Can I get a boost?

[Geshtar]

I've got an aging computer and given current prices and my current funds, I have concluded building a new comp is not worth it. So I would like to try and extend the life of this one some. Since at the moment I only have an interest in playing UT2k4, I was wondering if a cheap video card could boost my frame rates in UT2k4, because right now they are dismal(around 25fps with 800x600 all settings low or off and I've got a 21inch monitor so its really heart breaking having to run at that size). By cheap I mean in the $100-$130 range. Here the important stats of my computer:

1.4Ghz Athlon (Thunderbird I believe, definetely not an XP)
Abit KG7-RAID
512 MB Crucial PC2100
GeForce 3 Ti 500
SB Live! Platinum

Note that the motherboard only supports AGP 4x. Is that a potential bottleneck? Any suggestions on what to do, what cards to look at(even if they are slightly above that range) and for how long any card might make this a tolerable gaming system? Thanks in advance.

 

[AcneBrain]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-291&depa=0

Don't worry about the 4x motherboard.

 

[HarryPleasure]

gettin a new vid card would give you a little boost, but I would recommend looking into a new mobo/proc setup. Look into a cheap athlonxp, maybe a mobile 2400+ with a cheap mobo. Lemme look around and see what I can find ya...

EDIT: At newegg, you can get a retail 2500+ and an nforce2 mobo for 134 shipped to ya. That would be a substantial boost for ya.

 

[Geshtar]

hmm, I kinda thought I'd get a much bigger boost from vid card upgrade than from a cpu/mobo upgrade; atleast from what other people seem to say about their upgrade experiences.

 

[Darkstar850]

I had almost the same setup as you. I am now running a 2400 mobile and a nf7-s and 512 mb of pc3500. CPU is running at 2.2Ghz. Still have the Ti500, I seem to be able to run the demo fine at 1024 and all settings on normal, but I don't know how much more taxing the normal game is. I know 3dmark isnt much liked here, but just as an example, my score on 01 almost doubled.

 

[Flipside]

Originally posted by Geshtar
hmm, I kinda thought I'd get a much bigger boost from vid card upgrade than from a cpu/mobo upgrade; atleast from what other people seem to say about their upgrade experiences.

It's like 6 in one hand, or a half-dozen in the other.

A cheap CPU (2400/2500+) and motherboard upgrade (KT400 or NF2) will give you significant boosts all around, although they won't be huge. A new graphics card would give you a little boost in games, and perhaps let you use a little AA/AF to boost image quality.

I would suggest keeping the GF3 Ti500, as it still a decent card for usual stuff, and go with a nice CPU/MB combo...

As time passes, I'd then go for some faster/more RAM - finally upgrading taking to a time where you'll have the funds either to jump to a new platform or upgrade the video card.

 

[neisius]

Originally posted by Geshtar
...because right now they are dismal(around 25fps with 800x600 all settings low or off...
1.4Ghz Athlon
GeForce 3 Ti 500

I have a XP2500+ and a GF2 Ultra. I can run UT2k4 at 1024x768 with all settings normal/high and AFx2 and still get 25-35fps...is the GF3 Ti 500 a really low end card or something?
Have you tried overclocking the crap out of that GF3?

 

[mewannafastpc]

Originally posted by neisius
I have a XP2500+ and a GF2 Ultra. I can run UT2k4 at 1024x768 with all settings normal/high and AFx2 and still get 25-35fps...is the GF3 Ti 500 a really low end card or something?
Have you tried overclocking the crap out of that GF3?

GF3 Ti 500 is the highest model GF3

 

[neisius]

Originally posted by mewannafastpc
GF3 Ti 500 is the highest model GF3

it's interesting that the highest level GF2 would be so much faster then a highest level GF3 just because of the CPU...and a bit a GPU overclocking

 

[Geshtar]

Unfortunately the all the GF3 cards were ultimately only incremental improvements over the Gf2 cards, there was a big jump in performance from GF3 to Gf4. =/ Its really ironic too, I got mine a couple months after it came out for christmas, I installed it and then it spontaneously died after a week(I don't even overclock, and it was a visiontek, supposedly a good brand), I RMA'd it to visiontek and it took them 12 weeks to send me a new one, by which time the GF4's were coming out. I was not too happy. Since it seems to be unanimous, I guess I'll start checking out Mobo's. Thanks.