Computer Decisions

[[TCS]BlackMamba 0]

I use my computer primarily for gaming with the very occasional bit of graphic design. I am going to update in the near future but I am a bit unsure of what to pick.

I have decided on my mobo:

DFI Lanparty UT RDX200CF-DR SKT939

My PSU:

Antec Truepower 2 550W

However, I cannot decide which proccesor and graphics card combo to get. I can afford either a combination of the following:

AMD 64 X2 3800+ and a Hightech X800GTO IceQ II Turbo

or

AMD 64 3700+ and a Sapphire X1800 XL 256mb

I know both combos are good but I want to know which will most suit my needs. Obviously the X2 is more powerful but will the dual core impact on games or is the better graphics card more important?

Edited January 17, 2006 by [TCS]BlackMamba

[Dan 0]

personally, id go for the top deal. More number crunching power.

[Cpl Ledanek 247]

I love my AMD 64 3800+...not sure if its X2 though

[CR6 0]

BlackMamba,Jan 17 2006, 12:07 AM]However, I cannot decide which proccesor and graphics card combo to get.  I can afford either a combination of the following:

AMD 64 X2 3800+ and a Hightech X800GTO IceQ II Turbo

or

AMD 64 3700+ and a Sapphire X1800 XL 256mb

←

If you are primarily a gamer, graphics are more important these days (especially if you like eye candy) as a 3700+ will likely have cycles to spare when running games.

The X2 will give you some benefit if you are running multiple programs (graphics editing while encoding video while listening to music and surfing at the same time) but you probably won't notice a whole lot of diff from a single core for routine use.

You WILL be able to tell the diff between a 16 pipeline X800XL and a slower 12 pipeline X800GTO, especially since the core (500MHz) and RAM (1Ghz) are clocked the same on both cards.