Building New Gaming System - Suggestions Please
 

I'm going to buy new components for a gaming machine, and I need help please. My current system: Athlon 1.2Ghz / 512 PC133 SDRAM / GeForce 3 Ti 200 128MB (AGP 4x/8x) Video card. Right now this system plays most "older" games, but it has much difficulty with the newest games. For example it can play Doom 3, but the frame rates are very low, which makes the game seem to stutter, and jerk. So I decided to start saving for a new system.

At first I decided to get a faster AGP motherboard. Asus A8V, with an Athlon 64 3000+ (1.8Ghz) and 512 PC3200 RAM. I assumed I could re-use my GeForce 3 Ti 200 128MB video card, and with the new core system, I would be able to play Doom 3 without the stuttering. Now I'm considering getting a PCI-Express motherboard (Abit AX8). Of course I would have to get a new video card, so here is where need help. Because of the increased speed of the motherboard / RAM / processor, I assumed I could buy a cheap-ass 128MB PCI-E video card, and it would kick my old system to the curb. I like the idea of having a motherboard which can support the new PCI-E technology, but will I have to buy a mac-daddy PCI-E video card to rival the old system referenced in the first paragraph? All I want to do is play games like Doom 3 with smooth frame rates. I could care less about super-high details because I can buy a mac-daddy PCI-E video card down the road which is capable of super high res.

Bottom line: will the cheap ass PCI-E video card and exceptional PCI-E motherboard / Athlon 64 be able to play these games, or should I buy the AGP motherboard and keep my GeForce 3 Ti 200? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Get rid of the Ti card its not good for Doom3 etc.

A radeon 9800 128mb you can pick up for buttons anyways.

But most PCI-express cards are quite good so go for that if you want.

A 64-bit cpu won't help with frames unless the game is actually made to take advantage of the processor. I have one with an ati9600. I upgraded to the xp64 version of windows and I got like a 5fps increase (in half-life 2). Most newer games will need a better gfx card to run, not just a faster cpu.

ANyways, I would also recommend the 9800, just make sure it is a "pro".

do yourself a favor and get atleast 2x 512MB Ram. 512MB are mostly no longe sufficient for up-to-date games.

For a video card a recommend a Radeon 9800Pro for AGP or a Nvidia 6600 for PCI-E.

I agree with this 2 dudes:
I would get a 6600 (or if you anything about overclocking a 6800le, both same prize)
I would get them pci-e, this i faster and mostly cheaper as agp.
Get 1024 mb ram pc 3200 at least, i have problems running bf2 good with 512.

I would recommend spending a little more on the mobo as well... I've noticed you've opted for the AX8, which uses a Via chipset. Yet on overclockers.co.uk the AN8, which uses the std nForce4 chipset is the same price! I've used Epox/Via combination for a few years now & my next system (shortly) will use nForce. I've read countless reviews which say quite simply nVidia is better, specificially for us gamers. Also, if you can afford it, spend a few extra £'s and get the nForce Ultra board.

Agreeing with the others, the main joy of 64-bit is the amount of memory that can be allocated by the system - totally smashing the 4Gb limit. However, you won't really notice performance increases until you have over 2Gb memory. I would highly recommend getting 1x 1Gb DDR400 (Corsair do a 2-3-3-6 XMS module now) - then adding another one in the future. Then you will have the benefits of Dual-Channel and a lightning fast Windows x64 system!

My current system is knackered (over-worked and under-paid)... so as a stop-gap, I'll be replacing my dying motherboard - but sticking to Socket-A / AGP. My videocard (stock Leadtek FX5900 128Mb AGP) is being ditched for a AGP 6600GT 256Mb GDDR3. Although, my current card is quite high-end for the 5xxx series, the over-zealous cooling effort (bless Leadtek) is too noisy!
Although the raw performance between the cards isn't much, the 6600GT is a good choice... fairly cheap, Shader Model 3.0 (& other next-gen techies), cooler and quieter. Plus, get the faster GDDR3 memory!

Apologies if this has made you all fall asleep... anyway...

Abit AN8 nForce4 Ultra
(2x512Mb) or (1x1Gb) CL2 DDR400
GeForce 6600 128 GDDR3 (or ATi X800GT)

Hope this help! :)

Pay attention to Martyx's comment about CAS latency. I had a couple of high-CAS sticks which gave me no end of trouble. Athlons are far more sensitive to poor quality RAM than Pentium systems are. So check the RAM before you buy it, make sure the numbers are nice and low. =)

Thanks MonkeyFish :)

Well my "Stop-Gap" has become a more permanent measure... my new spec is as follows:

Existing Coolermaster ATC210 Alu Case
Seasonic S12 600w ATX2.0 (nVidia SLi Compliant) PSU
Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra Mobo
AMD Athlon64 Venice 3000+ CPU
Zalman CNPS7700-ALCU Ultra-Quiet Cooler
2Gb (2x1Gb) OCZ Platinum EL-DDR RAM @ 400Mhz CL2.5-3-2-5
BFG GeForce 7800GT OC 256Mb PCI-E
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition
300Gb Maxtor DiamondMax Plus10 NCQ HDD (SATA2, 16Mb)
Existing 160Gb Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9 HDD (SATA, 8Mb)
Existing 160Gb Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9 HDD (SATA, 8Mb)
Pioneer Slot-Loading DVD-ROM & Pioneer DVD-RW


Hardly ground breaking, but both Quake 4 in Ultra & F.E.A.R at near maximum are playable... so its all good :)

Your old video card isn't going to run Doom 3 no matter how fast the rest of your computer is. I bought the PCI-E 6600GT just so I could play Doom 3 and it runs great. If you do go with the 6600 make sure it is the GT model as the standard 6600 is way slow.

Big Country didnt read your last entry :P

I got a XFX 7800GT and it will run doom 3 and anything on high with no fps drop. it is amazing.