Video Card Upgrade - Pentium 4

[fmaste]

Hi,

I have a Pentium 4 3.4 GHz and an Intel D915PBL motherboard with 2 GB of DDR2. Actually I have a GeForce 7600GT installed but I want to upgrade.
Is the CPU a limiting factor for an upgrade? Is it worth?
What's the best graphic card that I can buy without bottlenecking the CPU (or something else)?

Thanks!

 

[phaxmohdem]

Hmm at least you have PCIe at your disposal. I would say something along the lines of an nvidia 9800GT or AMD/ATI 4830/4850 would be about what you want to look at. Does your Power supply have the Cahones to handle a decent GPU?

 

[TurtleCrusher]

A 4670 sounds about right. With the single core K8/P4HT's you don't need anything more then that even with 2-4xAA.

It's an awesome time to buy budget graphic cards.

 

[Marty502]

A 4830? No way, that would be a waste.

A Radeon 4670 will do just fine, zips electricity (which means no PSU issues) and perform good enough for his CPU.

And if he upgrades his system, it still has some decent gaming muscle. My 4670 could sure use some more horsepower from a faster CPU.

 

[MrK6]

Originally posted by: fmaste
Hi,

I have a Pentium 4 3.4 GHz and an Intel D915PBL motherboard with 2 GB of DDR2. Actually I have a GeForce 7600GT installed but I want to upgrade.
Is the CPU a limiting factor for an upgrade? Is it worth?
What's the best graphic card that I can buy without bottlenecking the CPU (or something else)?

Thanks!

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

 

[Schmide]

++ > 50w 4670

 

[fmaste]

I think my PSU is 500w. Do I need some special connector or something?
Something more than a 9800GT will be a waste money?

 

[fmaste]

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

Some more gaming! I can't play GTA IV at all for example.
I forgot to mention that I have a 27" DELL monitor, 1920x1200. It would be nice to use its native resolution.

 

[Andrew1990]

Originally posted by: fmaste

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

Some more gaming! I can't play GTA IV at all for example.
I forgot to mention that I have a 27" DELL monitor, 1920x1200. It would be nice to use its native resolution.

A Single Core P4 will never play GTA4 decently. It really needs a dual core if not a quad core to run it.

Also, at that res, I would probably go for a 9800GT or 4830. They are not too much more than a 4670 but they are much better.

 

[fmaste]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990

Originally posted by: fmaste

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

Some more gaming! I can't play GTA IV at all for example.
I forgot to mention that I have a 27" DELL monitor, 1920x1200. It would be nice to use its native resolution.

A Single Core P4 will never play GTA4 decently. It really needs a dual core if not a quad core to run it.

Also, at that res, I would probably go for a 9800GT or 4830. They are not too much more than a 4670 but they are much better.

So, you would say that if I want to game some new titles is better to wait until I buy a new computer rather than upgrading this?
Because if I upgrade and I won't be able to play them either, there's no point in buying a new GPU

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: fmaste

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

Some more gaming! I can't play GTA IV at all for example.
I forgot to mention that I have a 27" DELL monitor, 1920x1200. It would be nice to use its native resolution.

no matter what video card you upgrade to your gaming wont improve much. some will tell you differently but the truth is having an outdated and slow single core cpu will make most games almost unplayable and some not playable at all. you can totally forget about gta 4 for sure.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The 7600GT is already somewhat bottlenecked by the P4. You would probably see some gains if you got an HD4670, but I doubt you'll see those gain in GTA4.

You should just start saving your money so you can do a solid upgrade to the entire computer - or at least until you're ready to upgrade the video card, motherboard, and processor at the same time. You could probably get by re-using your RAM, PSU, and case until you can afford better.

 

[palladium]

I think GTA4's min system requirements is a Core 2 Duo CPU, correct me if I'm wrong..

EDIT: yup, here's the link

1.8GHz Core 2 Duo~ 4GHz Pentium EE...................

 

[SonicIce]

Originally posted by: fmaste

Originally posted by: Andrew1990

Originally posted by: fmaste

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

Some more gaming! I can't play GTA IV at all for example.
I forgot to mention that I have a 27" DELL monitor, 1920x1200. It would be nice to use its native resolution.

