Is my AMD 1000mhz cpu enough to warrant a GF4 Ti4200 purchase ?

[dogge]

Will my AMD 1000mhz do a GF4 Ti4200 justice?
Is it a decent enough spec to do the doom IIIs and unreal2s of the world justice ?
My GF 2 GTS is starting to show its age, and my mob is an old a7v 133 200fsb 256 mb so upgrading the cpu is not an option.
Does enyone know if there are any reviews of the Gf 4 cards out there using similar cpu speeds? Im sure there are plenty of people out there asking the same question. So you pc fiends do you have any good answers ???

 

[merlocka]

Is it a decent enough spec to do the doom IIIs and unreal2s of the world justice ?

Doom3 is a year away. Unreal2 is 6 months away. Perhaps upgrade when the games are available?

 

[jaybee]

Regarding articles on cpu scaling with video cards, I saw a comprehensive article recently I think on digit-life. Sorry no link but I saw it linked on nvnews. I'm not sure the GF4 is a good investment at this point if you're at a GF2. That's an individual decision, but ATI's new piece is right around the corner, and even if it is not affordable it may affect current pricing somewhat.

FYI I just bought a GF4 4400, but I was coming from a GF2mx and felt it was past time to upgrade. Anyway, I've tried to find that article but can't right now. Pretty good piece, I'd recommend checking nvnews for the link. Last piece of advice -- if you want a card for the games of the near (and almost-near) future, insist on 128MB.

jaybee

 

[CorCentral]

I am also curious as I have a 1.2/266 T-bird paired with an Elsa GeForce2 GTS 32mb .

Is it worth it to upgrade the video card ?

 

[SOSTrooper]

I probably have the answer you're looking for. I had a PIII 1GHz, 256MB, GF2 GTS 32MB (never OC'ed), and Win2K and I got a pity 2674 in default 3DMark2001SE. What I was annoyed was when I play Soldier of Fortune 2, my FPS would drop to the 20s when there are action or when I look at a large opening area at 640x480 with every details at lowest. So I coughed up $230 and bought an MSI G4Ti4400 from newegg and hoping it'll improve my gaming experience. Upgrading only the video card so far, my 3DMark2001SE score jumped from 2674 ( Details here ) to 6926 ( Details here ). Overall the benchmarking performance was improved. BUT, I barely got any improvement in SOF2, still hovering at the low 30fps range when facing lots of action @ 640x480 16bit colors and lowest of all settings. I'm still having some tough time running newer games like GTA3, Dungeon Siege, and MOH:AA at decent frames even at 800x600. Depends on what games you play, the newer games demand both CPU and Video. You won't get too much benefits from upgrading video card only. If you can pony up $300 more then I'd suggest upgrade them all at the same time, or wait it out a bit till faster CPUs come out and maybe prices will drop even more.

 

[tenoc]

Get the card now. Yes, the CPU is now the bottleneck.

You can get a Duron 1.3 for $68 inc. s&h. Or wait for funds for a more complete upgrade.

You must know someone who will take the GTS and/or 1.0 off your hands for $68!

 

[SOSTrooper]

I think TBird 1.4 266FSB will be a better choice than Duron 1.3. People are selling the 1.4 in the Trade/Sale forum for $70 shipped.

 

[silentScope]

I have a AMD T-bird 1ghz right now, and i just ordered the Gainward Gf4 Ti 4200. I've been playing GTA3 and Soldier of Fortune 2 for a while in 640 x 480 and everything is smooth with my geforce 2 mx. I'm hoping that i can go to a higher rez and more details on . I'll let u know when i get it.

 

[giguana]

dogge - first of all, is your mobo an a7v133 or an original a7v? if it's an a7v133 than you are very upgradable as far as your cpu goes. second, you have well over the minimum and even suggested requirements of any game out on the market right now, so you shouldn't have to upgrade right now, but by all means, if you want to who are we to tell you that you shouldn't?


SOSTrooper - you have some SERIOUS problems with your system. your cpu is the bottleneck in your system right now but for those games it shouldn't be a huge bottleneck. i've seen better fps in sof2 with a p3 600 and a vd4 4500. if i were you, i would format my hd, reload windows and start from scratch, because those scores are pathettic.

 

[daywalker]

Originally posted by: giguana
dogge -
SOSTrooper - you have some SERIOUS problems with your system. your cpu is the bottleneck in your system right now but for those games it shouldn't be a huge bottleneck. i've seen better fps in sof2 with a p3 600 and a vd4 4500. if i were you, i would format my hd, reload windows and start from scratch, because those scores are pathettic.

Yup, i DEFINETELY agree on that too. I have an AMD Duron 1Ghz, 256MB PC-133 RAM, GF2MX400, WinXP Pro and i have been playing the multiplayer demo of SOF2, on its default settings, for one month now. It runs VERY VERY smooth in all occassions, not a single noticeable drop of framerate.

Imagine how much my performance will boost after i will buy my GF4Ti 4200.

Although my ASUS A7A-133 mobo can upgrade up to an AthlonXP 2100+, i dont think i will need it, at least until Doom3 arrives...lol. My upcoming GF4 Ti4200 will be MORE than enough for everything until then.

 

[SOSTrooper]

Maybe cuz I have Win2K and installed DX8.1? I can run SOF2 at 1024x768 with all high details and get 60fps - 100fps steady, until 5 people show up on my screen and start shooting, thats when it drops to around 30s. Lowering my resolution doesnt improve, still mostly getting similar or just a little better numbers. So I'm sure my CPU reaches bottleneck. Actually after I installed the updated VIA4in1 and enabled 4X, I can run Dungeon Siege at 1024x768x16 pretty smooth now, and GTA3 at 800x600x16 with little chokes. I just reformatted this 3 weeks ago, at that time I had my GF2GTS and it ran pretty much same numbers as 2 days ago before I installed the Ti4400, so I seriously don't believe it can improve it if I reformat again.