What would YOU get?

[DreamThrall]

Alright, I've got a birthday coming up and my wife will most likely get what I like, within reason... SO here are my choices:

ABIT AN8-SLI nForce4 mobo
Athlon 64 3000+ Venice
ASUS EN5900/TVD/128 (nVidia geForce 5900, 128 MB ram 256-bit, PCI-X x16)

OR

ViewSonic G220fb Black 21" CRT Monitor

EDIT: Yeah, might help to post my specs:
What I've got new:

Gigabye 7N400-L mobo
Athlon XP 2800+
1GB PC 2700 RAM
ATI Radeon 9800 pro 256MB
Dell 19" monitor - ~3/4 years old, one dead pixel

 

[Adabiviak]

Am I reading that right? I don't know how nice SLI would be if you are considering a 5900 nVidia card as "new". I'm not too familiar with AMD, but I think I'd go after the processor if I were you.

 

[DreamThrall]

not getting it cause its SLI... just looks like a nice board... or are SLI boards only really good if you're getting 2 cards?

 

[Zappathefappa]

The non-monitor upgrade looks better - but seeing as the 5900 isn't that much of an improvement over the 9800 (if it is at all) I'd stick with the old card and go for a better processor (like 3400+ or something).

 

[Dumb Dude]

With your specs I would go with the Monitor. If you get the motherboard, you would have to buy a new processor and a PCI-Express card. If you get the Venice, then you will need a socket 939 motherboard. And I'm not sure if the difference between a 5900 and a 9800pro would be noticable. So if you can only choose just ONE, go with the monitor.

 

[DreamThrall]

I'm fine with the 5900 and 9800 being on par... i would purposefully not be putting a lot of money into the vid card. the main purpose would be to get to a 939/PCI-X motherboard, so I suppose i would want get the motherboard that would last the longest for that... after that, 3000+ should be fine for a processor. I can't keep my AGP 9800, because I want to switch to PCI-X for futureproofing.

 

[Asus]

How do you like the Dell LCD vs a CRT? What games are you playing? Do you play in high resolution?

Personally I like the CPU/Motherboard upgrade but the GFX card you have listed is a downgrade. You can get a lower cost board and have it be just as good without the SLI. That's what I would do. I'd spend it on the GFX card instead. Just stick with the nForce4 chipset. Asus, Abit, MSI and DFI are all good boards.
An ATI X700Pro would be similar to a 9800Pro. A Nvidia 6600GT is a faster card in that price range.

Although if you want to run games in a higher resolution then the 21inch CRT would be awesome (still a big improvement over a 19inch). My friend has a large screen like that and loves playing WoW with such a large screen. You can see all the details a lot better and the scenes just look better.

 

[DreamThrall]

the dell monitor is a CRT... not flatscreen though :\ right now I play a lot of DAoC (Dark Age of Camelot) and occasionally some HL2/HL2-based games. I'm hoping to get BF2 at some point in the near future too.

 

[Asus]

Ahh my bad, you said bad pixel so I assumed LCD.

I wouldn't go with an FX card (5900) especially because of newer DX9 games like HL2.

 

[DreamThrall]

alrighty then.

 

[duffers20]

I would go with the mobo/cpu/gfx card upgrade, but I wouldn't get a 5900. I would probably get something with alittle more guts. It will cost more, but it will be better. Also you might get away with using your existing ram with the new setup, i mean it won't be as fast as dual channel ddr 3200, but it will keep you going until you are ready to get a good pair of dimms.

 

[DreamThrall]

but it will keep you going until you are ready to get a good pair of dimms.

that's what I was counting on... i think i might have to re-evalute my mobo and vid card selection...

 

[DreamThrall]

Alright, here is what I'm looking at for motherboards:

nForce4:
MSI k8N Neo4-F
DFI nF4-DAGF

nForce4 Ultra:
MSI k8N Neo4 Platinum
ASUS A8N-E

I'm leaning towards the ASUS right now... but is the extra money for the Ultra chipset worth it in the long run?

And here's what I'm looking at for Vid cards:
eVGA 128-A8-N343 (geForce 6800)
MSI NX6800_TD128E

Now, the eVGA has core freq at 325 mhz, and memory at 700. The MSI has core at 350, and memory at 600. What's better?

OR, is it worth it to spend the extra cash and get a 256MB card? (MSI)

 

[3ssence]

the eVGA will most likely be the faster of the two cards, so i would go for that one. Mobo wise, i'm sure the difference between the standard nforce and nforce ultra mobo's aren't great, so depending on the price difference it is down to your personal preference really, i.e. features, upgradeability, overclockability etc

 

[holydeadpenguins]

Asus isn't the only good company, and the nforce 4 chipset isn't much use. Best to go with an ultra or sli.

 

[duffers20]

I'd go with either an MSI, Asus,or Gigabyte board, there are probably more manufacturers out there, i just can't think of them. Also I'd go with an SLi board. It will future proof the purchase as they will be making PCI-E Cards for a while.