Using old CPU with some latest GPU

[abubakarm]

Hi, I have a amd athlon 64 3000+ cpu and motherboard is K8NGM-V (has pci x16, had a 7900gs on it which i sold few months back, havnt gamed for months !!!) with 1.5gb ram. If I get a gtx 260 or 280, will there be any significant problems (bottlenecks??) because of my old cpu and 1.5gb ram? I mean problems big enough to say that its not worth upgrading the gpu alone on this computer? Right now i only have money for the gpu and the power supply and cannot replace complete cpu. I dont game at more than 1280 by 1024 resolution. Games that I love to play would be Crysis, Gears of War, Bioshock, COD4, and the like. GOW and Bioshock I have already finished on 7900gs but would love to play again on 260/280.

..ab

 

[Skunkwourk]

Well sometimes I feel like my 3700 is maxed out with my x1950. I was going to get the 3850 but without a dual-core CPU I didn't think it was worth it.

EDIT: I'd actually upgrade your CPU before I thought about getting a new vid card.

 

[kmmatney]

Hard to say - I didn't se much improvement in Oblivion, when going from an Athlon 3800+ X2, to my overclocked Core 2 Duo. If you upgrade your CPU, you will probably have to get new memory as well. I think overall a 260, 9800GTX+ or HD4850 would be your best bet - anything faster is probably overkill.

 

[abubakarm]

gtx 280 will be overkill indeed, but in few months if I get a new cpu/motherboard/ram it'll be good for that. So i 'm thinking on these lines.

Important thing i forgot to ask, is my motherboard going to have any problems plugging in 260/280 ? Because I have been reading that since they are huge cards some people had problem plugging them in.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: abubakarm
gtx 280 will be overkill indeed, but in few months if I get a new cpu/motherboard/ram it'll be good for that. So i 'm thinking on these lines.

Important thing i forgot to ask, is my motherboard going to have any problems plugging in 260/280 ? Because I have been reading that since they are huge cards some people had problem plugging them in.

The GTX 280 is effectively the same size as the 8800GTX. Google to see if that board handles the 8800GTX well, and you should have your answer.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: kmmatney
Hard to say - I didn't se much improvement in Oblivion, when going from an Athlon 3800+ X2, to my overclocked Core 2 Duo. If you upgrade your CPU, you will probably have to get new memory as well. I think overall a 260, 9800GTX+ or HD4850 would be your best bet - anything faster is probably overkill.

I'm using a 3800+ X2 CPU with a 4870 Video card,yes I know I'm CPU limited but the beauty of 4870 card is I can max out everything in Oblivion at 1680x1050 res, it runs a lot smoother then my old 7800GT card which I had to reduce a lot of settings on,however I do have 4GB of ram.

I'm happy with my 4870 card,down the road I'll replace my CPU/board, but for now it handles all the games I throw at it.

 

[Denithor]

Well, according to MSI's product sheet your board doesn't support X2 chips:

CPU
? Supports 64-bit AMD® Athlon? 64 & Sempron processor (Socket 754)
? Supports Athlon? 64 2800+ ~ 3700+ and Sempron 2600+ ~ 3300+

I doubt that a single core A64 @ 1.8GHz will push anything higher than maybe an 8800GT to the fullest potential. And I seriously wouldn't recommend spend money on a 3700+ or any other single-core cpu at this time, the performance just isn't up to par.

For your processor get either an 8800GS ($88AR), HD3870 ($100AR) or at most an 8800GT ($134AR). Any of these cards will improve your gaming experience significantly from a 7900GS without breaking the bank. I would personally lean toward either the 8800GS (I have two of them in folding boxes, they're dead silent & high performance for the money) or the 3870 just based on the low price points. The 8800GT is still priced too high for its performance, for another $20 you can get a 4850 that will blow it away (except I wouldn't expect too much difference due to your cpu).

Otherwise, do a full system update, something like this:
e7200 (2.53GHz, 3MB cache) $130
G33 (mATX) or P45 (ATX) chipset motherboard ~ $100
2x1GB DDR2-800 $37.50AR or 2x2GB DDR2-800 $72AR

Add a 4850, 4870, or GTX260 and you'll be in gaming heaven. Just make sure you've got a strong enough power supply to handle the system.

 

[gregoryvg]

I think many posters greatly overemphasize CPU bottlenecking. The fact is, the more powerful your videocard the higher resolutions you can run and the more 'bling' you can turn on in the game almost regardless of your CPU.

While the Athlon XP 3000 is an older CPU, you can team it up to a GTX 280 and it will perform better than someone that has a Core 2 Extreme 3.2ghz teamed up to a 8600GTS.

That being said, it might make more sense financially to get a budget gaming card (think 3870 or 9600GSO) to hold you over until you do upgrade your PC, and then you might find the GTX 280 even cheaper, or perhaps the GTX 380 will even be out.

