An 8800GTS with a 3GHZ Pentium 4?

[Smartazz]

My brother is looking at buying an 8800GTS and his computer has the following specs:
3GHZ 530J Pentium 4 Processor
1.5GB PC3200 Memory
7800GT 490/1300
400 watt fortron power supply

His monitor supports 1600 by 1200 and he sometimes games at 1920 by 1080 on his other monitor. Would a 3GHZ Pentium 4 hold him back at high resolutions with 8x-16x anti aliasing? Thanks.

 

[secretanchitman]

i wouldnt think so. the rig in my sig (i always disable 1 core while gaming, especially when playing nfs most wanted) is at 3.2Ghz and it runs at 1920x1080 with a 7900GT oced to GTX speeds just fine with everything cranked up.

i would say you're just fine. though an athlon64/C2D would be better, a p4 isnt horrendously bad as some people make it out to be. just make sure that cpu is cooled enough, as ive heard that the 5XX series of p4 get really hot.

 

[KayKay]

16x12 usually is not a cpu dependent res if the settings are cranked (depends on the game)

dont know for sure, but that 400 w could use an upgrade as well? 8800GTS isnt nearly as power hungry as the GTX, but it is still a hungry card

 

[shabby]

The cpu is a bottleneck, dont bother with a gf8800. I've had a similar setup with a slower x1900xtx and after upgrading to a c2d the difference was huge.
He should either stick with the 7800gt or get a conroe.

 

[imported_Imp]

Definately going to be CPU bottlenecked. With the price of a 8800, may as well overhaul the whole thing. Doubt the PSU will be adequate. If the 7800gt is not AGP, it should carry over pretty well.

 

[bob4432]

at 1600x1200 i think it may be a bottleneck but not a huge one. depending on the game the 1.5GB of ram may be more of a bottlneck. i think it will definately increase the fps, so that is good, over the 7800gt.

the psu is a bit on the fence....

i have seen people run 8800gtxs with a opteron 144 and they game well at the higher resolutions.

i think he should try it out, but be careful with that current amount of ram as i can even exceed that much with bf2 @ 1280x1024 and also coh

 

[regnez]

This article covers that question exactly.

It is best to try and keep your system components even across the board, otherwise you will always run into huge bottlenecks handicapping your extremely high dollar investments.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: regnez
This article covers that question exactly.

It is best to try and keep your system components even across the board, otherwise you will always run into huge bottlenecks handicapping your extremely high dollar investments.

????

from their data and using the card in a manner that one would use the card - 2048x1536 (sorry, but if you buy the 8800gtx you are not going to be gaming at 1024x768):

DOOM 3 4AA / 8AF
Intel 6800 / 8800GTX - 81.8FPS
AMD FX-60 / 8800GTX - 90.2FPS

FEAR No Softshadows - 4AA / 8AF
Intel 6800 / 8800GTX - 56FPS
AMD FX-60 / 8800GTx - 56FPS

Oblivion - Outdoors
Intel 6800 / 8800GTX - 28.42FPS
AMD FX-60 / 8800GTX - 32.62FPS

so how did this article prove to keep everything even across the board and get a new cpu/mb and get rid of the older one? the fx-60 is no slouch, but the 6800 clearly beats it in other areas. this just shows the exact opposite of what you are saying regnez.....again, if you are running a 8800GTX at 1024x768 then you are wasting you $$$$, hell even 1600x1200 imo but running the card the way a ultra high end card should be ran, the cpu is not the bottleneck in this case.....😕

 

[stevty2889]

At 1920x1080 my roomate got noticable improvements switching from a pentium-d @3.55ghz to a C2D at 3.2ghz with his 8800GTX, so I would deffinatly say the P4 would become a bottleneck.