Upgrade from a X800XL

[Concillian]

dual core does make a significant difference in most games in the last 3 years. Check the "100 CPUs tested" benchmarks that jaredpace linked earlier. Single cores fare quite poorly as games have become better with dual-cores. Single core K8 at 2.6 GHz lose HANDILY to dual-core at 2.0 GHz. In S939 days, dual core was around a 200 MHz advantage or like 10% faster. Now it's more like 50-60% faster than single core in games. If you can find someone with an old S939 dual core, they should be willing to part with it pretty cheap. You may post a WTB thread, just because these things are worth so little that people may not even bother with a FS thread on them.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Originally posted by: Xcobra
LOL! True...Will there be a significant difference between the Venice and the X2? Also, I have a OCZ PowerStream 520Watt PSU, will this be enough power for this card?

Significant difference hell yes. And thats more than enough power.

To give you an idea on how bad an X2 owns a single core CPU I built a rig for a friend earlier this year and used an AM2 LE-1620 OC'd to 3.3ghz ( thats with 1mb L2 cache ) and it ran fine enough, but when he upgraded to a BE-2300 I oc'd to 2.5ghz for him the BE-2300 destryoed the insanely high clocked single core CPU in every game and his WoW went from a little jittery to not a single chug to be found in any raid.

Oh, not to mention the 3800+ X2's can usually do 2.5 - 2.7ghz with a little effort

 

[MarcVenice]

Fact remains, bottlenecked or not, he will see HUGE improvements if he steps up to a $100 9800gt ... So we could add 100 more responses, the OP has to decide, is $100 worth a videocard that will be bottlenecked by his CPU, which he can re-use when he DOES get a new cpu, or should he save $50 and get a better matched videocard, which might prove to be to slow for Clear Sky and other games?

So considering his choice of games, I'd say 9800gt for $100, and try and get a x2 cpu ... With a 3850 his framerates will still dissapoint. And considering 2 9800gt's = 280gtx, I don't think it's unwise to expect for a budget videocard to still be usefull in a year. I mean, the 8800gt has been usefull for over a year allready ... A HD3850 on the other hand will be useless in 6 months if not faster, coz where the 9800gt can at least keep up, the HD3850 just chokes, pretty much like my 8800gts 320mb.

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: Concillian
dual core does make a significant difference in most games in the last 3 years. Check the "100 CPUs tested" benchmarks that jaredpace linked earlier. Single cores fare quite poorly as games have become better with dual-cores. Single core K8 at 2.6 GHz lose HANDILY to dual-core at 2.0 GHz. In S939 days, dual core was around a 200 MHz advantage or like 10% faster. Now it's more like 50-60% faster than single core in games. If you can find someone with an old S939 dual core, they should be willing to part with it pretty cheap. You may post a WTB thread, just because these things are worth so little that people may not even bother with a FS thread on them.

I agree fully, dual core is now very important for games with increases of usually 26% to 53% over single core processors!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Fact remains, bottlenecked or not, he will see HUGE improvements if he steps up to a $100 9800gt ... So we could add 100 more responses, the OP has to decide, is $100 worth a videocard that will be bottlenecked by his CPU, which he can re-use when he DOES get a new cpu, or should he save $50 and get a better matched videocard, which might prove to be to slow for Clear Sky and other games?

So considering his choice of games, I'd say 9800gt for $100, and try and get a x2 cpu ... With a 3850 his framerates will still dissapoint. And considering 2 9800gt's = 280gtx, I don't think it's unwise to expect for a budget videocard to still be usefull in a year. I mean, the 8800gt has been usefull for over a year allready ... A HD3850 on the other hand will be useless in 6 months if not faster, coz where the 9800gt can at least keep up, the HD3850 just chokes, pretty much like my 8800gts 320mb.

You're neglecting to read the post where he already ordered a card so what card he gets is a non issue now. Now we're on getting him to feed the card he is about to have by using a better CPU.

 

[Martimus]

My HD 3850 even at 256MB of RAM makes gaming at 1280x1024 good for every game I have thrown at it, including Crysis. (I play Crysis with all high settings on XP without a slowdown throughout the game.) My processor is slightly faster than yours, and is dual core, but it should be a similar experience. I also upgraded from an X800XL, and I can tell you the difference is immense. Since the new HD4650 is supposed to be equivalent to the HD 3850 that I have, I would suggest thet if you are running low on cash. It should be less than $100.

