Processor: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+, ~2.4GHz
Memory: 2GB RAM
Hard Drive: 320 GB
Video Card: RADEON X1600 Pro Series
Keyboard: Logitech G15
Mouse: Logitech MX518
Operating System: Windows XP Professional

I want to upgrade my sound card to a "Creative X-Fi Xtreme Fatal1ty Pro"

Anything which could do with upgrading?
I know I have a high spec PC, but what would make it even better?

**EDIT**

666 posts...Gah Satan...My soooooooooooul

Your 666th post. Your system is now cursed. You must send it to me right away so I can start the cleansing process that will probably take 60-70 years

Seriously though, upgrade your processor. I would guess your board has an AM2 socket. Buy something like a 4400+ X2. Dual core and faster.

that sound card is just silly, the X-Fi's are good, but i would go for the Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer, it's all of about £50, the sound quality is identical! - either that, or go for a newer graphics (a 7950GT would be £130 or an 8600GTS, £150)

I think the 2nd is a much better idea with a CPU such as that

EDIT - Leifde, he could do that, but his GFX card may hold him back, and i'm sure there will be some "bargain basement" AM2 90 nm CPU's now that the 65 nm's are becoming more proliferent. Although nowhere in that post did he mention having an AM2 CPU, and if it's 939 he's screwed because 939 is dead.

I don't really have a clue about Radeons so I was just guessing on that part. It is a relatively new PC and.... I was gonna check on MSN but he's not there. But I think I remember him saying AM2 at some time

[OT] I got a skt939 PC just before they released the suite of AM2s. [/OT]

EDIT: Would you recommend a 7950GT over an 8600GTS? (Ignoring the price difference)

the X1600 is nothing awful, but if he drops in a 4400, firstly he will loose performance (2 cores, but run at 2.2 GHz a peice) in single threaded apps (aka ones which only use 1 core, aka most!), and the X1600 could be replaced with something like a 7950GT (which can now be had for dirt cheap - which is a pity as i bought one when they weren't!) which could run LFS with every custom texture on teh net and 8xAA and 16xAF quite happily

IMO it depends, from the benchies i've seen, the 8600GTS is a little slower than a 7950GT, but it does have DX10 compatibility... i'd wait for the R600 Radeon's (simply because all the cards, both high end and budget are being released at the sime time and ATi will want to undercut nVidia's price or beat them in performance because they've put a LOT of money into the R600, and because of it their in a monetary squeze, and their new owner, AMD, are being pounded by Intel and need as much money as they can get to keep afloat) to see what happens to prices. If it was just for LFS, i'd take the 7950GT because of the extra power, but if you plan on doing any "next-gen" gaming (ie Crysis, UT07, Alan Wake etc) that uses DX10, go for the 8600GTS

the only upgrade that really makes sense for this pc is a better graphics card
and about 5 more harddrives ^^

Quote from Jakg :

that sound card is just silly, the X-Fi's are good, but i would go for the Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer, it's all of about £50, the sound quality is identical!

I'd suggest against the Xtremegamer/audio, since they're both the "crippled" versions of the X-Fi line. Get the XtremeMusic at the minimum, or get something else.

from Creative Forums:

Quote :

X-Fi Xtreme Audio is a software based card with no hardware support for EAX. Is more like the Live!24bit or AudigySE/LS kind of cards, if not the SAME card having the firmware rewritten with the new name and ID string. The software provided is supporting Crystalizer and CMSS3D from X-Fi line of cards.

X-FI XtremeGamer is a hardware based card but with NO support for EAX 5.0. Basically is a Audigy2 type of card with no extra connectors - exactly like the Audigy2SE or Audigy4 card (non-pro version). Of course again having the firmware rewritten with the new name and ID. Same support for Crystalizer (maybe at the software level) and CMSS3D.

Thanks for your input guys.

I was looking at going Dual Core not long after I got the bits...typical.
The mobo I have is the: Abit NF-M2 nF430 Socket AM2. I understand I will need to upgrade my mobo to work with DC.

What mobo and CPU do you guys recommend.
What GFX card do you guys recommend also.

If you could give me a list of 3.
1 being budget.
2 being average and
3 being mega bucks.

Thanks!!

Also, if it could be compatable with my other components that would be great...obvisouly

i dont think you need a new mobo ... all 939 mobos supported dual core and im damn sure all am2 do as well
also there really isnt much of a point in upgrading your cpu as the quickest one you can buy atm the mom is 3ghz which doesnt help much at all ... and neither does going for a dual core

1) a low end gf8
2) a top end gf8
3) new socket 775 mobo ... core 2 duo and a top end gf8

if i were you i'd go for the 8600GTS (which is why i already said that!), its £140, but i'm sure you could sell your card and get something for it

You're a little limited if you want to see increases in LFS, as you would need at least a x2 4600 to be equivilant to your current cpu.

If you had a GOOD mobo, a 165 or 170 opty could really crank the 939 performance with OC'ing. (Aside to Jakg, how high does the FSB on your A8N-sli premium go? Mine will only do ~270, so no Opty 165 for me ).

The thing with LFS is that the GPU isn't going to slow down your performance much if any. If you play other games, or sims, the GPU could use an upgrade. My choice would be 8800GTS.

I'd think about perhipherals. What monitor do you use? I had a 17" ws that just changed to a 22" ws. All the difference in the world. The leap from my logitech momo to G25 really changed the way i feel about LFS.

i have no idea how high it goes (things gone screwy, im happy with my 40% overclock and i'd rather not push it), but atm it's at 307 FSB and thats CPU limited

Another question...

Would my card handle another monitor?


I's sure it would, just wanted to check

yes, it will