Bottleneck Question

[Somniferum]

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on one of these new 8800gt cards (if I can find one, of course). This would replace a 6800gs that I've been running for about 2 years.

But I'm wondering if my CPU might bottleneck this new card. I'm running an AMD x2 Toledo 3800 @ 2.4GHz -- the end of the 939 line. This is with 2Gb DDR1 RAM on Windows XP.

I run @ 1280x1024. Lately I've been playing mostly World of Warcraft (I'm addicted), which runs acceptably but does start to chug in certain areas (Shattrath for instance). I also have Oblivion installed which I would probably go back and finish if I could see a significant improvement in framerates. I'm also interested in picking up Hellgate: London, Quake Wars, and maybe Crysis.

With all this in mind, would the 8800gt improve framerates and enable more eye-candy on this machine with those titles, or would the older CPU be too much of a bottleneck?

I apologize if this is an obvious or redundant question, but I've been out of the hardware loop for a year or more. I normally wouldn't spend over $200 on a video card, so I want to make sure before shelling out $270+ that it's a wise move.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[AzN]

You cpu is fine. Get the gt. It should be 4x faster than your current card.

 

[Arkaign]

Azn is right, you'll see a massive performance increase with the GT, far more than any other upgrade you could make for gaming purposes. And since it's PCI-E, you can re-use it when you can afford to move to a faster rig (C2Q, DDR2 or DDR3, etc).

 

[requiem1]

i have a AMD64 3500 and a 6600GT...and I am getting the 8800gt...yes I know my CPU will bottleneck - but unless I drop under 60fps (max AA & AF on 1280x1024) I will not upgrade my CPU. Bottomline: 8800GT is the best bang for buck...even if I could get 60fps with a $150 card...I rather spend $100 more and make my system more future proof. Spending now is helping me save for the future - because regardless of whats out on the market or not..I need a new graphic card NOW!

 

[gorobei]

the 8800gt will improve your current gaming, should be fine for ETQW, but won't do full quality on crysis(but nothing does at the moment.) [Assuming you stay at your current monitor res.] If you ever go with a widescreen or larger monitor in the 1600x1200+ range, the card and your cpu may not really cut it.

the 8800GT is only supposed to retail for $200. Try waiting a month or two if you can. The new G92 8800GTS will come out and should help lower prices.

If you believe the rumors floating around, the AMD/ATI HD3800 may be cheaper and as powerful as the 8800gt. It will be future proof as it is DX10.1 compliant.