the CPU you get, consider getting an aftermarket fan as those chips will make quite the heat wave. If you're concerned about noise the Thermaltake Silentboost K7 is the route to go while if you want wreckless cooling, either the Volcano12 or the Polo735 (both by Thermaltake and both essentially the same setup, the Polo can be adapted for other CPUs too) are superb coolers

 

[Psychoe]

Get the XP2800, you can easily OC it to XP3200 ... even without, its not that far behind the XP3000

I think i would rather stay away from oc'ing. I dont know anything about it and wouldn't want to ruin my stuff.

although ive not heard of the 9600XS

lol - type-o - it is the 9600XT

consider getting an aftermarket fan

i have a few fans to keep it cool, but may try first before buying an aftermarket.

ASUS simply because they make stellar vid cards

It seems that people are 50-50 on this one. Some say ATI is better and some say no. I am totally unsure about this one.

 

[4W4K3]

It seems that people are 50-50 on this one. Some say ATI is better and some say no. I am totally unsure about this one.

asus makes ATi cards...its not an ati/nvidia argument on this one. its what brand of ati or nvidia chip you want to buy. that might be a bit confusing.

 

[Praetor]

i have a few fans to keep it cool, but may try first before buying an aftermarket.

A few fans yes but a few CPU fans? There's a big distinction.

It seems that people are 50-50 on this one. Some say ATI is better and some say no. I am totally unsure about this one.

Whoever says ASUS makes bad video cards should be shot regardless of whether they like ATi or nVidia (ASUS also makes ATi cards too). Note at ATi falls under the image of "stock" even if you look at their premium cards etc while ASUS (as well as other makes) fall under the category of "aftermarket/premium"

 

[Psychoe]

A few fans yes but a few CPU fans?

understood. Which cpu fan is the best then. U said that for quietness, thermaltake silentboost k7 is the best?

 

[Praetor]

I would quite say "best" as there's always gonna be something better i guess but yeah the SIlentboostK7 is a damn nice setup for acoustically-sensitive people

 

[grimloch]

I am new, so hello everyone!!!!!!
looking to upgrade cpu and vid card (thats why there are 2 posts - one here, one for vid card)

unsure of the xp2800 barton or xp3000 barton.
thinking of asus v9570td gf fx5700 256mb or ati saphire 9600xs 256mb

Curious of any issues with these potential setups, and what ppl would recommend.

thx
E!

IMO i woulnd't get a 256mb graphics, as far as performance is concerned you'd be better getting off getting a good 128mb like a 9800 pro, the 256 is a marketing ploy as far as most of them are concerned

 

[Praetor]

IMO I woulnd't get a 256mb graphics, as far as performance is concerned you'd be better getting off getting a good 128mb like a 9800 pro, the 256 is a marketing ploy as far as most of them are concerned

Agreed, there isnt much of a NEED for 256MB yet regardless of what salespeople tell you If you're in the just-over-$200 budget the 9800Pro is probably the best option, if you're in the just-under-$200 budget, the best is the GFX5900XT

 

[Psychoe]

I didn't see the 256mb chips as a marketing ploy. Maybe i will have to think of this longer. What would the difference be between the 128 and 256mb version of the card I am looking at(asus v9570td gf fx5700)?

 

[Praetor]

I didn't see the 256mb chips as a marketing ploy. Maybe i will have to think of this longer. What would the difference be between the 128 and 256mb version of the card I am looking at(asus v9570td gf fx5700)?

Its not that much of a marketing ploy except only with the low-end cards .... when you see a Radeon9200 or GFX5200 with 256MB of RAM you know something's not right .... sure its argueable that you're squeezing as much performance out of the card as you can without increasing the price substantially but really on those cards the perf. improvement is on the order of maybe 5%?

For midrange cards its mostly the same but the improvement is prolly closer to 10% under ideal circumstances -- which sounds like a lot but not all THAT much. If you're paying an addition $10-$20 for it i'd say go for it, if not then its probably not worth it ... that's probably the reasoning behind the GFX5900XT being sold as a 128MB card -- and of its class, the 5900 wasnt the midrange card

 

[Psychoe]

I think i have decided. I will wait until around Christmas (if i can) and get a card from the 9800 Radeon 256mb series. I will prob go with the xp 3200+ chip as well. Hopefully they go down in price and nothing new sparks my interest.

 

[Praetor]

Good call for wating but by then the 6800s (or even the 6600/6600GTs) will be quite affordable