Well, I’ve upgraded my machine with a Leadtek Geforce A7600 GT, and a Sunbeam 450W PSU. I had to buy a tungsten cutting bit for my Dremel and cut a portion of the Dell case out to install the power supply (which came with stripped mounting holes (!!!) so I had to use fucking coarse thread sheet metal screws.) But I got it in there and it has been running fine.
The 7600GT card is said to be the best AGP card on the market. I have been playing Far Cry, Hitman: Blood Money, and Half-Life 2 on the highest resolution with maxed out details, with no choppiness, pauses, or anything. Far Cry looks particularly amazing with the water effects turned up. I’m thinking I’m also going to get Medieval II, which I’ve been wanting for a while.
So basically, I’m one very happy guy, computer-wise. Just thought I’d share, for the benefit of all who might have read my earlier threads asking advice for the upgrade.
I heart my new 4000+ AMD processor and 2gb of OCZ memory. Not really “new” products, but new to me and fast as hell. Also installed Vista Premium, and all is actually great there too. I’ve got a eVGA 6600gt GeForce and plan to upgrade to something more high-end, but I’ll wait for some price drops later.
Yup. I’ve been a GeForce guy ever since my 3Dfx Voodoo 3-3500 died a few years back and I was forced to get a GeForce 2MX. I stuck with the line ever since, and currently run with an XFX M520 GeForce 7950GX2 (PCI-e). I wanted the M570 but there was evidently a problem getting ahold of one of those, so I had to settle. Still, bitchin’ performance. Doom 3, Quake 4, HL2, all completely maxed except for the use of FSAA (because you can’t use FSAA with HDR lighting). It does bog down a fair bit when you max the settings on Rainbow Six: Vegas though. That game either isn’t optimized well (like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) or it uses a whole lotta high quality rendering that you really need an 8800 (or two) to fully appreciate.
If I get a large bonus here at work, I’ll buy a new Macbook Pro. If not, I will be following this route of replacing and upgrading my motherboard and video card and will need to follow your lead.
