Fast GPUs on not that fast PCs

[fabiopb]

Hi, folks! I need some hints from you experts..

I want to buy a nice video card but my computer is not, let's say, state of the art. Here it goes:

Pentium III 600
256 RAM PC100
Intel CC820 mother board (BTW, it says it is 4x APG but not for textures... anybody?)
Voodoo 3 3000 (!)
13gb HD

I wanna make it run this new games nicely, but if I could avoid upgrading the whole machine I choose it.

My question is: is it reasonable to buy a top video card with this config? Something like Geforce Ti 4800 or even better? When do the processor and the rest of the computer become the problem? Would they be the problem already? Do you guys have any experience with this particular matter?

Thanks a lot!

 

[JonnyBlaze]

i wouldnt reccommend more than a geforce4 4600 unless your going to upgrade the rest of the system.

your cpu would be the bottleneck with that card.


but coming from a voodoo 3000, a 4200 would even be a good investment.

Matt

 

[KillaBong]

My other computer is exactly the same, but I just bought a ti200 for it. A geforce4 wouldn't help it much more, if any, unless you plan on using that card in a different computer later. It's up to about twice the price of a geforce3 or 8500, so don't waste money if you won't use it later. If you do plan on using it on a different computer later, why not get a 9700 or something fancy?

 

[Schadenfroh]

there comes a point when the CPU holds back the GPU so bad that the extra $$$ for a powerfull one is not worth it. btw, wanna buy a voodoo5? i got 2 and i only use one. hehehehehehheehhehehehe

 

[DaveSimmons]

if you go to TomsHardware.com and the graphics card section, they had VGA cards roundup where they tried a huge list of cards on both a 1 GHz and XP2700+ Athlon, looking that over would give you an idea of what card makes a difference.

A ti 4200 is probably the sweet spot for your current motherboard, but listen to killabong. A geforce3 will be 2-3 times as fast as your voodoo and should let you play current games though some at only 800x600 or even 640x480.

You might look in Hot Deals for the best 4200 price and also check it and FS/FT forum for deals on a geforce3.

 

[titanmiller]

This is a situation where the GeforceFX 5200 is acctualy the best choice. It is plenty fast and will not be your bottleneck. Plus you will get full DX9 support.
I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS CARD
they can also be found for less than $100

 

[Syndicate]

You could just upgrade the system That CPU is below most minimum requirements on current games. I just put together a very very fast system with 2.3GHZ of AMD power and 512MB of ram on NFORCE2 for about $200. That's pretty much what you'd pay for a nice video card. You could then just spend an aditional $50+ on a middle video card such as a Radeon 8500 or GF3 that is more then capable of playing todays games.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

i've got a pIII 600 as well (as a 2nd rig) and i am getting a slot T adapter with a celery 1400 to upgrade it. cost is $95 total. i was gonna suggest the same for you, but as far as i can tell, that intel mobo's latest bios from 4/00 only allows for "support for all Pentium3 processors". don't know if that includes Celerons. those p3s aint cheap, so that kinda blows the CPU upgrade idea. even if it were possible, i dont know how well that board would handle it because of all the known issues and recalls.

deadseasquirrel

 

[Lonyo]

When do you plan on upgrading the rest of the system?
If you are going to upgrade the graphics card now, and possibly the mobo/CPU in 4 or 6 months, something like a Radeon 9500Pro would be adviseable as it will still perform in the future.
If you don't plan on upgrading the rest of the system for, say, 12 months, then an FX5200 would be all you need as people have said.