i have a dell generation 4 xps with a p4 3.4 ghz with 2 gig of memory and a radeon x800xt video card. i play games and have 2 twenty inch monitors connected to this system that i run at 1600 by 1200 normally for office applications although i do what i have to inorder to make the games playable (reduce resolution). My basic question is whether or not it is really it worth it to upgrade the pci video card on this sytem or to just get a new computer with core 2 duo and faster memory and if so what is the best card to get at the moment.
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upgrade the card or new computer
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digital_exhaust
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Your probably going to get a bunch of different opinions with a question like that, but if it were me, I would upgrade your card and wait for a bit and see what happens over the next six months or so.
I personally think an X1950pro/xt would be a pretty good choice, and would keep your upgrade under $300. And you would see a huge improvement over what you've got right now.
Oh, and you did mean PCIe card, right?
I personally think an X1950pro/xt would be a pretty good choice, and would keep your upgrade under $300. And you would see a huge improvement over what you've got right now.
Oh, and you did mean PCIe card, right?
Your CPU won't be 'having' much of the DX10 era (if you want to venture there). It will bottleneck on anything over a 7600GT. If the case is a full size ATX, I suggest you keep it and modify as needed. My suggestion is to work on a motherboard and processer first.
digital_exhaust
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blacken said:
Wrong. As said above, there may be a slight bottleneck, but there will be a HUGE increase in performance over the op's current config.
again thanks for all the suggestions..by the way i wont be changing out the motherboard in this system. given it is a dell with dell case, dell powersupply and all the sort of requirements for this as opposed to standard equpiment it is just too much of a headache to hot it will fit, ill just go new when it is time. i guess i just need to find out which is the best video card for me at the best price.
Ok. A P4 with an 8800GTX. Check out that benchy. It will start bottlenecking after the 7600GT (I'll try to find the reference). Sure, a x1950Pro would work, but it's not worth it to go into the G80 range, even a Intel Quad bottlenecks, though not significantly. However a P4 will very significantly.
You might as tell someone the truth instead of bullshiting them into 650 bucks.
You might as tell someone the truth instead of bullshiting them into 650 bucks.
digital_exhaust
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I really think the X1950 series is your best bet.
You could also look at the 7900/7950GT series from nVidia. Or for even less, you cold consider a 7600GT/GS, which is a great bang for the buck card.
You could also look at the 7900/7950GT series from nVidia. Or for even less, you cold consider a 7600GT/GS, which is a great bang for the buck card.
digital_exhaust
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blacken said:Ok. A P4 with an 8800GTX. Check out that benchy.
Don't need to. I never recommended an 8800. Never talked about DX10.
If you were confused because I quoted you saying that his cpu wouldn't be 'having' much of the DX10 era, I apologize. I was trying to focus on your saying that anything over a 7600 sieres would bottleneck with the op's cpu.
If you take the time to read this thread, you'll see that the advice I had given earlier indicated that I thought it would be best to wait for six months and see what happens *hint*. I was recommending doing so because, right now, there are exactly zero DX10 titles available, and only one card that supports it. Over the next six months, that will change. A decent upgrade, right now, with the DELL system the op has would be a higher end DX9 card. Regardless of the potential bottleneck, the op would see a big performance jump with an X1950 series card. Will that system see the full potential of that card? Nope. Is that going to hurt anything? Nope.
No need to get all butt hurt over my opinion, because in the end, that's exactly what it is. My opinion
digital_exhaust said:Don't need to. I never recommended an 8800. Never talked about DX10.
If you were confused because I quoted you saying that his cpu wouldn't be 'having' much of the DX10 era, I apologize. I was trying to focus on your saying that anything over a 7600 sieres would bottleneck with the op's cpu.
If you take the time to read this thread, you'll see that the advice I had given earlier indicated that I thought it would be best to wait for six months and see what happens *hint*. I was recommending doing so because, right now, there are exactly zero DX10 titles available, and only one card that supports it. Over the next six months, that will change. A decent upgrade, right now, with the DELL system the op has would be a higher end DX9 card. Regardless of the potential bottleneck, the op would see a big performance jump with an X1950 series card. Will that system see the full potential of that card? Nope. Is that going to hurt anything? Nope.
No need to get all butt hurt over my opinion, because in the end, that's exactly what it is. My opinion
Right on bro. I was just suggesting that you upgrade the cpu if you were to venture into DX10 (which I jumped to conclude when I saw the "or new computer".. I think).
Heh, if I can find the article about a Pentium 4's bottlenecking point, I will post it. If your just gonna go for a GPU and not upgrade the rest for a while, theres no sense buying something you can't fully use. The 7600GT has all the features (eyecandy) a 7900 or 1950 has, though the x19xx can produce AA and HDR - but - I can force my 7900GS to do both. Toss up bro.blacken said:Right on bro. I was just suggesting that you upgrade the cpu if you were to venture into DX10 (which I jumped to conclude when I saw the "or new computer".. I think).
Here's a quote from Australian PC Authority
...The CPU can be a significant bottleneck, so theres no point pairing a Radeon X1900 XTX with a 1.8GHz AMD Sempron 3100+: it will limit the cards performance. We ran some tests and found that a 1.8GHz Sempron 3100+ can just about handle the mid-range cards without limiting frame rates. But for the high-end cards, youll need a decent system to back them up: wed suggest you choose a dual-core processor or at least an Athlon 64 4000+ or Intel equivalent. http://www.pcauthority.com.au/lab.aspx?CIaLID=139&CIPseq=2
That's the reason why I was calling your arguement with the 3.4ghz P4 bullshit
So if the green is the Pentium 4 benchmarks, then you are right about a 1950pro working. I concluded to the 7600GT because a lot of reviews after articles pointed upon the 7600GT being the best choice. Not according to your review though. Very good article man.
Personaly, I would work on the mobo/cpu as you'l be able to upgrade your gpu even further in the future.
I concluded to the 7600GT because a lot of reviews after articles pointed upon the 7600GT being the best choice. Not according to your review though. Very good article man.Personaly, I would work on the mobo/cpu as you'l be able to upgrade your gpu even further in the future.
digital_exhaust
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blacken said:
Dude, he's got a Dell...........
blacken said:So if the green is the Pentium 4 benchmarks, then you are right about a 1950pro working.
heh no problem