Upgrade questions for Gaming

[nigel5000]

Well, I"m in the market for a new GFX card, specificly for BF2, but one of my friends suggests that it's more bound to be my other hardware that would be worth upgrading instead. I currently have 2GB of memory and a 90mm 3500+ a64. My current GPU is x800 bios-unlocked to 16 pipes. I would like to get a new mobo for pciE and the new radeon 1800 XT.

Wouldn't the card be enough of the perfornance difference? Because i'm bewildered that my 3500+ and 2gb of memory needs upgrading for curent gen games. However, my friend kept insisting that the cpu and memory need upgrades before the card...which is what confuses me.

Edit: I run the game at 1280x960 @ 85 hrz with all settings on high except for dynamic lights/shadows on medium. 4xAA as well currently. It runs in the 30-55 fps range...I'm just seeking that above 60 average and hope that new card will deliver.

 

[GhandiInstinct]

Current gen games don't take advantage of any of that hardware its just poorly coded games, which games do you speak of?

 

[nigel5000]

Battlefield 2, like the comment on the thread says

 

[suicidalpigeon]

suck it up and lower your settings.

 

[nigel5000]

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
suck it up and lower your settings.

LOL never!! I have the 800 bucks I need for the upgrade, so I'm gonna spend it on something upgrade wise.

 

[RiDE]

Originally posted by: nigel5000

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
suck it up and lower your settings.

LOL never!! I have the 800 bucks I need for the upgrade, so I'm gonna spend it on something upgrade wise.

you don't need it, you just want it

 

[GhandiInstinct]

Originally posted by: RiDE

Originally posted by: nigel5000

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
suck it up and lower your settings.

LOL never!! I have the 800 bucks I need for the upgrade, so I'm gonna spend it on something upgrade wise.

you don't need it, you just want it

HAHA! Perfectly stated.

 

[nigel5000]

Lets assume for a minute that $ grows on trees, and for me this statement is true.

So why would I want to stick with my under 60 frames and not upgrade?

Define::masochist on google for me clown

Besides, what I need to know is whether or not I NEED to upgrade the 3500+ or 2GB of XMS before I upgrade the x800...that's what I need to know.

 

[Hacp]

Your still on 939? Why not 940 with 32 processors (64 cores). 2GB of memory? Sheesh, you need at least 64 GB. You defenetly need those before you even touch your video card.

 

[nigel5000]

...

 

[GhandiInstinct]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Your still on 939? Why not 940 with 32 processors (64 cores). 2GB of memory? Sheesh, you need at least 64 GB. You defenetly need those before you even touch your video card.

...

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Your still on 939? Why not 940 with 32 processors (64 cores). 2GB of memory? Sheesh, you need at least 64 GB. You defenetly need those before you even touch your video card.

must be the weed...

ok i say it's your graphic card. 2nd might be the 3500+ but i doubt it. definitely the card. but don't worry about it. upgrade in a few months. a new mobo and stuff is coming out so maybe u should save up for that

 

[Skyhanger]

I have a AMD 3700+ with 2GB of OCZ Performance ram and a eVGA 7800GT and I hit 100 fps regularly on stock, maybe 55 when there's lots of explosions going around.
This is with eveything maxed out and all the hardware running stock, and all 7800GT driver panel custom settings set to max quality/lowest performance.

Your friend is on crack. Your CPU is not that bad (and can be OCed) and your RAM is overkill. A $350 card will do the job. Save the $450 for your next upgrade down the road.

Actually, save that $800 and put in stocks. Like GhandiInstinct said: "You don't need it, you just want it"

 

[forumposter32]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-x1600_3.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2005-17gpu_8.html

In this last link, you see the 7800 GTX etc seem to hit a "ceiling". This seems indicative of a game that is CPU-bound. (The first link shows GPUs that aren't as powerful.)

Anyway, I suggest a 3500+ or even higher. Use pricegrabber (.com or .ca) or another one like the real time pricing guide here. There must be a 3800+ (single core) or close to it that's cheap enough somewhere.

\EDIT: I can't understand why socket 939 owners are being a$$-raped like that. I just checked prices and they're like $100 US above the equivalent socket 754 CPUs. And the X2 3800+ isn't as fast as the CPU in my sig in UT2004. So...:roll:

 

[firewolfsm]

buy a DFI Lanparty and a 7800GT, that will cost $500, but will last through the next generation.