Have some problems with...

**iamjohnnyrico** · 05-15-09, 09:56 AM

....my computer. I'm thinking of upgrading my comp and the question is where do I start first. Below is a list of my machine:

AMD 64 FX57
Asus AN8SLI32DLX mobo
Corsair 4 GB of DDR
EVGA 9800GTX+ w/512MB
WD 74GB HDD
Creative Xtreme-gamer
Linksys wireless G NIC

Do I get another 9800GTX+ to run SLI or upgrade my CPU and mobo?

**SapiensErus** · 05-15-09, 10:05 AM

SLI is way overrated...especially at "lower" resolutions.

What resolution are you running?

The CPU is your bottleneck. Socket 939 and single core? That mobo is probably DDR and not DDR2, correct?

Going to a new CPU that is dual core or better will seem like a miracle...even though when that FX-57 was released it was nothing to sneeze at. A new mobo in this case will also mean new RAM.

Even though the 9800 is "older" the GTX version of it is still a powerful card. With a new CPU, mobo and RAM you will notice a significant leap in regular day to day computing, especially with multiple applications running. But your gaming experience will change little. The load times will be better however.

**THE_Ted** · 05-16-09, 09:05 PM

You've reached the point of no return with that setup, socket 939 is officially dead. Because you're changing socket types, that pretty much means new computer: new motherboard, new cpu, new ram, at the minimum. That cpu is already bottle necking your single GPU, getting a second would do no good.

Before you ask, no, a new motherboard will not be backwards compatible with your DDR ram. (When you bought 4 GB you were probably thinking 'I'll never have to buy ram again! 4 GB will last me forever! I know I did with my Pentium 4

)

The really big question here is, is your 9800GTX PCI-Express or AGP 8x? (Its possible that nvidia card never came in AGP, I'm an ATI man) If your video card IS an AGP slot card that means, even worse, you'd have to buy at the minimum motherboard, cpu, ram, video card.

So no matter what you've got a long path ahead of you, you have to choose between Intel and AMD on your cpu, whether you want to go with DDR2 ram (really cheap as far as ram has ever been) or the more expensive DDR3 ram, and of course the motherboard, and even if you decide between ATI and AMD you still have to decide what chip set you want on your motherboard if you want to do Crossfire or SLI down the line.

The arguments between these huge choices are currently and will forever be discussed quite heatedly, so the answer to 'ATI or Nvidia' or 'AMD or Intel' is not a simple one.