Upgrade to 9600 GT from 8600 GT

[tonkovich]

Hello all,

I would like to ask the knowledgeable people here if it would do me any good to upgrade from the 8600 GT that I currently run to a 9600 GT. I'm afraid that my CPU will act as a bottleneck, but I have not been able to find info specific to my situation anywhere on the net. My current system is as follows: Athlon64 3000+, 2GB RAM, PCI Express slot, on-board audio. I know that I really need to upgrade everything to keep pace with current games, but right now I am budget limited. Will a 9600 GT benefit me, or will I see no improvement in frame rates?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Cogman]

I would consider the ATI 4830 over the 9600GT. It performs better in every situation, sometimes by a large margin. and is only $10 more.

I would definitely consider getting a new CPU soon, but for a video card I would recommend that 4830.

 

[Leyawiin]

I wouldn't bother upgrading to anything with a single core Athlon64 @ 1.8 Ghz. I doubt you'll find any review or information to concretely confirm a bottleneck with modern cards paired with an Athlon64 3000+, but it just stands to reason that such a small, old CPU is going to choke it. Your 8600 GT is a better match for its capability.

 

[brblx]

you need a new processor. you will see some gain with a 9600GT, but likely not much.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Leyawiin
I wouldn't bother upgrading to anything with a single core Athlon64 @ 1.8 Ghz. I doubt you'll find any review or information to concretely confirm a bottleneck with modern cards paired with an Athlon64 3000+, but it just stands to reason that such a small, old CPU is going to choke it. Your 8600 GT is a better match for its capability.

very true

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: tonkovich
Hello all,

I would like to ask the knowledgeable people here if it would do me any good to upgrade from the 8600 GT that I currently run to a 9600 GT. I'm afraid that my CPU will act as a bottleneck, but I have not been able to find info specific to my situation anywhere on the net. My current system is as follows: Athlon64 3000+, 2GB RAM, PCI Express slot, on-board audio. I know that I really need to upgrade everything to keep pace with current games, but right now I am budget limited. Will a 9600 GT benefit me, or will I see no improvement in frame rates?

Thanks in advance for the help!

I just sent one of my 9600gt to a friend who has a sempron 3400 (almost the same chip). Actually the second card I've sent him. First upgrade was a 1950pro from a 8600gt. He said it made a tremendous difference in the games he play. Cod4, Left4Dead, Killing Floor, Team Fortress 2. Will you benefit from a new cpu (system) upgrade?; sure, but if you're budget conscious go for it.

Consider the 4770, it may be a bit more ($95), but it falls with the same power level 30-70w you would be able to run without getting a new PSU. It's a much stronger card (say 10-20%)

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Schmide

Originally posted by: tonkovich
Hello all,

I would like to ask the knowledgeable people here if it would do me any good to upgrade from the 8600 GT that I currently run to a 9600 GT. I'm afraid that my CPU will act as a bottleneck, but I have not been able to find info specific to my situation anywhere on the net. My current system is as follows: Athlon64 3000+, 2GB RAM, PCI Express slot, on-board audio. I know that I really need to upgrade everything to keep pace with current games, but right now I am budget limited. Will a 9600 GT benefit me, or will I see no improvement in frame rates?

Thanks in advance for the help!

I just sent one of my 9600gt to a friend who has a sempron 3400 (almost the same chip). Actually the second card I've sent him. First upgrade was a 1950pro from a 8600gt. He said it made a tremendous difference in the games he play. Cod4, Left4Dead, Killing Floor, Team Fortress 2. Will you benefit from a new cpu (system) upgrade?; sure, but if you're budget conscious go for it.

Consider the 4770, it may be a bit more ($95), but it falls with the same power level 30-70w you would be able to run without getting a new PSU. It's a much stronger card (say 10-20%)

well if your friend says it made a huge difference then it must be worth it? lets be realistic a 3000 A64 barely meets the minimum to play some newer games and overall it will bottleneck the hell out of a 9600gt. suggesting a 4770 with that old slow single core cpu is beyond ridiculous.

9600gt will certainly make all games faster but most newer ones will barely budge because of that cpu no matter what card he goes with. see those sempron LE cpus that are actually a little faster than his 3000 A64 can only muster 40-45 fps in L4D even with a gtx280. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?b=48

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: Schmide

Originally posted by: tonkovich
Hello all,

I would like to ask the knowledgeable people here if it would do me any good to upgrade from the 8600 GT that I currently run to a 9600 GT. I'm afraid that my CPU will act as a bottleneck, but I have not been able to find info specific to my situation anywhere on the net. My current system is as follows: Athlon64 3000+, 2GB RAM, PCI Express slot, on-board audio. I know that I really need to upgrade everything to keep pace with current games, but right now I am budget limited. Will a 9600 GT benefit me, or will I see no improvement in frame rates?

Thanks in advance for the help!

I just sent one of my 9600gt to a friend who has a sempron 3400 (almost the same chip). Actually the second card I've sent him. First upgrade was a 1950pro from a 8600gt. He said it made a tremendous difference in the games he play. Cod4, Left4Dead, Killing Floor, Team Fortress 2. Will you benefit from a new cpu (system) upgrade?; sure, but if you're budget conscious go for it.