 

[FalseChristian]

Look in For Sale/Trade and see if you can get a socket 939 Athlon 64 X2 4800 which was the last CPU made by AMD which uses that socket. Anything higher requires an AM2 mobo. I had one and it was great.:thumbsup:

 

[EnzoLT]

ahh, i remember almost a year ago. i upgraded from an x800xl to a hd3870, plus new platform. i never looked back. have fun with your new card!! lol

 

[Xcobra]

Originally posted by: lifeobry

Originally posted by: Xcobra
Thanks! It should be here next week! yay! after 3 years!

i remember contemplating getting the X800XL for $299! enjoy the upgrade

I know...I got it when it was still in the $350s...sucked back then...

Anyways, thanks everyone. I know I will be happy with my new set-up...I wont upgrade for a year so this is perfect! I will look in FS/FT to see what I can find, although it seems few people have them nowadays. Again, Thanks! and will update when I get it...exciting! lol!

EDIT: should I just get an OEM X2?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Xcobra
EDIT: should I just get an OEM X2?

Yes. All of the retail Skt 939 X2's have been gone for a long time now. BTW, I agree with the people saying you need a dual-core for the games released in the past 2 years or so.

edit: That CPU is not Skt 939.

 

[adlep]

Originally posted by: Xcobra

Originally posted by: lifeobry

Originally posted by: Xcobra
Thanks! It should be here next week! yay! after 3 years!

i remember contemplating getting the X800XL for $299! enjoy the upgrade

I know...I got it when it was still in the $350s...sucked back then...

Anyways, thanks everyone. I know I will be happy with my new set-up...I wont upgrade for a year so this is perfect! I will look in FS/FT to see what I can find, although it seems few people have them nowadays. Again, Thanks! and will update when I get it...exciting! lol!

EDIT: should I just get an OEM X2?

Don't as it is a NOT s939 cpu

X2 s939 cpus are expensive!

 

[MarcVenice]

Originally posted by: Dazed and Confused

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Fact remains, bottlenecked or not, he will see HUGE improvements if he steps up to a $100 9800gt ... So we could add 100 more responses, the OP has to decide, is $100 worth a videocard that will be bottlenecked by his CPU, which he can re-use when he DOES get a new cpu, or should he save $50 and get a better matched videocard, which might prove to be to slow for Clear Sky and other games?

So considering his choice of games, I'd say 9800gt for $100, and try and get a x2 cpu ... With a 3850 his framerates will still dissapoint. And considering 2 9800gt's = 280gtx, I don't think it's unwise to expect for a budget videocard to still be usefull in a year. I mean, the 8800gt has been usefull for over a year allready ... A HD3850 on the other hand will be useless in 6 months if not faster, coz where the 9800gt can at least keep up, the HD3850 just chokes, pretty much like my 8800gts 320mb.

You're neglecting to read the post where he already ordered a card so what card he gets is a non issue now. Now we're on getting him to feed the card he is about to have by using a better CPU.

Didn't I start with 'fact remains'? Maybe he could still be swayed. I pity him, as soon as he buys a 24" screen he's going to make a post and say how bad his 3850/4670 sucks ass at 1920*1200. And it's you who give him the poor advice ...

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice

Originally posted by: Dazed and Confused

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Fact remains, bottlenecked or not, he will see HUGE improvements if he steps up to a $100 9800gt ... So we could add 100 more responses, the OP has to decide, is $100 worth a videocard that will be bottlenecked by his CPU, which he can re-use when he DOES get a new cpu, or should he save $50 and get a better matched videocard, which might prove to be to slow for Clear Sky and other games?

So considering his choice of games, I'd say 9800gt for $100, and try and get a x2 cpu ... With a 3850 his framerates will still dissapoint. And considering 2 9800gt's = 280gtx, I don't think it's unwise to expect for a budget videocard to still be usefull in a year. I mean, the 8800gt has been usefull for over a year allready ... A HD3850 on the other hand will be useless in 6 months if not faster, coz where the 9800gt can at least keep up, the HD3850 just chokes, pretty much like my 8800gts 320mb.

You're neglecting to read the post where he already ordered a card so what card he gets is a non issue now. Now we're on getting him to feed the card he is about to have by using a better CPU.

