processor and video card ??

[infielder6]

thinking of upgrading.. not sure if it's worth yet.. i currently have an amd 1800xp and a geforce fx5200. I'm looking to upgrade one or both of these parts which would cost me about $400 canadian and tax, if i go up to an amd 2800xp and an (ati 9600xt w/ 256mb oem version). Does that sound good.. or should i wait longer. also is there something that is maybe a better value for my money than these.. thanks... oh i use my system for games and the usual.. but i'm also starting to get into video editting on the side.. i found that my processor is a little sluggish at time. i do have 1gb of ram i think its ddr266 though.. i don't have the money upgrade this however.

[Darthtanion]

Re: processor and video card ??

You might price out an Athlon XP Mobile processor of either the 2400 or 2500 speed range and see if that leaves you with enough money for a bit better video board. Either will usually allow for very good overclocking. I have the 2400+ now and it runs all the time at 2.3GHz

[wayout44]

Re: processor and video card ??

What mainboard do you have? Will it support 166MHz (333DDR) CPU's? You do know that using 166MHz (333DDR) CPU's with PC2100 (DDR266) memory will bottleneck the CPU?
Do consider the XP2400+ but I can't see you getting any better value for your budget.

[infielder6]

Re: processor and video card ??

thanks for the suggestions guys.. um.. here's a question though.. i didn't know that you could use mobile cpu's in desktops.. and what makes them better than the desktop version. also for the mobo.. i was thinking of getting a new one of those too

[Yawgm0th]

Re: processor and video card ??

Unless you can get some money to upgrade RAM (selling your RAM would be a great way to do this), there's no point in upgrading the video card. For a video card, don't go up to a 9600XT. For not much more, you can get a 9800 Pro (or even a 9700 Pro, if it really comes down to it). In fact, the 128MB version (which is what you should get) should cost less than a 256MB 9600XT. Upgrading to a 128-bit card is kind of a waste of money for you.

Mobile processors work just fine in desktop boards (or they do in the case, at least). The point of getting a Mobile Athlon XP (although you may end up needing a mobile Sempron as AMD is discontinuing Athlon XPs with the Barton core) is that it uses much less power and has an unlocked multiplier. Depending on your cooling and RAM, you should be able to overclock it somewhere between 2.3GHz and 2.8GHz.

If you were going to get a new board, the ABIT NF7-S2 (or NF7-S Rev. 2) would be a great choice.

But replacing the board and CPU are completely pointless unless you replace that RAM.