wire

Alright so my friend is kind of stuck here because he can't figure out what he wants to do. Hes trying to decide if he should just upgrade his video card or buy a new computer. His current system specs are below.

AMD 3500+ Venice Core
OCZ Plat. 2 Gigs
6800 GT
320 Gig Seagate
Apevia 500 watt psu

Right now hes thinking about getting the 8800 GTS 320mb, but I'm sort of telling him that hes gonna see a nice bottleneck there. So I guess all I'm asking is, is he better off getting the new gpu, not upgrading or getting a new build?

Rep +

Chozart

New build.

Something like this at least:

X2 3600+
Biostar tForce 550
2GB Corsair DDR2 675
Good PSU
8800GTS

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wire

Hes telling me that it won't be a big jump. All on his mind right now is the next gen graphics cards and am3 and all that stuff. What should I tell him?

Chozart

That it's pointless to get a new video card without an upgrade

I mean, that CPU will cause quite a bottleneck.

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LC_STiK

If left at stock, you'll see a bottleneck, but you can do a couple things to alleviate it.

First, OC the heck out the CPU, that will go a long way especially if you get a 3600 X2.

Second, bottlenecks are caused when one part isn't working as hard as the other components. This is easily fixed in a gfx card by cranking up the resolutions, details, AA, AF and anything else.

The bottleneck will just disappear.

nigel

yep his 8800gts will be in a cage poor thing

__________________
GTX285 FTW!

E8500 @ 4.4GHZ on water.
a member of the British overclockers club
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wire

Yea I'm trying to explain it to him that hes really wasting the potentional of a beast. But he keeps coming back at me saying, my brothers friend got the 8800 with a 3500+ and he saw improvement from a 7800 GT. I wish he could get over the idea that new stuff is coming out.

Desperado1987

New system, cpu is gonna bottleneck, plus, 500w is (maybe)a bit low. Tell him to save money and then seel this rig and buy new system.:0

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Desperado1987

If he doesn't want new system, and really just wants a 8800...then suggest him to also buy a better cpu.

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TheFlyingWallaby

I agree with Chozart's proposed rig, except substitute a DFI board (maybe Infinity SLI) for the Biostar, and DDR2 800.

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