Video Card Suggestions for 939 Opteron 165

[Vdubchaos]

So my brother in law is holding off this AMD/Nvidia battle to get a new Graphics card (he currently has 9600GT I believe).

Anyways, he has a 939 Opteron 165 Denmark (dual core). I believe it is 1.8ghz.

He is thinking 460GTX 1gb possibly 6850 (depending on benchmarks of course) and price drops.

Would his CPU bottleneck the card? What would be the max Video card for his set up.

If you have any kind of links etc that can help us figure it out that would be great too.

Also his motherboard (Asus SLI) is none PCIE 2.0 (just regular PCIE), does that make a difference in performance as well.

PS. Guessing he will be upgrading his PC within next 1-2 years.

I have a feeling the answer is "get the best card you can for the budget" as it will perform better once rest of the PC is upgraded. But I would like to get an idea of what that fine line is.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Opteron 165's love 2.6+GHz. 🙂 Add some voltage and adjust the multiplier. On socket 939 you won't do much better than a 2.6 - 2.8GHz dual core, and even overclocked it will likely be a bottle neck.

For whatever it's worth, when I had that CPU @ 2.6GHz it handled whatever I threw at it, but then again we are talking about 2.5 years ago.

A GTX460 or 6850 will certainly work, but be held back by that CPU.

 

[Lonyo]

His CPU will absolutely kill his graphics card.
The only reason to get anything particularly expensive (>$100) is if he is upgrading very soon and wants to keep the card for say 3 years.

My X2 4200+ bottlenecked my HD4850 in a lot of games. A GTX460 1GB is twice as fast, and your brother's CPU will be about half the speed (since most new games are at least dual threaded).

He really really needs a better CPU to really get much out of a decent GPU.

PCIe vs PCIe 2.0 won't really make any difference, even on a top end system it makes no real difference.

 

[RussianSensation]

A 1.8ghz Athlon X2 is way too slow. HD4870 for $100 is the best card for that CPU and even then it's overkill.

Don't even start thinking about GTX460/6850. That extra $$ would be better spend on getting a new CPU.

 

[toyota]

A 1.8ghz Athlon X2 is way too slow. HD4870 for $100 is the best card for that CPU and even then it's overkill.

Don't even start thinking about GTX460/6850. That extra $$ would be better spend on getting a new CPU.

you know I agree with that. he wont get 50% of what even a 4870 can do in more cpu intensive games.

 

[ElFenix]

i had a 165 overclocked with a 4870. not worth getting a faster card than that when you can get a faster CPU/mobo/ram setup for under $150 at fry's any day of the week. pair the 4870 with that faster combo (which is what i've done) and he'll have a pretty decent setup for gaming. unless he's trying to drive a 24" 1900x1200 monitor or something.

 

[oldswab]

I ran a pentium D 915 @ 3.8ghz with a 4870 for several months on a high mid-end platform while saving up for a used e6600. The difference between the two CPU's when I got the e6600 (3.2ghz) while playing LoTRO and FPS's was very noticeable, even at 1680x1050.

I can't help but think that the processor will toileterize a good gpu, but also can't help but recommend a 4870. For $100 AR you can't beat it, and I still use mine for BF:BC2 @ 1920 with medium settings.

 

[Elixer]

So my brother in law is holding off this AMD/Nvidia battle to get a new Graphics card (he currently has 9600GT I believe).

Anyways, he has a 939 Opteron 165 Denmark (dual core). I believe it is 1.8ghz.

He is thinking 460GTX 1gb possibly 6850 (depending on benchmarks of course) and price drops.

Would his CPU bottleneck the card? What would be the max Video card for his set up.

If you have any kind of links etc that can help us figure it out that would be great too.

Also his motherboard (Asus SLI) is none PCIE 2.0 (just regular PCIE), does that make a difference in performance as well.

PS. Guessing he will be upgrading his PC within next 1-2 years.

I have a feeling the answer is "get the best card you can for the budget" as it will perform better once rest of the PC is upgraded. But I would like to get an idea of what that fine line is.

While any new video card should work on the older board, the biggest issue I found is that some cards are just too long, and can block things. Make sure you have room, and that your PSU is up to the job.

Despite being handicapped by the CPU at the current speed, it would be better to get a graphics card that has at least DX10/11 for OpenGL 3/4 features, unless you like to upgrade again when you get a new motherboard + faster CPU.

Most all new games will require a better video card, so a 1GB 460 or 6xxx will be your best choice.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Thanks for all info guys (keep it coming).

His PS is actually very good, Antec 470 modular.

I suggested Quad Core AMD ($70-80) and a $80-90 MB. Memory/PS/Hard drive etc he can probably keep.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103286
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128451

PS. Above are quick picks (no research, but figured something along the line)

UNLESS he should just go with 775 Wolfdale

 

[VirtualLarry]

His PS is actually very good, Antec 470 modular.

Never heard of that one.

I suggested Quad Core AMD ($70-80) and a $80-90 MB. Memory/PS/Hard drive etc he can probably keep.

If he has a S939, then he is using DDR RAM. Upgrading to an AM2+ mobo would require DDR2, and an AM3 board requires DDR3. If he has to spend the money, might as well go DDR3.

Edit: The CPU and mobo you picked out will not work together. One is AM2+, one is AM3.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Never heard of that one.

I believe it's NeoPower.

If he has a S939, then he is using DDR RAM. Upgrading to an AM2+ mobo would require DDR2, and an AM3 board requires DDR3. If he has to spend the money, might as well go DDR3.

You are correct.

Edit: The CPU and mobo you picked out will not work together. One is AM2+, one is AM3.

Thx, I picked them out quick. Guessing AM3 board would be around 80-100.