New PC or make do for 6-12 months?

Space_Coyote

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Ok, I've had my setup for over 5 years now and it's WAY overdue for an upgrade. Apart from adding another HD and more memory, I haven't touched it in that time. I've got used to turning down the settings to make the games playable :(

Athlon 1800
GeForce 4 4600Ti 128MB
1GB Ram

I'm thinking about two options:

1. Upgrade everything to PCI-E and get a current graphics card ($500+).

2. Get a newer card (Radeon 9800 Pro AGP etc) to 'tide me over' and then upgrade to PCI-E later (~$100)

Option 1 is ideal but is more money than I really have right now.

Option 2 would hold me for a little bit and PCI-E will be cheaper then too.

I wouldn't really want to get a current AGP card (X850 etc) because my CPU/Mobo badly needs upgrading soon and then it'll be PCI-E.

What do you guys think of these ideas? How long do you think a (newer) card would hold me? I was thinking something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102511R

I know it's refurbished but I only need it to last 12 months tops.

BTW If anyone is upgrading and wants to sell their older card please PM me.
 
lhuser said:
What does actually refurbished means?!?

"The term refurbished is very common in the computing industry to describe older machines which have been brought up to scratch and are usually sold with a manufacturer's guarantee."
 
Wow, that DOES look nice. A lot of people have been able to unlock those to 16 pipes and 6 vertex shaders it seems. $124 how can you go wrong? With such an old system I wouldn't be able to take full advantage of the card but it should allow me to play BF2 etc on medium settings right? I'm pretty sure my Mobo is 8X (I have to check)
 
I think you should just start from scratch...I gave up on the idea of upgrading my old dell becaue I was just flogging a dead horse...And now look! I have a great computer.
 
That is another option, that one looks like it is only AGP 4X though. I already have the HD and 1GB ram from my current system so thats a bonus :)

For that price (inc. the 6800LE videocard) I am around half way to getting a whole new PCI-E Mobo/CPU with a more current GFX card.

When I get a new Mobo/CPU I'd really prefer to get the most (or nearly) current so I won't need to change for a few years.
 
I have a few options of buying used cards from different people right now. I can get a 6600GT 128MB for around $100 or an X800Pro 256MB for around $180.

Two questions if you don't mind:

1. I'm thinking with my current setup I probably wouldn't notice all that much difference between the 2 cards. Would you agree?

2. If I went with an cheap upgraded system like this....

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1487649&Sku=C460-1022 Q

....would the difference be significant? (like $80 worth?)
 
i say start from scratch and buy a barebone kit. dont get the 9800 pro, that was 3 generations ago. if you just want a graphics card i say get the 6600GT
 
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