On a Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz, 1GB DDR2 - what would be the difference in these GPUs?

O

otimus

Weaksauce
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Apr 17, 2006
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I'll be mostly playing at either 1280x720, or 1360x768.

256MB 7800GT, 256MB 8600GT, 8800GS, 256MB 8800GT, 512MB 8800GT, 512MB 9600GT?

I was told on another forum, that it'd be worthless to even buy an 8800GS because the CPU would bottleneck it so much, and just to stick to the 7 series, and not go any higher.. as there'd be no benefit at all.

Also.. no I'm not upgrading my CPU at this time. That'll come next year.
 
Nissan, the OP said that he wasn't upgrading his CPU till next year. However, I do agree with you, but he/she said it wasn't an option.

When you say "no benefit at all", what GPU are you upgrading from?
 
What's your budget? How long do you want this vid card upgrade last you? The 8800GT & 9600GT cards will be the best bangs for the buck. For budget conscious gaming, the 8800GT might last longer. But the 9600GT will be 20% cheaper.

Are you finding gaming slow on your current machine? Any real reason to upgrade? Both the 8800GT and 9600GT cards will probably be held back by your CPU, but at those resolutions it probably won't matter.
 
Cmustang87 said:
Nissan, the OP said that he wasn't upgrading his CPU till next year. However, I do agree with you, but he/she said it wasn't an option.

When you say "no benefit at all", what GPU are you upgrading from?
Click to expand...

I know what he said, but there is almost zero point to upgrading to a 7800GT or 8600GT, and they would be the only two worthwhile since his CPU is so old, therefore, to even consider the rest of his choices, he needs to upgrade his CPU.
 
Unless you are upgrading from integrated graphics of a FX I would really suggest buying a new CPU. I even once tested a P4 with 8800GTS 512 vs C2D with 8800GTS 512. The P4 set scores a 37 avg fps, while the C2D scored 172 avg fps. I don't think I would have seen the same results from upgrading my GPU.
 
Check out the ATI 3870's. I like those alot more than the 8800 series Nvidia cards.

Also you might want to spend the $60 bucks or so and bump up to at least 2GB otherwise that new video card won't give you the boost you are looking for.
 
KillaChaos said:
Unless you are upgrading from integrated graphics of a FX I would really suggest buying a new CPU. I even once tested a P4 with 8800GTS 512 vs C2D with 8800GTS 512. The P4 set scores a 37 avg fps, while the C2D scored 172 avg fps. I don't think I would have seen the same results from upgrading my GPU.
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I'm upgrading from an X300 SE. What game was that!?

Also, if I were to upgrade my CPU, I'd have to buy a new motherboard, a new case, and of course.. a new CPU. That'd set me back about $280. Can't afford that at the moment. But soon, prolly.

ANYWAYS.
Folks, I ordered 2GB of RAM, a 512MB 8800GT, a new power supply, and World of Warcraft :/

I guess when it all gets here, I'll update on how things run. Just incase anyone else ever wants to know
 
Yeah, a P4 compared to a cheap C2D will probably result in 20% lower fps with any card you choose...

For WOW though, your 8800GT and P4 will be more than enough. If you can take the P4 to 3.5ghz, all the better...

I don't know why you dropped more cash on RAM though. I would have saved my money and picked up some DDR2 for your upgrade... That was a bad buy IMO.

Why do you need a new case?
 
I've decided to go ahead and update, folks....

Help me out here..
I need a motherboard and case for around $100 for this CPU and other gear:

CPU: E8400
RAM: 2GB DDR2 667Mhz
Video card: 8800GT 512MB
Hard Drives: 2 SATA, 1 IDE
Sound card: X-Fi XtremeMusic
Power Supply: 500W Rosewill something or another.

I'm not a power user/overclocker or anything of the sort. I just wanna get my game on as easily, and as quickly as possible!

Another question: if I get the retail version of the CPU, will I still have to buy thermal paste?
 
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