Didn't I start with 'fact remains'? Maybe he could still be swayed. I pity him, as soon as he buys a 24" screen he's going to make a post and say how bad his 3850/4670 sucks ass at 1920*1200. And it's you who give him the poor advice ...

Funny thing is about that is the 9800GT won't push 1920x1200 with a 3200+ venice @ 3ghz even It prob won't even push 1650x1080 with a single core CPU considering for starters it is an 8800GT and even my rig which is running an AM2 X2 @ 3.2ghz with 4gb DDR2-800 and an 8800GTS 512 will have enough problems @ 1650x1080 so even this card won't hack 1920x1200 for me so there is no way in hell you're convincing anyone with your information.

 

[MarcVenice]

The higher the resolution, the less of a CPU bottleneck you have. In fact, a higher resolution isn't going to increase load on the CPU, so I'm not sure why you are mentioning the cpu at all. It will give the same or a worse bottleneck at 1280*1024. And my 8800gts 320mb runs a lot of games pretty well at 1680*1050, and last time I checked a 9800gt can run many games at 1920*1200 w/o aa just fine ... A 9800gt will give playable FPS in CoD4 at 1920*1200 , but a HD3850/4670 will choke.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14

Now, the only thing YOU have proven is how easy it is to convince a lay person and that even bad advice can be given and might be followed, because it is a lay person after all. So keep convincing yourself with your 'mystical' information, because it's based on nothing but a lot of hot air ...

 

[Phynaz]

Personal attacks from a Mod?

That's pretty poor behaviour.

I am the mod here, not Marc. You shall have no mod before me (and BFG) when it comes to Video. Marc posts as a regular member. Please keep that in mind in the future.

As for the post, while it's not the nicest post, it is not against the rules.

-ViRGE

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Phynaz
Personal attacks from a Mod?

That's pretty poor behaviour.

i don't see any 'attacks'. Are you from England?

The OP has got his card ordered .. who cares anymore?
- he gets to find out for himself what his "upgrade" will do

perhaps he will come back later and tell us how disa... happy he is
- i think he will like ANY upgrade over that ancient card

 

[Xcobra]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
The higher the resolution, the less of a CPU bottleneck you have. In fact, a higher resolution isn't going to increase load on the CPU, so I'm not sure why you are mentioning the cpu at all. It will give the same or a worse bottleneck at 1280*1024. And my 8800gts 320mb runs a lot of games pretty well at 1680*1050, and last time I checked a 9800gt can run many games at 1920*1200 w/o aa just fine ... A 9800gt will give playable FPS in CoD4 at 1920*1200 , but a HD3850/4670 will choke.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14

Now, the only thing YOU have proven is how easy it is to convince a lay person and that even bad advice can be given and might be followed, because it is a lay person after all. So keep convincing yourself with your 'mystical' information, because it's based on nothing but a lot of hot air ...

I think I know enough about my situation to make my own decision. I get it that I could go for something better, I mean, we all could. But given that I am a poor college student, I think for 50 bucks, this card, I couldn't pass up. I add the dual-core and this will last me at least another year. Then, I will have the resources for more upgrades.

I don't think he has proven that its easy to convince anyone, it is what makes sense given what I have and my situation. I am sure the upgrade will be substantial compared to what I have. Thanks.

 

[MarcVenice]

It's just that as soon as you buy a 24" screen, like you mentioned, your new card will be obsolete. A 9800gt on the other hand would still have chugged along just fine ...

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Xcobra

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
The higher the resolution, the less of a CPU bottleneck you have. In fact, a higher resolution isn't going to increase load on the CPU, so I'm not sure why you are mentioning the cpu at all. It will give the same or a worse bottleneck at 1280*1024. And my 8800gts 320mb runs a lot of games pretty well at 1680*1050, and last time I checked a 9800gt can run many games at 1920*1200 w/o aa just fine ... A 9800gt will give playable FPS in CoD4 at 1920*1200 , but a HD3850/4670 will choke.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14

Now, the only thing YOU have proven is how easy it is to convince a lay person and that even bad advice can be given and might be followed, because it is a lay person after all. So keep convincing yourself with your 'mystical' information, because it's based on nothing but a lot of hot air ...

I think I know enough about my situation to make my own decision. I get it that I could go for something better, I mean, we all could. But given that I am a poor college student, I think for 50 bucks, this card, I couldn't pass up. I add the dual-core and this will last me at least another year. Then, I will have the resources for more upgrades.

