Upgrade advice

[HUD]

I am trying to convince my wife to let me spend $500 of our tax return on upgrades. I'll list what I am running with (more of a jog really) now and you guys can dish out your advice. Obviously 939 is going away, so this is more of a coat of paint upgrade than an overhaul. Look at my gear and think what you would do with $500 or so.

asus sli deluxe socket 939
TP550 PS
3200+
1.5 pc3200 ram
cheap liteon dvd r/rw
120gb HD and 40gb hd (for audio)
6600gt

I play games (some of you will doubt that based on my recent activity) and use the pc as an audio recording rig. My wife plays on myspace and Sims2.

-My first thought was to upgrade the video card, but I am hearing that it is the time to wait for dx10 compatability to be affordable. But, I am getting to the point where I have to dial some games (oblivion etc) down to 1024 to get them to play.

-My next thought would be a cpu. I am leaning towards an X2, since it might do better with my audio programs. I have line 6 gearbox, Reason 3, and acid 6 open at the same time alot. This works fairly well with my current rig, but it does crash and burn on occasion. The fx series is supposed to pwn games a bit more than the x2, so that is also tempting.

-I have corsair value ram in there now, mixmatched at 1.5. IE a pair of 512s and an older, but still 3200 512. I am really considering getting a nice matched set of 1gbs with a 2 or 3 cas latency.

-A bigger HD. Would be nice, but not neccessary. I could stand to delete some mp3s and torrents if I must.

I appreciate your thoughts. I could probably do two of the 3 following, based on today's newegg prices...cpu, ram, and gpu. Also, does anyone know what is more crucial for audio apps, ram or cpu?

[HUD]

I just saw an article about the 8800 gts which is going to be in the $300 range. Is there any downside to running a dx10 card in XP/dx9 until I decide to go to Vista?

[SK_CROW]

Nope it will run fine on XP/Dx9.  Yea I saw that lower ram GTS too.  Looks like a good buy.

[crypticknight]

Frys electronics have a 400gb SATA drive for 99.00 or 200 for 49

[HUD]

I'm leaning towards spending most of my wad on a 8800 GTS w/ 320 ram. The XFX card comes with GRAW and COD 2. EVGA comes with Dark Messiah. BFG tech's comes with a friggin t-shirt. So, I'm leaning XFX. I have had no issues with my 6600gt from XFX.

If I do get a 8800, I'll probably get something in the 4400+ dual core range and just double the Corsair value ram I alread have. I looked at it and it has a 2.5 cas latency, which isn't bad at all.

Someday I will have the income to go 1337, but for now, I will slap a coat of paint on my pc every year or two. My $500 budget will being more like $650, but damnit, I don't need to ask my wife! Plus, when she kicks me out of the bed, I will have more time to play with my new pc.  

[SK_CROW]

Plus, when she kicks me out of the bed, I will have more time to play with my new pc.

Now that's positive thinking!  

[HUD]

My car crapped out last night, so all I am going to buy right now is the 8800gs. I may have to get  fuel pump instead of a new processor and RAM.

But, this occurred to me as I was placing the order. The graphics card has a clock speed of 500mhz. My first computer that I ever owned was 475mhz! This is the machine that I played Half Life, Age of Empires 2, Rainbow Six, etc. Times they are a changin'.

[crypticknight]

first comp i eve rhad was 25mhz...Packard Bell

[E.J.FUDD]

i just forwarded some stuff nvidia sent to their resellers about the new 8800 dx10, i know i sent it to balaso and cookie...  ill have to find which mailbox i was in and post it!

[E.J.FUDD]

i got ahold of the wang writer...  dedicated dos.....   when my dad upgraded..  
then watch out cause my friend broke his tandy and gave it to me....

and so the ebil began.....    

[HUD]

I ordered an X2 4400+ and another gig of RAM last night. I feel good about this upgrade, considering the budget and how scarce socket 939 stuff is getting. I got the cpu for 200 with a mail in rebate of 50. I'll buy another hard drive with that 50.

Here is a noobish question. What is the benefit of a SATA hd over an IDE hd of the same RPM? I understand that raptors have quicker RPM speed, but what is the difference between SATA and IDE. I have always used IDE and never thought anything of it.

[crypticknight]

i thought the transfer rate was a little quicker.

[SK_CROW]

I think basically these are the differences:
1) Speed (150MB/sec (SATA) vs 100/133MB/sec (PATA))
2) Air flow (large IDE cable vs thin SATA)
3) Newer technology with future speed increases promised.(up to a projected 600MB/sec)

[HUD]

Makes sense to me. I had to get creative with my cables last night to get my 8800 to fit in my case. That bitch is monstrous. But, it didn't blink when I maxed Oblvion, HL2, COD2, so all is forgiven.  

[MuffDiver]

I would ditch the high capacity hard drives.  they are too slow.  Sata 2 or what ever, the access and seek times are 2-3 times slower than WD Raptor drives at best.  I run fraps with BF2 1280*1024 with sound at 50fps (only a 30fps drop) with my striped raptors, but if I use my 320gig perpendicular Baracudda drive, I can only get 25 frames and it hurts.


spend the extra dough on the drives and take a look at the am2's and the am3's that are coming out soon.  

heads up for summer planning and early '08 planning.  Intel is planning to start selling 45nm chips in less than a year.  AMD isn't slatted to sell em till 2nd/3rd Qtr '08.

also, those 7800 and up nvidia cards are supposed to perform better by themselves than top end ati crossfire setups... Not bad since I hate ati but like the crossfire method.