im wondering whether i should
a) buy a new graphics card
or
b) buy a new system overall.
so here's the story. i want to play some games from pre-2006 (I'm not that interested in newer games) but i don't want to go as far as buying a whole new system at this point in time, however when i do go out and buy a new system, i want it at least to have a quad-core processor at around 3.0ghz and a top of the range graphics card. but problem is, the intel quad core Q6700 is at a hefty price of $678 AUD at this point in time. My current setup is quite old, but i know it will last me a few years yet (i'm estimating 2-4 years) heres its current specs.
3.0 ghz P4, 2gb ram DDR400 and a 5200fx@128mb.
problem with it is that it has a AGP slot, no PCI-e slots, so i can't go out and buy a 8800 (which is want atm) and just pop it in, or a 9 series card in future (the next year or so). I know in future that quad core prices will drop dramatically to make way for more cores in future as it seems thats the way we are heading (we can't break the 4.0ghz mark due to heating so the next thing is more cores). and tbh, i don't mind having a system under the general mid range system (example is now, i'm still running a single core the exception is my 5200fx which way below the midrange system these days)
at the moment my 5200fx does everything i want it too, it does all the graphical related things do given a little time and it plays most of the games i want to play, with the exception of some 2006/7 games. thing is i want to buy a new card to be able to play those games and cut down on the time it takes to render a few things.
what im looking at at the moment is this (spoiler is for presentation purposes)
Sapphire x1650 pro @ 512mb
or
MSI nx7600GT @ 512mb
at the moment im leaning towards the x1650 pro card seeing as its gotten better reviews and it is cheaper. but on tomshardware the 7600 has got a better performance on some of the newer games over the x1650.
so the pro's and cons of each card are as follows
x1650 pro
+ cheaper ($30)
+ availability (around where i live)
- less performance
7600GT
+Perfomance
- cost (im on a tight budget)
- availability (hard to find)
another problem is i'm not sure if it is worth the money and effort to get the 7600gt over the x1650 pro.
what are your suggestions?
a) buy a new graphics card
or
b) buy a new system overall.
so here's the story. i want to play some games from pre-2006 (I'm not that interested in newer games) but i don't want to go as far as buying a whole new system at this point in time, however when i do go out and buy a new system, i want it at least to have a quad-core processor at around 3.0ghz and a top of the range graphics card. but problem is, the intel quad core Q6700 is at a hefty price of $678 AUD at this point in time. My current setup is quite old, but i know it will last me a few years yet (i'm estimating 2-4 years) heres its current specs.
3.0 ghz P4, 2gb ram DDR400 and a 5200fx@128mb.
problem with it is that it has a AGP slot, no PCI-e slots, so i can't go out and buy a 8800 (which is want atm) and just pop it in, or a 9 series card in future (the next year or so). I know in future that quad core prices will drop dramatically to make way for more cores in future as it seems thats the way we are heading (we can't break the 4.0ghz mark due to heating so the next thing is more cores). and tbh, i don't mind having a system under the general mid range system (example is now, i'm still running a single core the exception is my 5200fx which way below the midrange system these days)
at the moment my 5200fx does everything i want it too, it does all the graphical related things do given a little time and it plays most of the games i want to play, with the exception of some 2006/7 games. thing is i want to buy a new card to be able to play those games and cut down on the time it takes to render a few things.
what im looking at at the moment is this (spoiler is for presentation purposes)
Sapphire x1650 pro @ 512mb
or
MSI nx7600GT @ 512mb
at the moment im leaning towards the x1650 pro card seeing as its gotten better reviews and it is cheaper. but on tomshardware the 7600 has got a better performance on some of the newer games over the x1650.
so the pro's and cons of each card are as follows
x1650 pro
+ cheaper ($30)
+ availability (around where i live)
- less performance
7600GT
+Perfomance
- cost (im on a tight budget)
- availability (hard to find)
another problem is i'm not sure if it is worth the money and effort to get the 7600gt over the x1650 pro.
what are your suggestions?
