Yet another opinion thread - new video card for this?

T

Tim James

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
Messages
313
I know these posts are a dime a dozen, so here's a quick rundown. Just looking for generic opinions right now.

Budget PC I put together early last year:
AMD 4000+, overclocked slightly to 2.8 GHz [EDIT] SINGLE CORE!
2GB of RAM running at DDR460
Old MSI Neo4 board, PCI Express x16 1.0a
ATI X1950PRO 256MB
Windows XP DX9
[EDIT] Corsair 520HX PSU

Should I throw an 8800GT or 9600GT at it or wait until I can upgrade everything at once? (I am okay with the latter. [EDIT] Actually I am looking for something to tide me over for a year because an upgrade is probably out of the question until then.)

I want to be able to play Fallout 3 and Clear Sky and make them pretty. Since that is kind of vague and the games aren't even out yet, I guess I'd just like to be able to play current games like CoD4, Crysis, CoH, and The Witcher at higher resolutions and graphics options than I can right now. This is on a CRT with max 1600x1200, so high resolutions or LCD native resolutions aren't important. Right now I typically play at 1024x768 or 1280x960 with medium-high settings and speeds are still moderate, 20-50fps.

Really, I guess it's the old question about CPU limitation. Problem is benchmarks don't really seem to look at old hardware like mine with new graphics cards.
 
Any thoughts? My eyes are glazing over from benchmarks and articles. About to just buy it and try for myself.
 
Upgrade all at once. These new cards need serious CPUS to keep them fed.

BTW, this place is practically dead compared to 5 years ago. A lot less forums too. :( Same with Futuremark/Mad Onion.
 
wait until you cant bear to wait any longer. Waiting two hours and spending an extra $2 gets you 10X the performance in this biz, so wait as long as you can. ATI plans to introduce some new video cards for us in late may/early june, and Nvidia plans to do the same in Augest and November, with the november release being the real bomb.

also, what is your power supply?

I suggest you wait a few months and spend a couple hundred dollars on a new video card, and not upgrade the rest of your system. I do not share the sentiments of the poster above me, and I have data to backup my statements.

Following CPUs are running on an 8800GT
cry1600.gif


you can read the rest of the artical (Phenom X3 review) here. I don't know how this rumor that you need huge CPU power to run current GPUs got out and about, but its false. If the game has any one perticular feature that does require huge CPU horsepower, such as heavy networking or a precise physics engine, you should take that into acount, but the majority of games out there will run identically on an 9800GTX coupled with X2 3800+ as it will on the same card coupled with two QX9770s.
 
Go Cheap or go big. 9600gt or 8800gts are my suggestions.

A new system might make a better impact than a new card though.
 
You'll get some benefit, particularly at higher resolutions that are as CPU bound like 1920x1200.
 
MrWizard6600 said:
you can read the rest of the artical (Phenom X3 review) here.
Click to expand...
Problem is most articles don't bother with old single-CPU tests like my Athlon 64 at 2.8GHz. I have been searching through forums to find out what results people are getting that are in the same boat as me.

The X1950PRO is not bad, but it would be nice if I could step up to the next highest resolution or next highest tier of graphics settings for $130 from a 9600GT or something. But if my single core CPU is a serious bottleneck in current-gen games, then I won't bother.
 
Tim James said:
Any thoughts? My eyes are glazing over from benchmarks and articles. About to just buy it and try for myself.
Click to expand...

I would 100% say, grab a 8800GT or 9600Gt depending on your budget.

A X2 OC to 2.8 gig will not be "much" of a bottleneck and you will notice a large improvement over your current GPU. This will easily carry you over to the next generation of GPU's when it will probably be a good idea to do the full upgrade, prob hold you over a year.

Its a easy decision to me especially as the next generation of GPU's won't be available from Nvidia for maybe 3months plus and ATI a month or 2 (may or may not suck).
 
Battleneter2 said:
I would 100% say, grab a 8800GT or 9600Gt depending on your budget.

A X2 OC to 2.8 gig will not be "much" of a bottleneck and you will notice a large improvement over your current GPU. This will easily carry you over to the next generation of GPU's when it will probably be a good idea to do the full upgrade, prob hold you over a year.

