System A:
Cpu: AMD Athlon 64 Clawhammer 939 4000+
Cpu Speed: 3120 Mhz
Cpu Cooling: Prometeia Mach II R507
Motherboard: msi k8n nf3
Chipset: nVidia nForce3 Pro 250
Memory corsair
Memory Rating DDR PC3500
Memory Speed 520 Mhz (260mhz)
Timings 2-2-2-5 - Dual Channel
Videocard xfx 6800GT
Videocard Chipset nVidia Geforce 6 6800 GT
Videocard Core speed 425 Mhz
Videocard Memory Speed 1150 Mhz
Videocard Cooling Boxed cooler (Stock)
Drivers 66.93 WHQ
System B:
Cpu: AMD Mobile Barton XP-M 2600+
Cpu Speed: 2421 Mhz
Cpu Cooling: Air
Motherboard: DFI Lan-Party NFII
Chipset: nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400
Memory: Corsair XMS3200 C2
Memory Rating: DDR PC3200
Memory Speed: 410 Mhz (205mhz)
Timings: 2.0-2-2-2-6-11-13-1T - Dual Channel
Videocard: Club3D GeForce 6 6800 GT
Videocard Chipset: nVidia Geforce 6 6800 GT
Videocard Core speed 425 Mhz
Videocard Memory Speed 1160 Mhz
Videocard Cooling Air
Drivers 81.95 WHQL
OKAY, NOW WHAT?
As you can see, these systems differ drastically in CPU/Memory frequencies but they both have the same video card. SYSTEM A IS TOP OF THE LINE STUFF. SYSTEM B CONSISTS OF PARTS THAT YOU CAN HARDLY FIND ANYMORE
SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
You're probably thinking SYSTEM A blows SYSTEM B away when gaming -- AND YOU'RE TOTALLY WRONG!
3DMARK2003 SCORES
SYSTEM A: 14158 Points
SYSTEM B: 12930 Points
3DMARK2005 SCORES
SYSTEM A: 7428 Points
SYSTEM B: 6009 Points
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
When gaming, your videocard primarily dictates how well the game will function, regardless of how fast or slow your computer is. Please, no ball busting (this is obviously not the case with AGP2X cards and what not). If you have too cards that are nearly identical in performance and you put one in a low end system and one in a high end system, you won't see much of a difference in games!
WHY BUY EXPENSIVE CPU'S, MOTHERBOARDS, AND MEMORY?
Here's a prime example, these two systems scored nearly identical scores in 3DMARK2003. What happens when they use CPU intensive programs? Let's take a look:
PIFAST SCORES:
SYSTEM A: 37.13 Sec
SYSTEM B: 54.95 Sec
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
If you're looking to do gaming or you're not doing anything CPU intensive, a system upgrade may not be a wise choice. I'm not saying upgrading won't help, it will but if you invested that money in a high end videocard as opposed to an entire new system, you will see a much bigger improvement in games, especially if you have to settle for a cheap videocard because the rest of the new system components burnt a hole in your wallet.
NOTE:
SLI will definetly improve your gaming experience. So if you're going to spend 500 dollars on a AGP videocard, it's useless when it comes to buy another one because SLI is PCI-X only. You have to determine what your present and future funds are going to be like before you spend a dime.
3DMARK2003 SCORE
SYSTEM A W/- SLI: 23055 Points
SYSTEM A W/O SLI: 14158 Points
BIG DIFFERENCE!
3DMARK2005 SCORES
SYSTEM A W/- SLI: 7428 Points
SYSTEM A W/O SLI: 10685 Points
BIG DIFFERENCE!
FINAL THOUGHT
Think long and hard about your intentions before spending any money because you might waste hundreds of dollars if you don't plan ahead carefully.
I hope this helps you.
lol