What parts make SUPER Fast PC? What should I upgrade??

Hiya Again...


Ok ..I'm just going to send this system back to cyberpowerinc.com and exchange while I still can. I haven't noticed that BIG of a boost in speed and that's what I'm trying to get. I'm sooooooooo tired of the sticking, freezing, lagging and sputtering speeds I've been getting with this one and the old crappy one I just got rid of. Or am I looking for something that doesn't exist??

I'm a HUGE gamer and that's really all I use the PC for ...other than email and surfing when I need to. I want to be able to play Doom 3 and GIGGLE at how great everything works. I've NEVER been able to GIGGLE at any of my PC's. I've always DREAMED of having a PC that was FUN to play games on and that knocked my socks off. But I'm not in the market for a big expensive PC right now so I have to make do. I want a gaming PC that will be upgradeable as I get more financially stable. I really want to eventually get the Geforce 6800. So is it even possible to have that kind of PC that makes me giggle and for under around $675?
I have to send this MoBo back because it's not what I wanted so I think I'm just gonna start over anyway and look for better ways to get speed. But I have no idea what to look for?? I thought the AMD Athlon 3000+ would be a huge jump and it's really not. But I do have to stick to around $650 so I know I will have to sacrifice other things. I don't need a lot of storage space and I don't need dvd roms and burners..etc. What are the BIGGEST parts to replace for the speed boost??

What do you suggest?? You guys really rock at this kind of stuff and I would LOVE to hear your advice. I don't know what I would DO WITHOUT all of YOU!!!

Thank you sooooooooooo much!! I've waited over 6 years to get a new computer so I want to be absolutely sure I'm happy with it and that it's upgradeable for quite awhile.


You're Awesome guys! Thanks tons!!


Here's the specs I have now ... I'm replacing the motherboard with this:


ASUS A7N8X-E DELUXE nVidia nForce-2 ULTRA 400FSB SATA AGP8X W/ USB2, LAN, IEEE, & AUDIO

What else should I replace??


Turbo X-Infinity 420W Case (BLUE)
AMD™ Athlon™ XP-3000+ Processor (Barton 512K L2 Cache)
ASUS A7N8X-X nVidia nForce-2 400 FSB 8X AGP w/ USB2.0, LAN, &; AUDIO
512MB (256MBx2) PC3200 DDR400 Dual Channel (Major_Brand)
80GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE
GeForce FX5200 128MB W/CRT, TVO, & DVI
CD-RW 52X32X52 (BLACK)
ELEMENT 17inch .27 MM SVGA MONITOR
3D WAVE ON-BOARD 5.1 SOUND CARD

 

Here are a few things that will give you a speed boost.

Change the memory brand. Generic "major brand" memory is not good, and not fast. Get a name like Crucial, or OCZ

The video card is going to kill you on games. At the least get a 6800 or a x800.

Replace the 3000+ with a 3200+. This will take advantage of the 400mhz FSB instead of the 3000+'s 333mhz fsb.



cooked

 

Awesome!!! Thank you!!! Now my next question is this: What's the difference between the Athlon , Pentium and 64??? Which is better?? The Athlon? And what's the deal with PCI? Is it still good to stay with AGP??? And exactly what is the name of the 6800 card so I can look it up?

You are AWESOME!!! Thank you!

 

Ahhhh yes! That's what I was talking about was the express ...it just came out...right?? I knew about pci ...which is why I was confused when I was reading a post that talked about the new pci express and how they think it will be like when agp came out and took over. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I'm glad it's not faster than agp ...at least for the time being.

 

Ok ...what about

Corsair XMS High Performance Memory w/ Heat Spreader

Is that a good brand??

 

your games are lagging, cause you have a fx5200, its a lower model card. any upgrades in other deparments wont matter to mcu hwith this thin g bottlenecking your gamesi have
Athlon 1900
512 generic ddr 266
raedon 9600 pro 128meg
and i can run doom 3 med q with some bells and whistles. Looks awsome enough to me

 

arg, wow, bad spelling. cant edit. /shivers

 

Oh yes that is excellent memory.

If you can get two 512MB Sticks, run them babys in dual channel.

If you want to look up the video card search for a FX6800, FX6800 GT, FX6800 Ultra. These are the top three from nvidia. Don't worry about PCIe. don't spend the extra cash for not much of a performance boost.

To answer your processor question.
Right now the AMD 64bit chips are the best. The are one hell of a chip. Of coarse there are no programs that utilize the 64bit Architecture right now, you still see a very nice boost. M$ plans on a 64bit OS soon followed by many 64bit programs.

HEREis a like to a review of the fastest processors out today. The AMD XP chips IMO are better v.s. the P4 chips. Especially in gaming. P4 w/ hyperthreading are really nice when using multipule applications. Video editing ect. I have a XP 3200 and as you read on in the tests anandtech did you will see it performs very well with the newest chips out there, and even beets a few of them.




cooked

 

Thanks everybody!!! Very VERY cool info!

Ok ...Which of those 3 cards would you recommend?? Which would go well with the system you suggested?? And what about the other stuff they list like the 128 mb and etc? Oh and MOST IMPORTANT ...where is a GOOD place to get it from?? I need to stay as cheap as possible since I'm doing so much upgrading. I want to get the new video card too ...since it seems that would really REALLY change things. So I'm figuring around an extra $350, right?? Does anybody know of any places that might be selling it cheaper?? Not so known places? I know about newegg.com ...are there any others??

I just can't say thank you enough!!! It's really taking the frustration out of building this system. You guys KICK ASS!! Thank you!

Hugs!

 

I would reccomend the 6800Gt. Its not insanely expensive as the Ultra, and it could even be overclocked to Ultra speeds. It would go very nicely with your system.
Check out www.newegg.com or www.outpost.com

They usually have great prices.



cooked

 

VERY Cool!! Thank YOU!!

What's the difference with the beginning of the cards? The letters? For example ...I've seen it XFX Geforce and then this one:

BFG GeForce 6800 OC 128MB DDR AGP Graphics Card
Model: BFGR6800OC


What exactly does that mean?? I'm a bit confused by that...

 

XFX GForce, XFX is the manufactor. I would not suggest buying from them. They have horrible support. I know from experience.

BFG OC cards are overclocked or "speed up" right out of the box. BFG is a great company. I would highly suggest buying one of there cards.



cooked

 

I agree they have horrible support, but they also do seem to make decent products. I have a KT33FANB motherboard from XFX & it has always worked great.

 

http://www.partspc.com/store/mbathlon64.htm

Hey Cooked, which of these combos is a good deal in your view? I've been looking at the deals at or under $400. Thanks for the input.