better prepare RM1.5k+ to upgrade whole set

You could get a decent AMD 939 (or AM2) for about 250+; then 300+ for the mobo. The remaining RM1k could be used to get the RAM (1GB for RM400+) and GC (RM500+).

Should at least gives you decent FPS..

X1600XT shud gives you decent performance, although its better if you can forked out a little more to get 7600GT

IMO, I think you shud really upgrade to PCI-E and if possible; to DDR2 as well. But if you want to save your RAM money, upgrading to AMD 939 is good enuff.

939 is the socket type for AMD64 (newer than your current AMD XP )

Well, last time I also spent liao RM1.5k to upgrade my P4 to AMD64.

CPU : AMD64 939 1800+
mobo : Asus mobo
RAM: 2x512MB Kingston DDR400
GC: Sapphire ATI Radeon X1600XT 256MB

With the above setting, I could play FEAR with moderate setting smoothly without any problems.

As for now, I think its best you go to lowyat and get the latest pricelist. Price shud be around the same; although I think the RAM price is getting higher and higher >_> Better get your new RAM before the RAM price hitting the roof

This post has been edited by Cyrus2k: Oct 19 2006, 11:59 AM

X2 is dual-core

Well, your target rig is nice enuff but I would suggest the following : (price taken from Viewnet)
CPU: AMD64 AM2 3000+ @ 1.8GHz = RM254
Mobo: Biostar TF550 = RM329 (My current mobo as well )
RAM : 2x512MB Kingston (dual-channel) DDR2-667 = RM224 x 2 = RM448
GPU: HIS X1600XT = RM539 or XFX 7600GT = RM609

Total = RM1570 (ATI) or RM1640 (nVidia)

The reason I choose AM2 3000+ are because you could overclock your CPU to 2.4GHz+ easily with the biostar TF550 mobo. You could take a look at the Overclockers forum and see many people OC AM2 3000+ and get super nice results. Its a very worth for its price.

hmm, I don't know too much technical details, but AM2 3000+ (its AM2 3000+, not 1800+ ) definately a lot better than your current sempron 1800+. I believe its not running at the same speed (well, it just like comparing a Celeron with Pentium)

I guess you could say AM2 3000+ is running just like Pentium4 3.0GHz


And it is really advisable to OC it, since its the best bang of bucks you could ever find elsewhere. But if you're not that fond of OC, you could just opt for 3200+ or 3400+. Then again, with AM2 3000+ you could easily OC to the same speed of 3200+/3400+

This post has been edited by Cyrus2k: Oct 19 2006, 04:39 PM

haha.. why you need my approval?

Well, its your money, if you think my suggestion is acceptable then go ahead and get it Thats the best setup I could think for RM1.5k

You could get GPU cheaper from Bulk, but I assume you're in hurry to upgrade your rig to play BF2142?

Well, if you're really tight on budget, then just change the mobo and get RAM+GPU. The upgrades on RAM and GPU would definately helps to improve your FPS, but the proc would be your bottleneck.

If you ask me, I would definately upgrade the whole system to make it become a truly mid-end rig Using a newer socket mobo (939 or AM2) would be easier for me to upgrade my proc only in the future

@slickz
Definately big difference. Especially when you could do a dual-channel DDR400; it would fasten up your loading time between programs which in theoritically, helps to reduce the lags (although proc and GPU also play their roles).

Well, if this is a FINAL upgrades for your current rig, then just go upgrade the appropriate parts of the system (RAM, GPU or mobo). If you're still planning to upgrade it in the future; changing the whole set is much more better

Getting the single core would be sufficient, since you will be using the Biostar mobo to OC it to achieve higher speed As for the GPU, even though I had been fans for ATI, 7600GT definately better than X1600XT. So go get 7600GT if you still got the money And the Kingston RAM should be enuff for normal/gaming usage; high performance RAMs are mostly for OC/benchmarking

EDIT: Not sure if your current proc ok or not, but if you say its acceptable during the game, then I guess can gua Don't expect to get tremendous result from just your RAM, you will need the whole system to boost your gaming experience

btw, I cannot tahan liao, will go to Ikano to get my copy of BF2142 later

This post has been edited by Cyrus2k: Oct 20 2006, 06:14 PM