Am I CPU limited?

[AmigaMan]

I have an 800 Mhz Duron and a Voodoo 5 5500. Will upgrading my CPU to the fastest my mobo supports (1.2 Ghz on a 200Mhz bus I believe) give me better performance or should I upgrade the video card to the fastest I can afford (probably an 8500LE 64MB or 9000 Pro 64MB)?
The games I want to play are NOLF2, NWN and UT2003. BTW, i have 256MB of PC133 and a 7200RPM Maxtor 30GB HD. Thanks.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well quite obviously the answer is BOTH! But since Voodoo5 is slower and largely less capable than a GF2GTS/Rad7500 which in turn are WAY slower and less capable than Rad8500LE/9000PRO (8500LE is a smidge faster). Without a doubt I'd suggest you upgrade the gfx card, and then see if you can save up for a new CPU if not a new mobo to allow access to the ludicrously cheap AthlonXP CPUs. The Athlon 800mhz will still limit perf but not unbearably so and enabling lots of Aniso will really help to show the otherwise untapped gfx card's potential. One last point, have you tried o/c'ing that CPU (1ghz should be doable)?

 

[nardvark]

while we're on the topic of CPU limiting, do you think a 1.7Ghz Willy will be limited by a R9500?

 

[Soulkeeper]

I think a 1.7 willy will limit most any new video card

as far as upgrading your cpu, AmigaMan, I think that is something you should consider
what chipset does your board have ??
most boards that support 1.2ghz athlons will support up to 1.4 as well
boards that don't support a 266 fsb won't officially support the athlon xp's but will run them 30% slower if you try to run them

i owned a voodoo 5
and ran it in an athlon 600 system
a 1ghz system
my 1ghz oc'd to 1.3
and in an xp 1700+ (running at 1.3)

to tell you the truth it really depends on what games you are playing (ie: only Unreal engine based games)
the voodoo5 really doesn't support many of the new directx features in new games
the radeon 8500 is a nice card

if you can't afford a new vid card and a new cpu at the same time i would get the new vid card for now

 

[Soulkeeper]

As far as UT2003 goes i have found it to be more cpu dependent on the system's i've had the pleasure to try it on
i tryed it on an "Athlon xp 1700+ with 256mb ddr333 and a radeon 8500 128mb" based system and on an "athlon tb 1.33 256mb pc-133 GF2 ultra 64mb" based system
the min requirement to run UT2003 is 733mhz and they recommend atleast 1ghz but the vid card min req is only a tnt2 16mb (gf2 recommended)
the game has hard coded support for the voodoo3 (the voodoo5 would count here too) and the 3dfx cards have always done well with Unreal based games

ohh well can't really make any decisions for you here
hope something here helps

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: Soulkeeper
I think a 1.7 willy will limit most any new video card

as far as upgrading your cpu, AmigaMan, I think that is something you should consider
what chipset does your board have ??
most boards that support 1.2ghz athlons will support up to 1.4 as well
boards that don't support a 266 fsb won't officially support the athlon xp's but will run them 30% slower if you try to run them

i owned a voodoo 5
and ran it in an athlon 600 system
a 1ghz system
my 1ghz oc'd to 1.3
and in an xp 1700+ (running at 1.3)

to tell you the truth it really depends on what games you are playing (ie: only Unreal engine based games)
the voodoo5 really doesn't support many of the new directx features in new games
the radeon 8500 is a nice card

if you can't afford a new vid card and a new cpu at the same time i would get the new vid card for now

Hey thanks for the info about the CPU. I wasn't too sure that a CPU > 1.2Ghz would work on my board but if it'll work (even if it's a little slower) I might try that first.

And thanks to everyone else for their replies. The cheapest option would be to get a used 1.2Ghz TBird (~$40). Next option would be to get an el-cheapo Radeon 9000 (non pro) 64MB for ~$65. Trying not to go over $100 will be tough, but for us cheap bastards, you gotta do what you gotta do...

 

[AnAndAustin]

Athlon 1.2ghz is still a nice CPU and will get the goods from pretty much any gfc card you stick in there with GF3, Rad8500 and Rad9000 being pretty sweet.

As for the gfx card the Rad9000 is likely to be about 20% slower than the Rad9000PRO but Rad9000 should o/c well, however both are still a fair bit slower than Rad8500LE which in turn is about 10% slower than Rad8500. 128MB will become very much worth it if you cvan afford it, but the key thing for you is probably to get a Rad8500 if you can. When buying Radeons esp Rad8500 cards do double check features and clock speeds as these vary with manu and oem/bulk vs retail versions. Worst case tends to be that you lose about 10% perf, have limited o/c and may not get dual display functionality, in any case see what the prices are like but Rad8500LE is superior to Rad9000PRO and usually a LOT cheaper too!