What's a better upgrade choice?

[Prince of China]

I'm not a computer hardware information lord* like you guys so I'm asking all you guys.


What's a better choice?

I have a Pentium 4 1.8 Ghz 533 Mhz processor.
First of all, is my CPU better than the AMD Athlon XP 1800+?

And second of all, I can either upgrade my CPU to 2.4 Ghz 533 Mhz and get a PowerColor ATI Radeon 9600 PRO 128 MB ram
-or-
Get just a PowerColor ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB ram.
So what should I get?




*lord? I meant God. That's right, I'll be asking a lot of questions.
I hope you're that smart.

 

[Asus]

Well it really depends on what application but for games(1 2) the 800FSB P4's were the ones that caught up with AMD's AXP for gaming.

How much system memory do you have? A 9800Pro would help more than a 9600Pro but the question would be just how much would it be bottlenecked. Your best option would be to make sure to have more than 512MB memory and upgrade to which ever card you wish. Should give you an idea although the real difference between the 2GHz and 2.4GHz chip is because this 2.4GHz chip has 800FSB.

Or just save up for a CPU/Board/Memory upgrade. Could be under 400$ pretty easy.

 

[Prince of China]

I have 512 MB ram.
Yes...I have taken into consideration that my graphic card would be bottlenecked.
So, should I go for the CPU and 9600 PRO then?

 

[Asus]

Actually I wouldn't upgrade the CPU. It wouldn't do that much for you since it would still be 533FSB and using the same system (Chipset/Memory).
If you plan to have the system for a little while longer, I would either consider more memory or saving money for a 3 piece upgrade (CPU/Mobo/RAM).

I would still go for the 9800Pro, that would be my choice.
Even in that scaling review for the P4, the 2.4GHz can beat a 3.2GHz CPU with the higher Video Card. That would be a good comparison because they both have 800FSB and there is no change except GHz. Same if you upgraded to a 2.4GHz 533FSB from your 1.8GHz 533FSB.

 

[Prince of China]

I see...
Thank you.

 

[The Terminator]

Id go with Asus but if I was you and I had to choose I say the first choice, then OC that 9600 pro to bitchin speeds. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/mainstream-roundup_9.html gain of 2 fps on farcry after a very weak OC, just get a well cooled stock 9600 pro and push the core about 50 mhz higher and your set.

 

[bosox188]

I would say if you're gonna upgrade your cpu, at least get a 2.4ghz 800fsb because they also include HT technology. Otherwise, get a 9800 pro and don't get a powercolor, they're bad. Get a Sapphire or MSI. I would recommend the MSI 9800 pro because it uses the R360 core which means it's a 9800xt in disguise.

 

[Prince of China]

My motherboard is a 533 MHz FSB motherboard.

 

[bosox188]

Oh, well then get a 9800 pro, but get the MSI one. Powercolor is bad.