[poll] Advice - Upgrade (CPU&RAM or GPU)

Summary:

Current
Athlon X2 64 2.0GHz
Corsair DDR2 400 2GB
GeForce 7800 GTX

Upgrade
Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
DDR2 1066 2GB (or 4GB now that I'm on Vista?)
-or-
GeForce 8800 GT

Long version:

Just got my stmulus check, going to use it to upgrade.
Had a previous discussion on here that lead to everyone suggesting to upgrade my GPU
above anything else in terms of gaming performance increase.

I built a new Athlonx X2 system for a friend over the weekend and he had DDR2800 in it
and the resulting speed was substanial compared to my current machine.

After some research I've decided on the above specs for potentional upgrades but I can
only afford one or the other.

I realize the system upgrade would yield the best overall results but..

Which would give the best increase to gaming performance?

I'm worried my system would bottleneck due to my DDR400 RAM and I wouldn't get a
performance increase just by upgrading the GPU.. but I just installed Vista and I'm wanting
to get a Dx10 card ASAP.'

If I decide to get the GPU I'll be getting some more fans and a better heatsink and begin
to overclock the rest of my system to try and compensate.

Graphics card imo.

Why would you be getting a 8800gt? Why not something else.

Also, what are you gonn do with your 7800 gtx?

Summary:

Current
Athlon X2 64 2.0GHz
Corsair DDR2 400 2GB
GeForce 7800 GTX

Upgrade
Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
DDR2 1066 2GB (or 4GB now that I'm on Vista?)
-or-
GeForce 8800 GT

Long version:

Just got my stmulus check, going to use it to upgrade.
Had a previous discussion on here that lead to everyone suggesting to upgrade my GPU
above anything else in terms of gaming performance increase.

I built a new Athlonx X2 system for a friend over the weekend and he had DDR2800 in it
and the resulting speed was substanial compared to my current machine.

After some research I've decided on the above specs for potentional upgrades but I can
only afford one or the other.

I realize the system upgrade would yield the best overall results but..

Which would give the best increase to gaming performance?

I'm worried my system would bottleneck due to my DDR400 RAM and I wouldn't get a
performance increase just by upgrading the GPU.. but I just installed Vista and I'm wanting
to get a Dx10 card ASAP.'

If I decide to get the GPU I'll be getting some more fans and a better heatsink and begin
to overclock the rest of my system to try and compensate.

azombie1024

The RAM you have isn't bad and should work just fine for now. Why not upgrade your CPU and GPU? Then when you get some extra cash, opt up on the better RAM?

You'd see a much, much better performance with a new CPU and GPU, your RAM isn't going to make or break anything and it can wait to be upgraded to a later time.

These items listed below might not be the ones you're looking at, but they'll give you an idea of the cost for a new GPU and CPU:

Duo Core 2.4GHz = $119.99

8800GT = $159.99 (w/ a $20 mail in rebate)

Total cost of: $279.98

If you still have money left over, check out this for RAM:

DDR2 1066 (4GB - 2x 2GB sticks) = $104.99

Also, just so you know, there still are not very many games out there that work with DX10 or are just DX10 only...I play under Windows XP and I think the performance I see in my games (visually) is pretty damn good, especially since I went from a 17" flat screen to a 22" with 97% true color gamut - my games look awsome in DX9.

I'll eventually change over to Vista when it becomes main stream/required, but I don't see that happening for quite a long time...

I wonder how you would put an Intel CPU on a socket AM2 motherboard.charrr1234

Graphics card imo.

Why would you be getting a 8800gt? Why not something else.

Also, what are you gonn do with your 7800 gtx?
rik666

I wonder how you would put an Intel CPU on a socket AM2 motherboard.charrr1234

Also, just so you know, there still are not very many games out there that work with DX10 or are just DX10 only...I play under Windows XP and I think the performance I see in my games (visually) is pretty damn good, especially since I went from a 17" flat screen to a 22" with 97% true color gamut - my games look awsome in DX9.

I'll eventually change over to Vista when it becomes main stream/required, but I don't see that happening for quite a long time...neatfeatguy

EDIT:

But honestly DDR2 400 (dual channel) is fine for now? it won't hurt my framerate?

[QUOTE="charrr1234"]I wonder how you would put an Intel CPU on a socket AM2 motherboard.azombie1024

Just making sure you aren't someone who thinks they can put any processor on their motherboard.