I'm about to reformat my rig, nice clean fresh install of Windows to last another year, at which point I'll (hopefully) upgrade to new kit and Windows Vista.

Current hardware:
Athlon XP 2600+ T'bred B
Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 mobo
2x 512MB PC3200 RAM
GeForce 5900LX 128MB

I was toying with the idea of upgrading my gfx card, but wasn't sure whether it was worth it? I can't justify the expense of new cpu & mobo now, so a new gfx card would have to be AGP, and it would only last a year until I upgrade the cpu/mobo/ram.

Reckon it's worth doing? Was thinking maybe an nVidia 6600 or 6800 which are available for ~£80-£120. Wouldn't help with LFS, which is most definitely limited by my CPU horsepower, but would I notice the difference in other titles and in general? Would prefer to stick to nVidia.

I wouldn't bother. I'm about to upgrade to a new system since I don't want to spend money on a new graphics card (my 6600GT died just out of warranty, currently on my backup 9200 which is SLOW).

Quote from STROBE :

I'm about to reformat my rig, nice clean fresh install of Windows to last another year, at which point I'll (hopefully) upgrade to new kit and Windows Vista.

Current hardware:
Athlon XP 2600+ T'bred B
Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 mobo
2x 512MB PC3200 RAM
GeForce 5900LX 128MB

I was toying with the idea of upgrading my gfx card, but wasn't sure whether it was worth it? I can't justify the expense of new cpu & mobo now, so a new gfx card would have to be AGP, and it would only last a year until I upgrade the cpu/mobo/ram.

Reckon it's worth doing? Was thinking maybe an nVidia 6600 or 6800 which are available for ~£80-£120. Wouldn't help with LFS, which is most definitely limited by my CPU horsepower, but would I notice the difference in other titles and in general? Would prefer to stick to nVidia.

I'd imagine a cpu u/g to a 3000 would only be $25 quid in uk that'd be a better option as LFS is so cpu intensive at this stage?

i have more or less the same setup m8, i upgraded my graphics from an FX5200 (128mb) to a gigabyte silentpipe 6600GT (AGP 256MB) for £80 on dabs.com. the reason i went for that one is because it runs 25% faster than standard 6600GT's and it is rumoured to be a pci-e stepped down for agp. my cpu is a 2600+ barton core but tbh, i will be upgrading this to a 64bit (mobo too) in the next few months. i just have to make a decission weather or not to get a pci-e mobo and get a new card (my friend bought a nvidia 7600 512mb for £65) although lfs requires alot of cpu imo the graphics card still controls the visual quallity so if i were you i would upgrade the card and think about overclocking the 2600+ but thats just me

Absolutely, spend the money on a cpu upgrade, it will have far more effect than a gpu upgrade

Cheers guys. I was 50/50 whether it would be worth it but if the difference between a 5900 and a mid-range 6xxx isn't much then I'll save me pennies for the HD LCD telly I want towards the end of the year. Over a year of watching a 14" portable in the living room is getting annoying.

A cpu upgrade would certainly help LFS more, but I guess upgrading within Socket A isn't going to make much difference either, and isn't worth the cost. There's also the fact that I can't really be arsed to do a full rebuild at the moment with a new cpu, mounting the heatsink, etc. That can wait until next year when I upgrade everything.

Save your cash, and try to update to a newer platform. It isn't worth to buy an AGP card nowadays. In the long term, it will be better to save and do a whole upgrade.

By the way, that HD LCD TV sounds beyond cool.

Quote from STROBE :

Cheers guys. I was 50/50 whether it would be worth it but if the difference between a 5900 and a mid-range 6xxx isn't much then I'll save me pennies for the HD LCD telly I want towards the end of the year. Over a year of watching a 14" portable in the living room is getting annoying.

A cpu upgrade would certainly help LFS more, but I guess upgrading within Socket A isn't going to make much difference either, and isn't worth the cost. There's also the fact that I can't really be arsed to do a full rebuild at the moment with a new cpu, mounting the heatsink, etc. That can wait until next year when I upgrade everything.

I agree with the guys above about the GPU upgrade isnt really necessary in your case as LFS is very CPU limited.
If you are going to build new PC in few month buy Conroe.E6600 CPU should cost around 300USD and have performance like top AMD model for 1000USD bucks.The other thing is that in IT industry models and pricing change really quickly so my recomendation could be obsolate in few month though.

The only case for GPU upgrade for LFS would be if you want to use some AA+AF without loosing performance.Then the 5900 to 6xxx Nvidia series would make sense.

I'd also wait for the new Intel Duo series. That's a definite bang-for-buck-blockbuster. More bang than a high-end-cpu and as few buck as a budget CPU.
A sound GPU upgrade would be the 6600GT.

Vain

Aye, I was reading about the new Conroes just the other day. They look pretty damn good, although of course the prices are extortionate for the first few months. I've been an Athlon guy for the past few years but if the Conroes live up to expectation then I wouldn't hesitate to switch.

But I doubt I'll be upgrading until this time in 2007, so who knows what AMD will have out by then. Even if it's nothing, at least AMDs chips will be going super cheap to counter the threat from Intel, and the Conroes themselves won't have the premium/novelty price tag anymore. Probably just as well, given the demands of Vista with all the bells and whistles turned on. :o

@ DEVIL 007: I already run LFS with AA and AF. Not the full 8x in either case, but enough to get rid of the jaggies. I usually get ~30-70fps, depending on how many cars in view.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I wouldn't bother. I have a similar setup but with a 128Mb R9800 Pro, and in LFS it's definitely the CPU that's bottlenecking for me. Probably best not to spend money upgrading old tech like AGP now IMHO.

i would have to agree with you there. thats why it is going to hurt when i upgrade my mobo (i have 3 agp cards ). but i will have lots of good spairs to build a sturdy "home" pc for my parents.

Quote from STROBE :

@ DEVIL 007: I already run LFS with AA and AF. Not the full 8x in either case, but enough to get rid of the jaggies. I usually get ~30-70fps, depending on how many cars in view.

Well the Conroe looks really promising.I heard AMD will have another price cuts after Conroe will show in stores.
Everyone have to admit AMD has cut the prices really strong in several past weeks,sure Intel did the same...but it will be even more.
Another thing is that AMD might bump up some Mhz with going to 65nm process at the end of the year.Still it looks pretty bad for AMD right now when 300 dollars Intel processor(E6600) beat 1000 AMD processor(FX-62) really easy.I even didnt mention the great overcloking potential of new Conroes.

I am still happy with my A643200+ .

Well if you get already those FPS then the upgrade would be pretty worthless.What about running 16XAA+16AF.Save the money for the next upgrade.

Hi guys so whats the avg FPS rate by general users of ATI Radeons, i'm getting 80-120 single player and around the 60's to 80's
Randomish question i know

My Radeon 9800 XT produces 40-70 fps (Co-Starring a AMD K7 2600+ and 640 MB DDR 266 RAM) in 4xFSAA and 2xAF quality.

Vain

lol
Mines a p4 2.8 with 512, the raidons a 9600xt, Overclocked the car last night to within an inch of its life with omega drivers lol