AMD 939 3200 enough for 8800GTS?

[nomadicdude]

I have a 3200 939 setup with 2GB ram. Is it enough to support a 8800GTS? The MB is the gigabyte 6150 micro atx board with very few options to OC. If I need to upgrade, pls suggest a 939 processor that might support the setup.

 

[Regs]

over clock it to 2.6Ghz. Is it enough? I don't think any processor is enough. Windows agrees, which is why they made DX10.

 

[Zenoth]

It'll be ok, just OC it a little, maybe to 2.6Ghz would be decent enough. I run a GTS under a 4400+ (default speed is 2.2Ghz) OC'ed at 2.4Ghz, and that little extra 200Mhz gives me 300 extra Marks in 3DMark06. I can't OC it higher though, it's just a lemon for OC'ing. If you want a reference, my system scores 8725 in 3DMark06 at the specs and speeds listed in my signature. At default I score around 8300'ish I believe.

 

[MarcVenice]

oc it a little, to 2400+ should be fine.

 

[nomadicdude]

Unfortunately, the board is the Gigabyte GA-K8N51PVMT-9-RH and it doesn't support many overclocking options. Have anyone had any luck overclocking with this board?

 

[sthaznpride17]

Meh you will still be bottlenecking it. But at 2.6 it will be much better. My 4000+ at 2.8 scores 7100 in 3dMark06. But really a C2D system will bring out the real potential in the card.

 

[NoSoup4You]

It'll be fine in most games that don't benefit from dual/quad cores, which is nearly every game out on the market. Do not plan on playing Supreme Commander with a single core cpu, but beyond that you'll be fine. I have an 8800GTS 640MB paired up with 2 Gig's DDR and an X2 4400+ @2.4Ghz. It's not exactly a good processor anymore but it's more than enough for every game I've thrown at it so far.

Which games exactly are you planning on playing? And if worst comes to worst, and your 3200+ isn't enough (because it's single core, primarily) then you can pick up a 939 Opteron 170 for $135 @Newegg and you should be good to go for awhile. If you can manage to overclock it, 2.6Ghz is fairly standard I think for those chips. But any dualcore Opteron is going to be fine for gaming for at least another two years. And by "fine", I mean just that. It'll play games well enough to enjoy them. If you're looking to set benchmarking records... look elsewhere.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: NoSoup4You
It'll be fine in most games that don't benefit from dual/quad cores, which is nearly every game out on the market. Do not plan on playing Supreme Commander with a single core cpu, but beyond that you'll be fine. I have an 8800GTS 640MB paired up with 2 Gig's DDR and an X2 4400+ @2.4Ghz. It's not exactly a good processor anymore but it's more than enough for every game I've thrown at it so far.

Which games exactly are you planning on playing? And if worst comes to worst, and your 3200+ isn't enough (because it's single core, primarily) then you can pick up a 939 Opteron 170 for $135 @Newegg and you should be good to go for awhile. If you can manage to overclock it, 2.6Ghz is fairly standard I think for those chips. But any dualcore Opteron is going to be fine for gaming for at least another two years. And by "fine", I mean just that. It'll play games well enough to enjoy them. If you're looking to set benchmarking records... look elsewhere.

QFT. Not really sure what OP is worried about, but if he does run something that leaves him feeling seriously CPU-limited, then the CPU upgrade (X2 or Opty 165+) is straightforward and fairly cheap.

 

[sthaznpride17]

X2 4200's are only 100 bucks or so on Newegg, you could always drop that in, OC it to 2.6 and you should have a solid system for another 6 months to a year.

 

[hennethannun]

Is no one else hearing the OP? His motherboard doesn't have robust overclocking support, which means he is stuck at the stock 2.0 ghz.

As for the original question, 'no', your processor is not fast enough to support that video card without bottlenecking it a bit (while playing the newest games). But you must also ask the follow-up question 'does that matter?'. and the answer is also 'no'. the processor is a bit slow, but most games, particularly FPS games are way more GPU than CPU bound. You shouldn't have any trouble getting playable, enjoyable results out of that system.

On the other hand, if you absolutely need better performance, it would be pretty cheap to upgrade your motherboard and/or processor (you could do both for much less than $200) and then overclock.

Yes, the 3200+ is getting a bit long in the tooth now for modern gaming, but it is hardly incapable of gaming. you should be fine unless you demand maximum settings or super-high resolutions (like 1920*1200).

 

[yuppiejr]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103037

For $60 shipped you can pick up a single core Athlon 64/4000+ CPU @ 2.4 ghz with 1 meg of cache. That's going to be more than enough for this GPU - then sell your 3200 for $20-$25 in the forums here and you're out $40 or less net for the upgrade. They also had the dual core X2 3800+ in stock for $88 shipped, however without overclocking you're going to see better gaming performance with the extra cache and clockspeed of the single core 4000+ San Diego core proc.

 

[gramboh]

It depends on what games you are playing. FPS games you will be fine. RTS games that hammer the CPU it will be more stressful. Future games (DX10?) will definitely be bottlenecked (Crysis, UT3, Bioshock etc).

 

[nomadicdude]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am trying avoid changing the MB - don't want to invest too much. I want to play games like Crysis (when it is out), FEAR - but looks like I can't play it at a high resolution (1080p) even if the 8800GTS can support it. I was going to change the whole system (to C2D) in winter but looks like I might have to do it sooner.

 

[golem]

I thought Crysis was delayed to next year? Your processor should be fine for FEAR.

 

[yuppiejr]

Originally posted by: nomadicdude
Thanks for the suggestions. I am trying avoid changing the MB - don't want to invest too much. I want to play games like Crysis (when it is out), FEAR - but looks like I can't play it at a high resolution (1080p) even if the 8800GTS can support it. I was going to change the whole system (to C2D) in winter but looks like I might have to do it sooner.

Are you running the 320 or 640 meg 8800 GTS? I think the net impact of your processor speed would be less pronounced with the 320 meg part than the 640 which might steer me one way or the other at this point.

Honestly, just because your current system presents a bottleneck it's not worth upgrading now versus in a few months for that reason alone. If you are getting playable framerates at your resolution of choice in the games you currently own - stick it out for a while. If you are in a crunch without enough processor to run certain games right now, go with the $40 upgrade I suggested earlier and wait it out for another 6 months with your current rig.

Q3 will be a GREAT time to jump into the C2D game when the Quad price drops hit and the dual core chip refresh + die shrink hit the market and bring us the 1333 FSB models for the same price as today's 1066 units. It's already June so Q3 isn't that far away, plus the game titles you're interested in playing down the road won't be out for a couple of months.

You're right on the cusp, if you wait out upgrading a bit longer there's a significant benefit that will come your way this fall for the same money you'd spend today.