Consider the 4770, it may be a bit more ($95), but it falls with the same power level 30-70w you would be able to run without getting a new PSU. It's a much stronger card (say 10-20%)

well if your friend says it made a huge difference then it must be worth it? lets be realistic a 3000 A64 barely meets the minimum to play some newer games and overall it will bottleneck the hell out of a 9600gt. suggesting a 4770 with that old slow single core cpu is beyond ridiculous.

We've had this argument before. It's ok to disagree. He does complain that certain load scenes give him crap 20-30fps, but during regular game play, he reports 60-90fps. Not everything is a cut and dry this or that as you make it.

It's the value of the game, regardless of any bottleneck in a system, adding a more powerful component should give some improvement.

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: toyota
9600gt will certainly make all games faster but most newer ones will barely budge because of that cpu no matter what card he goes with. see those sempron LE cpus that are actually a little faster than his 3000 A64 can only muster 40-45 fps in L4D even with a gtx280. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?b=48

I kind of agree, but it's an average. Will it be as fluid as a top end system? No. Will it be playable, most likely.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Schmide

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: Schmide

Originally posted by: tonkovich
Hello all,

I would like to ask the knowledgeable people here if it would do me any good to upgrade from the 8600 GT that I currently run to a 9600 GT. I'm afraid that my CPU will act as a bottleneck, but I have not been able to find info specific to my situation anywhere on the net. My current system is as follows: Athlon64 3000+, 2GB RAM, PCI Express slot, on-board audio. I know that I really need to upgrade everything to keep pace with current games, but right now I am budget limited. Will a 9600 GT benefit me, or will I see no improvement in frame rates?

Thanks in advance for the help!

I just sent one of my 9600gt to a friend who has a sempron 3400 (almost the same chip). Actually the second card I've sent him. First upgrade was a 1950pro from a 8600gt. He said it made a tremendous difference in the games he play. Cod4, Left4Dead, Killing Floor, Team Fortress 2. Will you benefit from a new cpu (system) upgrade?; sure, but if you're budget conscious go for it.

Consider the 4770, it may be a bit more ($95), but it falls with the same power level 30-70w you would be able to run without getting a new PSU. It's a much stronger card (say 10-20%)

well if your friend says it made a huge difference then it must be worth it? lets be realistic a 3000 A64 barely meets the minimum to play some newer games and overall it will bottleneck the hell out of a 9600gt. suggesting a 4770 with that old slow single core cpu is beyond ridiculous.

We've had this argument before. It's ok to disagree. He does complain that certain load scenes give him crap 20-30fps, but during regular game play, he reports 60-90fps. Not everything is a cut and dry this or that as you make it.

It's the value of the game, regardless of any bottleneck in a system, adding a more powerful component should give some improvement.

well I agree somewhat and its sort of a predicament for people like this. they can get faster performance from a better card but is it really worth it knowing that almost 40-50% of it is going down the drain because of the cpu.

I have had an 8600gt and a 9600gt and I can tell you that even with a 5000 X2 the difference was surprisingly small in some games at 1280x1024 and especially 1024x768. just one core of that 5000 X2 is faster than his cpu so I cant even imagine dealing with it. unless he is at 1280 or better than I wouldnt even waste money on the 9600gt not to mention the 4770.

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: toyota
I have had an 8600gt and a 9600gt and I can tell you that even with a 5000 X2 the difference was surprisingly small in some games at 1280x1024 and especially 1024x768. just one core of that 5000 X2 is faster than his cpu so I cant even imagine dealing with it. unless he is at 1280 or better than I wouldnt even waste money on the 9600gt not to mention the 4770.

It is nearly impossible to find 8600gt benchmarks. Assuming an 8800gts(320) is near a 9600gt in performance.

g80 vs g90

8600 vs 8800

The 8600gt is a dog. It's about half as powerful as an 8800gts(320) (9600gt). If you couldn't notice a difference between the two cards, you need to get your eyes checked or there is something seriously wrong with your system.

 

[lifeblood]

Get a 4830 and you will see a noticeable improvement. Then save up for a new CPU.

Will the 4830 give you a huge increase? No. But it will give you an increase. Then, when you upgrade your CPU, you will see another increase. Also, if money is an issue, consider getting a very fast single core CPU. They tend to be cheaper then dual core's and many older games don't see as much performance gain with dual cores as they do with higher clocked single cores.

If your current system is a socket 939, save your money for a CPU/mobo/RAM replacement.

 

[OCGuy]

Get a new system.

 

[F1shF4t]

Originally posted by: Schmide
It is nearly impossible to find 8600gt benchmarks. Assuming an 8800gts(320) is near a 9600gt in performance.

g80 vs g90

8600 vs 8800

The 8600gt is a dog. It's about half as powerful as an 8800gts(320) (9600gt). If you couldn't notice a difference between the two cards, you need to get your eyes checked or there is something seriously wrong with your system.

QFT. Had both and the 8600gt is a dog. My 8600gt was no normal card too. I had it clocked just below 8600gts clocks with shaders higher at ~1700mhz and it was still pretty slow. All in all as far as I remember it was a bit faster than my old 7800gt (just estimating from memory, didn't have the cards on me at the same time)

While the single core will limit a faster card severily there should be still a ton of performance difference for games not completely cpu limited. For dual core system the difference should be MUCH more apparent.

 

[tonkovich]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I really appreciate it. It looks like the general consensus is that the upgrade would give me marginally better performance, but probably not enough to justify the purchase. I guess I will stick with what I've got for now or look for a great deal on the 4830.