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# Threadjack:
I'm thinking of using my annual bonus to upgrade my PC at the end of the month. Having found out what this year's bonus is, I am going to supplement it with my total savings of £350 for a grand total of £350.

I currently have a mid-range Athlon X2, a Radeon 9600GTO and 2 gig of RAM. I plan to go to novatech.co.uk and see what motherboard bundle and GFX card I can get for my monies, replace the heat sink/fan with a good one and be done with it.

Can someone tech-savvy and up-to-date recommend a processor and graphics card combo to shoot for with this kind of budget? I'd rather it was good.

My plan.
(I helped save b3ta! Mockingbird Practitioner of SCIENCE, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 15:50, archived)
# Get a hamster instead....
(I helped save b3ta! Redsushi! Whoop! Whoop! Yes, that one!, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 15:52, archived)
# Gerbil?
(I helped save b3ta! Mockingbird Practitioner of SCIENCE, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 15:53, archived)
# Hmmmm
regarding the graphics card, personally I'd seriously consider getting a top-end DirectX 9 card as opposed to a directX 10 enabled card.
Reason: there's still not a realistically-priced dX-10 enabled card which even comes close to the speed of a top-end dX9 card, and the dx10 enhancements will never compensate for that. So, while you may lose some dx10 refinements in some newer games, your actually playing experience will be smoother with a good dx9 card. And for most other kind of applications, it won't make any difference losing the dx10 stuff.
(I helped save b3ta! mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 15:56, archived)
# ^^^ this
but with more sciences
(I helped save b3ta! Victor Meldrew, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 15:57, archived)
# plus I still use XP
and as I understand it, DX10 is tied quite forcefully to Vista, no?
(I helped save b3ta! Mockingbird Practitioner of SCIENCE, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 15:57, archived)
# You will be kicking yourself if you stay with DX9 now.
Not because of XP or Vista but because of the shader model. You might get a good ATI top end card with DX9 SM3 but games have moved on and are using SM4 now. All ATI new range is DX10.1 and SM4.1
Buying a high end SM3 card is false economy as you wll need to change it in 6 months if you are a gamer.
There is no reason not to buy an ATI HD3870XT or Nvidia96600GT ( not as good as the ati by far but at the same price point ) and have a good couple of years SM4 gaming with most of the bells and whistles.
(I helped save b3ta! Pasanonic 's been known to cause insanity in laboratory mice, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 16:06, archived)
# depressingly, this is very true
/wasted_too_much_on_an_overpriced_pc_blog
(I helped save b3ta! theoriginalsteve <this space intentionally left blank>, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 15:58, archived)
# it's utter bollocks.
I have an Nvidia 8600 GT mid range DX10 card that knocks the socks off my X1800Xt in 3dmark.
DX10 SM4 is going to be the minimum for new games within 6 months and it is for many now.
(I helped save b3ta! Pasanonic 's been known to cause insanity in laboratory mice, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 16:08, archived)
# I bought 2 8800 ultras to run with SLi, it has caused far more problems than having a dx9 chipset would have caused
(I helped save b3ta! theoriginalsteve <this space intentionally left blank>, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 17:00, archived)
# To be honest I'd
take one out for now. You will get excellent quality from just one of them and the SLI option is hit and miss dependent upon what games you want to run. As of yet the games are not being made with SLI in mind, but that will change.

Plus what DX9 card is going to run better than an 8800 Ultra? none that I can think of plus you lose all of the DX10 SM 4 benefits.
It's SLI that is your problem, not the Direct X version.
(I helped save b3ta! Pasanonic 's been known to cause insanity in laboratory mice, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 17:15, archived)
# true... And I do have to disable one of tehm from time to time
TBH I'm just pissed at the lack of support
(I helped save b3ta! theoriginalsteve <this space intentionally left blank>, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 17:23, archived)
# What is your current
X2 processor and what board do you have? Also it's important to know what memory you have in order to ensure it works with what you replace it with.

I would suggest that you get lavalys everest and so a sytem audit and gaz me the report. I will tell you, in my opinion of course, where best to spend your money.*

Also I'd suggest you go to ebuyer instead.

*or don't, I'm far too busy to hang around.
(I helped save b3ta! Pasanonic 's been known to cause insanity in laboratory mice, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 15:59, archived)
# I'm going to get a motherboard + CPU + Ram bundle
from novatech (or someone) so in theory it should be all tested and not require me to fuck about making sure my RAM clock is a multiple of the FSB speed and such.

I can't send you my specs as I'm at work not home, more fool me, but thank you. Is it ok to bother you with it later?*

*OK I shan't, but I do appreciate the offer being made in the first place :D
(I helped save b3ta! Mockingbird Practitioner of SCIENCE, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 16:27, archived)
# yes bothr me later with it
and bundles are silly. There is no substitute for knowledge. Once you have a budget you just buy the best you can afford that works together. Like I said, tell me what you have and I'll advise where I would spend the money if it were mine.

edit:// the reason I ask for specs is that unless you want to go for a quad core then you may be able to keep the board you have and just get a better X2 and add 1gb ram ( you can't have any more with XP) sounds to me like a CPU and GPU upgrade is all you need.
(I helped save b3ta! Pasanonic 's been known to cause insanity in laboratory mice, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 16:48, archived)
# Go for a bare bones system
saves having to get the screw driver out and will save you £200 for going out the door and stuff (it's summer)
(I helped save b3ta! buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 16:06, archived)
#
www.b3ta.com/board/8579957
(I helped save b3ta! Mockingbird Practitioner of SCIENCE, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 16:29, archived)
# go on ebay russia
obtain good quality 486!

66mhz! very good

make spreadsheet fast!
(I helped save b3ta! discomeats This canoe, Mon 21 Jul 2008, 16:44, archived)