Matching video card to cpu power?

[stinkydiver]

What's the best way to match video cards to CPU power?

I have:
Athlon 1700+ with a Radeon 64 DDR
Celeron 800 with a TNT

(both originally had slower CPUs)

I think the celeron would benefit from a better video card (for games of course)
but obviously there is a sweet spot where neither video card nor CPU is
the bottleneck.

I was thinking of a GeForce2 MX 400 64MB ($65) for the celeron, but could it
benefit from a better card?

Would I get the benefit from moving my Radeon down to the celeron and
putting something like a Radeon 8500 or Geforce3 TI200 in the Athlon?

Any suggestions?

Thanks, stinky.

 

[Superwormy]

Move Radeon to Celeron and buy a Radeon 8500 or Geforce 3 / 4 for XP.

 

[jiffylube1024]

<< Would I get the benefit from moving my Radeon down to the celeron and
putting something like a Radeon 8500 or Geforce3 TI200 in the Athlon? >>



Yup. That would make the most sense for you, seeing as you already have the Radeon (and it will definately be an improvement over the TNT on the Celery), and either a GF3 Ti200 or Radeon 8500 (retail) would be a big upgrade for the Athlon XP (both are similar in speed when overclocked).

 

[techietam]

<< I was thinking of a GeForce2 MX 400 64MB ($65) for the celeron >>



I just sold the same card with TVout for $50 shipped

 

[Demon-Xanth]

The only reason why matching cards to CPUs would be done is to reduce excess cost.

ie: if Q3 is limited by the CPU until xMHz at which point it's limited by a specific videocard. that would indicate that if you have a CPU at or below xMHz then that videocard would be fine, however above that speed then you'd want to look for a better vidcard.

There's no harm in sticking a V5 5500 in a P90 (but there really isn't a point to it either)

 

[Wuzup101]

Is there really a point to sticking a V5 5500 in anything? .... J/k man...gotta love 3dfx...wish they never went out of business!

 

[BFG10K]

Pair the fastest video card with the fastest processor. Then do the same for the next fastest CPU and video card and keep going until you have nothing left.