What to upgrade next?

[Dethred]

Well I upgraded from 512MB DDR RAM to 2GB and the performance jump was great. Now I am addicted and don't wanna stop until I can at least turn the lighting up to medium (tried it and it barely played but it looked amazing). I can currently run on Full medium except Lighting and AA.

My question is, with the system specs below what should I upgrade?

P4 2.0Ghz
2GB RAM
FX5600 256MB (OC'ed)
MSI PT8 NEO LSR

I am leaning for a 3.0Ghz P4 for ~$170 and a nice heatsink and fan. This seems like the best because I can overclock it a bit and get overall performance gains from my PC, much like the 2GB of RAM. If I got a card I'd get the 6800GT and OC it... but its nearly $100 more and will only help in the gaming department for the most part.

Do you think I will get a decent boost from a processor, will I need a windows re-install, and what would you do?

6800GT *or* Pentium 4 3.0Ghz?

[D3TON8R]

I'd go the highest P4 you could afford, but change your mo-board to accept a PCI-ex card and go a 7800.....again, if you can afford it. I can't right now so i'm saving every cent i can scrounge......

[Dethred]

Yeah I think I am going to go with the P4 3.0 and OC it to 3.2-3.4 with a nice heatsink.

What kind of increase in performance could I see going up 1.2-1.4Ghz?

I am not in the market for spending that kind of money for a 7800. Even if I had that kind of cash I could never do it with a clear conscience knowing it will drop in price like a cadillac after I get it. :laugh:

[maforduk]

Get the processor mate...alot wiser.
The GFX card can always wait...like you said, they all drop price!!!

[Nitemare]

Do not get the processor if you want the best performance for bf2. Get a 6800 GT, that way it isn't too high to where your processor will bottleneck. Look up some benchmarks of systems for their processor, only about a 1-5 fps difference. Video card.

[Dethred]

So you're saying that with a 2.0Ghz processor I won't be bottlenecked and will only gain a few FPS after a 50% increase in CPU Speed? Interesting...

[djstubbs]

If I were you I'd save up for an AMD 64, socket 939 system.

Let's face it, 2 gb of ram combined with a shithouse processor / video card, isn't going to give you the results you want.

If you upgrade your video card, to one that will actually play bf2 at a good framerate on medium, you will still be bottlenecked by your processor.

If you upgrade your processor, your video card still sucks, and you will also not see the framerate you want.

This brings me to the conclusion that it's not worth it for you to upgrade anything in that system at all.

Build an entirely new system:

I would suggest any socket 939 AMD 64 bit processor, depending on your price range, the best bang for your buck is the 4000+ (san diego) which is what I'm running currently.

As far as video cards are concerned I would go for a 7800 gtx if I had the money (also what I'm using), but if you do not, then a 6800 ultra, and so far down the line of pci express video cards.

For motherboards I would go for the DFI NF4 DR-SLI mobo, which gets great gaming performance and is the best overclocker.

---

Even upgrading to a P4 3.0 (what I had on my OLD system, paired with an evga 6800) you will not see medium settings and a good framerate.

If you follow my upgrade instructions, I would use the following settings for optimal performance and great visuals:

[socalcaz]

Great post stubbs, this answers some of the questions in my thread. Thanks!

[djstubbs]

Great post stubbs, this answers some of the questions in my thread. Thanks!

Sure, if you give me a price range I wouldn't mind pricing out a new system for you.

Let me know. :]

[Dethred]

I just bought the 6800GT. I don't have the cash to buy a new system so I am going to do it in pieces. From what I have read people with 2.0-2.4 P4's were getting High graphics settings with the 6800GT so I think this is the best next step. I can already play medium graphics (except AA, Lighting) with a pretty good frame rate (not choppy at all) so this should make it a solid Medium/High. I really just want the lighting up to medium and more stability, and I think this might be a step in the right direction.

[imported_Chubz]

If I were you I'd save up for an AMD 64, socket 939 system.

Let's face it, 2 gb of ram combined with a shithouse processor / video card, isn't going to give you the results you want.

If you upgrade your video card, to one that will actually play bf2 at a good framerate on medium, you will still be bottlenecked by your processor.

If you upgrade your processor, your video card still sucks, and you will also not see the framerate you want.

This brings me to the conclusion that it's not worth it for you to upgrade anything in that system at all.

Build an entirely new system:

I would suggest any socket 939 AMD 64 bit processor, depending on your price range, the best bang for your buck is the 4000+ (san diego) which is what I'm running currently.

As far as video cards are concerned I would go for a 7800 gtx if I had the money (also what I'm using), but if you do not, then a 6800 ultra, and so far down the line of pci express video cards.

For motherboards I would go for the DFI NF4 DR-SLI mobo, which gets great gaming performance and is the best overclocker.

This information is very interesting... but would you consider an AMD Athlon 2500+ XP to be a "shithouse" processor? :hmm:

[Snake101]

I wouldn't consider the Athlon 2500+ to be a shithouse...no way. I have a 64 3000+ and it runs awesome and its not way greater than yours either. The stuff DJ is listing is very awesome stuff but a little on the expensive side

[imported_Chubz]

The stuff DJ is listing is very awesome stuff but a little on the expensive side

I'll say!

Just making sure about the 2500+ in case it won't power the new X800 XL good....... I'm still in my deciding phase as of now. :laugh:

[Dethred]

http://forums.totalbf2.com/showthread.php?t=23463 :cry: :cry:

[djstubbs]

I wouldn't consider the Athlon 2500+ to be a shithouse...no way. I have a 64 3000+ and it runs awesome and its not way greater than yours either. The stuff DJ is listing is very awesome stuff but a little on the expensive side

I would consider it a shithouse processor, my sister has a 2400+ and I can't even imagine trying to play anything on her PC.

I tend to speak of the best stuff and try to make it more affordable for people.

I've done tons of research in the hardware department, and keep up to date with anandtech, tomshardware etc...