Which Upgrades for Gaming

[Joose]

I'm a smoothness freak when it comes to games. My current setup is just not doing what I like. Which should I upgrade to get the most out of what I have.

Currently :

850 Mhz AMD Athlon (Slot- A)
Geforce2 MX/200


I'm currently only picking up about 30-40 FPS in most games.

Doing this 1 piece at a time, should I upgrade to a Geforce3 Ti500 or upgrade my processor at this point?

 

[Qumahlin]

your biggest boost will come from upgrading to a geforce3 500

 

[BigPinhead2000]

urm....upgrade the graphics card but instead of getting a gf3, try a ATI radeon 8500........It kicks ass

 

[dArK_CyAnIdE]

TRUE THAT!!!!
i totally support BigPinhead2000 the best card yet!!!!
but u sould wait a little for the r8500XT that will kick GF4 arse lol
or do like me and wait for the r250 or r300 gf4 KILLER !!!!!

 

[Chernobyl]

yeah, I agree too.
Upgrading the Gfx card will see a most major boost in FPS.
The CPU isnt capable of getting the best out of a GF3 or Radeon8500, but you'll still have a really big grin

Upgrading the CPU wont do much at all for a Geforce2MX

 

[Qumahlin]

Ya know, I use to support ATI 100%, then their Driver department began smoking crack so they have the best hardware that STILL loses to Geforce because Geforce revises their drivers almost once a week nowadays lol, and with almost every major driver release they squeeze more points out of both their new and old hardware

Till ATI gets it's driver division together, they will always end up second best

 

[Chernobyl]

I have the same reservations as you Qumahlin.
I too am looking for a next Gen Gfx card (around Geforce4 time) but am quite upset at what I have been reading about how badly the Radeon 8500 drivers fare.
In their defence, ATI are now releasing beta drivers which should improve them shed loads as they will get much better feedback.
But I too am wishing to get an ATI card but simply cant until I know its not a wasted bet.

Really, my main issue is how long is it going to take ATI to sort drivers out. If they cant utilise the Faster hardware in the Radeon 8500 (over the Geforce3 Ti500), then theres not much point in listening to the specifications of the next card they are bringing out. Its just as likely that future cards arent going to perform as well as they should either.

I have no doubt there are many very happy Radeon 8500 owners out there and if its good for you, I'm glad. I do push the limits in a few ways though and the least trouble the better.