Performance Increase From New Card On Old System

[LT4CAMSS]

I'm almost done building a new system...waiting for a dual processor AMD choice for now (either 4400+ or 4800+). I have this older system that I will still be using as it still works great. It's a P3 Tualatin 1.4S and it's fitted with an old V5 5500 gfx card. To be honest, this computer works well, it just has trouble in some newer games. When I used to play Vice City on it a year ago, it worked flawlessly. I just had to turn down drawing distance a little bit. My question is, how big of a performance boost will I get on this thing if I buy a 9800 Pro or 9800XT. I understand that there is no point going with anything better as the cpu will then be the bottleneck. Even a 9800 Pro or XT may be more than enough. But I will probably get a good deal on it if I do go w/ a 9800 Pro or XT so I wanna know just how big is the jump? Is it even worth it? Can anyone draw some kind of comparison as to how big of a difference it'll be? Thanks...

 

[bcoupland]

I'm pretty sure that a 9800Pro/XT will be bottlenecked by that processor. A good option would be a 6200 AGP. Even an AGP 6600, if you can find one for $105 or less could be viable, although it will be somewhat bottlenecked. How much ram do you have?

 

[LT4CAMSS]

Thanks for the reply. It's got 256 mb of ram.

 

[keeleysam]

Originally posted by: LT4CAMSS
Thanks for the reply. It's got 256 mb of ram.

That is NOT enough. Get a couple 256MB sticks or one 512 stick.

 

[Concillian]

dude, the jump from a v5 5500 to a 9800 Pro is a big jump. You can get 9800 level cards for a round $100 these days, so I think it's a good option.

If the CPU becomes a bottleneck then oh well, you will still be able to run 1600x1200 + all video options, because if the CPU is a bottleneck, rarely does it impact performance at higher resolutions, etc...

So at teh very least you will get better visual detail... that's assuming you are being held back by the CPU now. If you're not being held back by the CPU now, you will get BOTH faster performance and better visual detail.

256MB RAM may be a concern as well though. Listen for your hard drive and/or look for your HD light. If you are having issues because of the RAM you will experience slowdowns because of the hard drive usage.

Personally i'd get something now that you will plug the x2 into later (S939 Mobo/CPU + RAM/video card). 3000+ are under $150, and you will be able to sell it when you move onto the x2, overall about a $50 loss or so, which is the same loss as you'll have by getting a <$100 video card and selling it later.

 

[LT4CAMSS]

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it.

Concillian - You answered my question. Well, I was thinking of keeping the old setup and just updating it to keep it alive for as long as I can. It literally does run well. I don't think the ram is much of a problem. I haven't experienced ridiculous slowdowns. It's not like the older P3s or even the early P4s. But you brought up a very good point. I guess I could get rid of this setup...that'd be a help for the pocket. I also got rid of my FX-55 that I was going to use now that the X2s are coming out. Thanks again.

 

[bcoupland]

Well, a great upgrade would be 2x256MB or 1x512MB sticks of ram plus the cheapest 128bit mem. bus 6200AGP that you can find or a 9600Pro. It should play most games such as HL2 and DOOM3 at 800x600~1024x768 med to high details. It's about $120 for an upgrade that will allow hold you over until your next build. After that, it can be a backup machine for when your friends come over and you want to play some LAN games.

9600Pro $82.99
256MB Kingston PC-133 $39.99