Its a easy decision to me especially as the next generation of GPU's won't be available from Nvidia for maybe 3months plus and ATI a month or 2 (may or may not suck).
Click to expand...

his 4000+ is a 939 single core.
 
mnewxcv said:
his 4000+ is a 939 single core.
Click to expand...
Exactly, and I am discovering that this is the real question.

On the other hand, the number of games I'm interested in that really take advantage of dual core can probably be counted on one hand.
 
schizrade said:
Just wait until you can afford a bad-ass, kitten-killing new computer.
Click to expand...
That's a year off. I am a working professional in my 20s so I can drop $150 for a video card without thinking about it, but the new wife says she wants a new laptop before I buy a new computer (and I agree with her). We'll have plenty of money in a year for an expensive toy when she starts working, but right now there's no point and the budget for the year is set anyway. Just want something to tide me over.

I don't care about bottlenecking per se, just that I will get enough boost from an X1950PRO to a 8800GT/9600GT to make Call of Duty 4, Company of Heroes, Fallout 3, etc. smooth and playable at 1280x960 or 1600x1200 with nice graphics options.
 
I try very hard not to put computer parts above wife and food but in the end the computer parts own me.
 
stevedave said:
I try very hard not to put computer parts above wife and food but in the end the computer parts own me.
Click to expand...
It is kind of sad. She is tooting along on her 4 year old laptop and I built this early last year, albeit only for a few hundred bucks as a budget system. :)
 
Yeah that did scare me, and was the one benchmark I could find with a single core. I am running the CPU a little faster, but still.
 
someone said upgrade to an X2.

Don't do that, it won't be worth it.

Save up some money, and upgrade the whole system to a Core 2 Duo or something system.
 
Just some personal experience here, and no real hard data, but...

I recently helped my friend upgrade his old A64 single core system to a cheap C2D setup. He is using an X1950Pro, and all his games are noticeably smoother after just upgrading the CPU. And by noticeably smoother I mean we could turn up the settings another notch and still have better FPS - so his single core CPU was definitely bottle necking him.

So my suggestion would be to upgrade CPU+Mobo+RAM and get a cheap C2D and OC the hell out of it, and then pick up a new generation card in Q3/Q4 08 (or whenever you get some $$$ :D )
 
i always thought and it has always been true that graphic cards play a bigger role in gaming performance.. i dare say a 70% to 30% ratio

UNLESS ur cpu is really dated like >4years ago then yea.. a larger magin could be easily seen when compared with newer cpus
 
I'm in the same predicament....
I had a AMD 3000+, 1GB PC3200, and a 6600... I kept thinking, Video Card or System, Video Card or System....

I ended up waiting, waiting, waiting, and FINALLY! 3 years later, I upgraded to...

Intel C2D E8400, 2GB DDR2 800 in Dual Channel Mode, RAID 0+1 500GB Western Digitals (with my onboard intel matrix raid controller), and a uATX DG33TL motherboard, uATX case, 500Watt Antec Earthwatts PS....

I obviously, kept the same keyboard/mouse, dvd burner, monitor, operating system... But I did not upgrade my video card... My computer KICKS ASS now in terms of SPEED, but in terms of Graphics... My 6600 did just as well on my 3000+ as it does on my E8400... I was told my CPU was the bottleneck...

So now I'm waiting for the 8800GT's to get cheaper and I'll swap my 6600 out for it...

So, if I was YOU AGAIN! with a 19" monitor... I'd buy the 9600GT now... They are a bit cheaper than the 8800GT's at the moment... Then, later just add a second one when you upgrade the whole PC with SLI later on...

When you upgrade the whole PC in a year anyways, 9600GT's will be even cheaper... Heck, they may even be around $70 or $80 by then..

P.S. If anyone wants to TRADE + CASH an 8800GT for a 6600 let me know..

OR

I'll just buy the 8800GT straight up... Just don't want to pay the $170 full price... Looking for a used in the $125 range...
 
Decided to tough it out and wait until next year, or go against my personal finance wisdom and splurge later this fall. :)

Almost wanted to grab it just to run my own benchmarks, but the $150 will go toward a new budget laptop for the wife.
 
The new 9600GSO/8800GS are right in your ball park. I wouldn't dump any more than $150 into this budget rig.
 
Good Choice. Always put the wife first, you'll be glad you did... That's why I wait so long for my projects and upgrades...
 
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