Is it worth it? How much are you willing to spend?

[CBR900]

6 months ago I had a lowly P2-400 voodoo2Sli system which was starting to chug a bit.
So I thought, should I buy a new computer?
Or should I just buy the bits I want?
So I bought a GTS card...yum much better.
Then I heard about overclocking....
So I thought Wahey! speed for free!!
But, would my crappy TINY motherboard let me do it...NO
So I bought a new motherboard...448Mhz
Am I happy, Yes......NO more speed!!
So I bought 128Mb PC133...480Mhz, am i happy, Yes....NO!
So I bought 3cpu fans, a case fan, and a saw to cut a hole in my case
533Mhz...am I happy...ooooooh YES!
....no.....
my motherboard/cpu are at their physical limit now, but....
my graphics card is at 210/375...I reckon with a case fan above, and a case fan below on the heatsinks (prophet2) I could get it to 220/410....but i have to ask myself is this gonna be worth the further £20?? I expect I would only get another 1% increase in frame rates.
So, so far I have spent 500 british pounds in order to speed up my system for FREE!
(I notice that a new computer around the p3-600 mark would only cost me about 600-700 now, but thats with ram,cpu,monitor,harddrive,all the gubbins..)
So I think I will stop now.
HOW MUCH HAVE YOU SPENT?
HAS IS BEEN WORTH IT IN A BANG FOR YOUR BUCK SCALE?


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PII400@533 (2.2v)
GA6BXC
128Mb PC133
Prophet2GTS (210/375)
mixture of 6.18/6.47 drivers
3DMARK2000 4904
Q3TIMEDEMO001 (at 1024*768*16 at MAX) 84.5

[Duckman]

Why did you have to ask me that question?? you completely ruined my day, thank you very much

Well, seriously, If you buy and plan a new computer it is absolutely possible to get "free" bang for your bucks without paying anything at all.

Get an easily overclockable CPU, a good mobo and an OK HSF combo. that's it. You just have to plan...

...and I refuse to think of how much I've spent...and will spend the next few weeks to get to 1200MHz on mu CeleronII566...

Duckman

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Visit my homepage:
Duckman's Wild Page
Site Content: Overclocking, cooling and a lot of BS about Me, Myself and I.

[CBR900]

Yeah sorry
I'm just a bit miffed cos I was stupid enough to buy a branded PC with s**t components, anytime I want to upgrade I have to change a loada stuff. The original BX mobo didn't even have an AGP slot!

It's been fun though, and I think that's half of the thing about overclocking. I have still spent all day thinking about where i could place some more fans for an optimal air flow!


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PII400@533 (2.2v)
GA6BXC
128Mb PC133
Prophet2GTS (210/375)
mixture of 6.18/6.47 drivers
3DMARK2000 4904
Q3TIMEDEMO001 (at 1024*768*16 at MAX) 84.5

[m1x]

Lets think about it positively
The majority of your new cooling hardware will pass on and on to future systems.
So you can wring the neck of those for FREE (until you NEED that little bit more) hmmmmmmm

[This message has been edited by m1x (edited 11-07-2000).]

[CTho9305]

I dont see why to spend on OC'ing a GF2... they are fast still. when they start hitting 30-40 FPS or lower, then its time.

but I get no visible difference between any OC speed (underclock is noticeable, esp. on memory)

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Impossible? Watch me.