Hardware Difference

[slacker2k]

Currently I have:

2.2GHz P4 Processor /w 533 MHz FSB
512MBs PC2100 266MHz DDR RAM
MSI GeForce 3 ti200 128MB RAM

I plan on buying a few of the games coming out fourth quarter this year:

EverQuest 2
Half-Life 2
Doom 3
World of Warcraft

I want to know if buying the following items for my computer is gonna give me the power to play these games (prefferably at 1600x1200 with max AA and AF).

512MBs PC2100 266MHz DDR RAM (giving me a total of 1GB)
RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition 256MBs RAM

Thank you for you responce .

 

[nycxandy]

Your current CPU will bottleneck the X800 XT.

 

[Bucksnort]

Originally posted by: nycxandy
Your current CPU will bottleneck the X800 XT.

That is pure BS. Yes you will see a huge difference in gaming performance.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: Bucksnort

Originally posted by: nycxandy
Your current CPU will bottleneck the X800 XT.

That is pure BS. Yes you will see a huge difference in gaming performance.

His statement is true to a point, as in newer games, like Far Cry for example, the FPS on the next gen cards are very close, most likely because of a bottleneck caused by the Processor/Motherboard/RAM combo. With his setup, I wouldn't spend money on anything more than a 9800 Pro. If you are spending $500, spend it this way:

Athlon64 2800+ and Abit KV8 Motherboard - $198.00
Corsair ValueRAM 512MB PC3200 - $83.00
Sapphire ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB Video Card - $199.00

Total: $480.00

Use the rest to start saving up for another 512MB stick of RAM.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Bucksnort

Originally posted by: nycxandy
Your current CPU will bottleneck the X800 XT.

That is pure BS. Yes you will see a huge difference in gaming performance.

Like jdogg707 says, it is NOT BS. That graphic card will be running at the same speed as an X800 Pro or perhaps even 9800 Pro in many games given only a 2.2 GHz P4, i.e. it is more card than the CPU can make use of.

Of course it will still run much faster than the gf3, just nowhere near as fast as it runs in all the website benchmarks that pair it with an A64 3200+ or higher.

read me - HardOCP CPU scaling for X800 and nv6800

 

[slacker2k]

Thank you for your recomandation, can you do it for 700$? . I have 700$ to spend, and i would prefer to get a video card with 256MB RAM. I'm worried I wont see much of a difference if I dont go with a higher memory video card. So can you do a good recommadation for 700-750$ and please let me know where you are basing your prices off of. Thanks.

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: slacker2k
Thank you for your recomandation, can you do it for 700$? . I have 700$ to spend, and i would prefer to get a video card with 256MB RAM. I'm worried I wont see much of a difference if I dont go with a higher memory video card. So can you do a good recommadation for 700-750$ and please let me know where you are basing your prices off of. Thanks.

You could also uograde your cpu to a 3.06HT and a x800xt for under $700 from Newegg and Gateway.




Tom

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Originally posted by: jdogg707

Originally posted by: Bucksnort

Originally posted by: nycxandy
Your current CPU will bottleneck the X800 XT.

That is pure BS. Yes you will see a huge difference in gaming performance.

His statement is true to a point, as in newer games, like Far Cry for example, the FPS on the next gen cards are very close, most likely because of a bottleneck caused by the Processor/Motherboard/RAM combo. With his setup, I wouldn't spend money on anything more than a 9800 Pro. If you are spending $500, spend it this way:

Athlon64 2800+ and Abit KV8 Motherboard - $198.00
Corsair ValueRAM 512MB PC3200 - $83.00
Sapphire ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB Video Card - $199.00

Total: $480.00

Use the rest to start saving up for another 512MB stick of RAM.

Go with the above setup and get the x800 pro graphics card. The FPS and MMORPG titles you mentioned will be demanding at your target of 16x12 with max AA and AF.

 

[sao123]

IMO...
If i remember correctly, the P4's with 533 FSB only supported AGP 4x, so if you want a 256MB card that wont kill your budget, find a GeForce4 TI 4600. Question...Are you sure you have a P4 2.2Ghz and not a P4 2.26? The difference is the 2.2 only ran on a 400 FSB, the 2.26 ran on the 533.

I have one now running on a P4 2.4B Ghz 533FSB With 1 GB of RDRAM, and still loving it.
Use the remaining money to get an extra 512 stick of RAM.

 

[dmw16]

I would definatly say getting an A64 2800+, and a new board, and a gig of PC3200 would give you a nice boost w/ an X800. Not to see you wont get anything from getting just the card alone, but I doubt you'll be playing @ 16x12. Honestly, even w/ an A64 and a new board and RAM 16x12 could be rough.
-doug

 

[slacker2k]

Yeah, sorry its a 2.26. It seems to me from what you guys are saying is that for 700$ im not gonna beable to get a system that can run these titles at 1600x1200 with max AA and AF. Its not much worth it to me if I cant, I realy can't deal with graphics at non-top shape when gaming. So I think ill just save my money untill I have enough extra for the best system at the time (2.5k should be enough). The latest and greatest video cards are usaly 500$, the best processor is usaly around 1k from AMD or Intel. 2 Gigs of PC4000 500MHz (overclocked) RAM should be about 600$. With accessorys it should come out to about 2.5k. Thanks for the input people.