 

[Modular]

I have a socket 939 3400+ coupled with the MSI 4850 and 2GB of ram. Stock performance is pretty good in most games. I can max out Oblivion (2x AA/16x aniso), COD4 (max aniso/2x AA) and the Witcher that came with the card as well. I also run Crysis @ all High settings (Motion Blur off), no AA and very little aniso. This results in some serious slowdowns at times though, but I don't really mind as the game looks phenominal. All games are run @ 1680x1050

At those settings, there are times where the minimum frames are a tad low, so I began to overclock my 3400. I guess what I'm saying is that I think it would be worth it for now, but you just need to realize that whatever card you buy is going to be severely limited by the rest of your system. In the end however, you will still improve performance greatly over what you had with the 7900gs.

 

[abubakarm]

ok thanks guys. So what I understand is that I should get something like 4850 or 9800gtx+, something not more than $200. Because even if I get a gtx 260 or 280, its not going to do any better than 9800 or 4850 on my current system. And I think I know my plans for upgrading the processor/motherboard/ram, and that is not happening for another few months, maybe I dont upgrade till 2009 and by than its true that prices of 260 or 280 will be further low and even if they are not some new cards will be out with better performance and better prices of course.

 

[dakels]

I'd agree that a 4850/9800GTX+ in the $150-200 range is probably your best bang for the buck. It will carry into your new system pretty well. Although, if you were already willing to spend $500+ on a 280, then why not get the upgrades like Denithor mentioned and a 4850 all for under $500? I think that would bear the biggest bang for the buck.

Although I am very curious to see what a modern, high end card will do on your older system. Please do us a favor and take benchies before and after.

 

[RussianSensation]

I would go for $100 3870 512mb w/ free shipping
. Save the rest for a platform upgrade. A64 3000+ is way too slow for anything else when it comes to minimum framerates (and it's also not a dual core processor which will tank in Bioshock, Supreme Commander, COD4, etc.).

 

[taltamir]

You should upgrade you CPU now and the GPU in a few months, not the other way around. Get a Q6600 OCed past 3ghz. There are a variety of games that are extremely CPU hungry and cannot get good min FPS even with a E8400, even if overclocked.
The X2 3000 is so slow and ancient in comparison, that it will definitely cap you at a low resolution.

Or better yet, do a package upgrade... put the money in the bank, and when nehalem arrives upgrade CPU and GPU at once.

Also GTX280 is kind of throwing money into the wind, it is only a few percent faster then the 4870, which beats it in some games and costs 150$ less... and the 4850 is only 200$ but fairly close to the 4870.

 

[chizow]

I'd go with a balanced approached as well with a complete system overhaul instead of either an extremely fast CPU/system or GPU. If you can only do one or the other now, I'd do the video card first as it will definitely improve your gaming experience with your current rig compared to the 7900GS.

 

[Marty502]

I used to have an Athlon 64 running at 2.5 Ghz.

When I had a 7600GT on it, it felt pretty balanced overall. But then I bought a Radeon x1950 Pro and voilá, Oblivion showed inmediately how CPU limited I was. Performance was exactly the same at 800x600 or 1280x1024. And it was OK, but far from satisfactory. In fact, Crysis was unstandably bad. I then upgraded to a dual core AMD, and the frames almost doubled, if not more.

Don't dump your money on a GTX260. It will be a mayor waste.

 

[Skunkwourk]

Originally posted by: Marty502
I used to have an Athlon 64 running at 2.5 Ghz.

When I had a 7600GT on it, it felt pretty balanced overall. But then I bought a Radeon x1950 Pro and voilá, Oblivion showed inmediately how CPU limited I was. Performance was exactly the same at 800x600 or 1280x1024. And it was OK, but far from satisfactory. In fact, Crysis was unstandably bad. I then upgraded to a dual core AMD, and the frames almost doubled, if not more.

Don't dump your money on a GTX260. It will be a mayor waste.

This is my experience as well, I went from a 6800GT to my x1950, and while it was better at higher resolutions, my gaming experience did not improve significantly leading me to believe I needed at least a dual-core to utilize the full potential of any newer GPU. Granted you should get a dual core anyway, its becoming the minimum requirement for todays games.

 

[taltamir]

mass effect, and other games, requires at LEAST a quad core... as I have showed here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2205375&enterthread=y

 

[woolfe9999]

You've had recommendations to upgrade one or the other first, but personally I see no reason to upgrade one now only to have the other bottleneck you. You're better off saving your pennies and upgrading both when you have the money to do both. And when you do it, you may well have better price/performance options for both. I'm not saying wait for cheaper/better technology per se. If you have the money for both right now, then do it now. I just don't see any reason to buy one now and not the other when the performance gains will likely disappoint you.

- woolfe