I don't think he has proven that its easy to convince anyone, it is what makes sense given what I have and my situation. I am sure the upgrade will be substantial compared to what I have. Thanks.

I am not so sure you still get it. You came here asking for help with an inexpensive upgrade and that you are considering going to a 24 inch monitor. Well if you do that LCD upgrade with the video card that you just ordered, you might as well throw your $50 into the trashcan right now. In that case with a new LCD, you will be throwing good money after bad and a little extra money spent right now will guarantee you a chance at some gaming instead of being forced to toss your new new card out of your PC and buy still another brand-new card just to game at 24".

The fact is, if you are going to game with your 17 inch monitor, almost any cheap card as an upgrade will do for another year. if you really DO upgrade to 24 inch you ought to reconsider right now, well you still have time.
:clock:

At any rate it does not affect me, other than to know what happens with you so I can give good advice to the next guy. Let us know what you think of the upgrade when you get it; and especially after you upgrade your LCD.
--We expect will see you shortly back here - asking for advice you will ignore, when you need to upgrade again after you get your new LCD, anyway.

 

[Xcobra]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Xcobra

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
The higher the resolution, the less of a CPU bottleneck you have. In fact, a higher resolution isn't going to increase load on the CPU, so I'm not sure why you are mentioning the cpu at all. It will give the same or a worse bottleneck at 1280*1024. And my 8800gts 320mb runs a lot of games pretty well at 1680*1050, and last time I checked a 9800gt can run many games at 1920*1200 w/o aa just fine ... A 9800gt will give playable FPS in CoD4 at 1920*1200 , but a HD3850/4670 will choke.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14

Now, the only thing YOU have proven is how easy it is to convince a lay person and that even bad advice can be given and might be followed, because it is a lay person after all. So keep convincing yourself with your 'mystical' information, because it's based on nothing but a lot of hot air ...

I think I know enough about my situation to make my own decision. I get it that I could go for something better, I mean, we all could. But given that I am a poor college student, I think for 50 bucks, this card, I couldn't pass up. I add the dual-core and this will last me at least another year. Then, I will have the resources for more upgrades.

I don't think he has proven that its easy to convince anyone, it is what makes sense given what I have and my situation. I am sure the upgrade will be substantial compared to what I have. Thanks.

I am not so sure you still get it. You came here asking for help with an inexpensive upgrade and that you are considering going to a 24 inch monitor. Well if you do that LCD upgrade with the video card that you just ordered, you might as well throw your $50 into the trashcan right now. In that case with a new LCD, you will be throwing good money after bad and a little extra money spent right now will guarantee you a chance at some gaming instead of being forced to toss your new new card out of your PC and buy still another brand-new card just to game at 24".

The fact is, if you are going to game with your 17 inch monitor, almost any cheap card as an upgrade will do for another year. if you really DO upgrade to 24 inch you ought to reconsider right now, well you still have time.
:clock:

At any rate it does not affect me, other than to know what happens with you so I can give good advice to the next guy. Let us know what you think of the upgrade when you get it; and especially after you upgrade your LCD.
--We expect will see you shortly back here - asking for advice you will ignore, when you need to upgrade again after you get your new LCD, anyway.

Thats what I said in my first post. I don't have the money for any NEW upgrades or the LCD. BTW, you are making it sound like this is the worst advice I got, It will certainly beat what I have currently.

 

[Xcobra]

On another note, My Venice is currently naked, thus I had to modify the cooler (Thermaltake xp-90) bracket. Should I just remove the heatspreader on the X2 or will there be any complications? Also, any special updates in order for the system to recognize the X2? Thanks again!

 

[Xcobra]

double post.

 

[Xcobra]

up...

 

[kmmatney]

I saw some huge gains going from a X850XT to my 2900Pro (equivalent to a 3870) - I think it will be a decent upgrade for you. I would have recommended a 9800GTm but the card you ordered is great for the price.

Not sure I understand you last question, but I wouldn't remove the heat spreader. WHen did you get an X2? Is it a Toledo? You probably need to update the BIOS to teh latest revision, so do that beforehand with your Venice.

 

[Rabbits]

To the opening post, if your going to go hardcore try out the GTX 280.
The Zotac one specifically, since that's what the one that I'm using at the moment, excellent card.