A Single Core P4 will never play GTA4 decently. It really needs a dual core if not a quad core to run it.

Also, at that res, I would probably go for a 9800GT or 4830. They are not too much more than a 4670 but they are much better.

So, you would say that if I want to game some new titles is better to wait until I buy a new computer rather than upgrading this?
Because if I upgrade and I won't be able to play them either, there's no point in buying a new GPU

Depends on the game. I have a single core K8 and Geforce 6. I can play Left 4 Dead with very nice fps after tweaking. 60fps, 30 in large fights.

I can NOT play FarCry 2 no matter what I do period. It's like a constant 30 fps max (looking at a wall or sky) on 320x240.

What do you mean you can't play GTA4, does it crash or is it just too choppy at minimum settings? Could be the CPU is just too slow for it.

 

[MrK6]

Originally posted by: fmaste

Originally posted by: Andrew1990

Originally posted by: fmaste

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

Some more gaming! I can't play GTA IV at all for example.
I forgot to mention that I have a 27" DELL monitor, 1920x1200. It would be nice to use its native resolution.

A Single Core P4 will never play GTA4 decently. It really needs a dual core if not a quad core to run it.

Also, at that res, I would probably go for a 9800GT or 4830. They are not too much more than a 4670 but they are much better.

So, you would say that if I want to game some new titles is better to wait until I buy a new computer rather than upgrading this?
Because if I upgrade and I won't be able to play them either, there's no point in buying a new GPU

Pretty much. It'd be better to save up ~$300-500 (depending on what you can use again from your current system) and really be able to enjoy your games. Otherwise you're really just throwing money away at a lost cause.

 

[mmnno]

Originally posted by: fmaste

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

Some more gaming! I can't play GTA IV at all for example.
I forgot to mention that I have a 27" DELL monitor, 1920x1200. It would be nice to use its native resolution.

The cheapest upgrade that will let you play GTA4 is an Xbox 360. Other than that you are looking at a brand new computer with all new parts.

 

[alcoholbob]

Well lets be honest here, K8 (Athlon64) has much better floating point performance than a Pentium 4, so there's already a difference there. Also L4D is a source engine game which is very low system friendly.

Originally posted by: mmnno

The cheapest upgrade that will let you play GTA4 is an Xbox 360. Other than that you are looking at a brand new computer with all new parts.

It's amazing how much price dumping microsoft has done over the years. I don't think you can build a computer for $200 today that can play the kind of games that run on a 360.

 

[Qbah]

I had a X1950XTX with a Pentium D and the GPU was a bit wasted with that CPU. So I'd say if you really want to only upgrade the GPU, get a HD4670 tops. It will still be a bit overkill, but it will be an upgrade. Or try to find a cheap HD3850/3870/9600GT - there's really no point in going with anything higher.

And no, you won't be able to play GTAIV no matter which GPU you buy. You need a fast dual core or even better a quad core to enjoy this game. Or a X360 for 199$

That Pentium 4 is ancient I'm afraid.

 

[fmaste]

Thank you all for your opinion!
Yeah, its true, my Pentium 4 is ancient.
I'll wait playing Far Cry 1 until I buy a new computer or an Xbox 360 (depends on the titles).
I'll keep my old P4 for working and may be upgrading to a CUDA enabled GeForce to do some research, programming with image processing.
Thanks!

 

[Arkaign]

Welcome to the forums!

The 4670 is a good idea, but expect it to be bottlenecked, and for GTA4 to still be choppy. Building a replacement pc is amazingly cheap when you do your own build.

 

[BladeVenom]

A G31 motherboard and an E5200 CPU wouldn't cost much. That plus a 4830 should be fine for most games.

 

[cbn]

Originally posted by: fmaste

What are you looking to do that your current video card can't?

Some more gaming! I can't play GTA IV at all for example.
I forgot to mention that I have a 27" DELL monitor, 1920x1200. It would be nice to use its native resolution.

If you wait another month HD4770 will be released.

This is the first 40nm GPU to be released and it only needs 80 watts while slotting in between 4830 and 4850 in performance. Since you have 1920x1200 resolution this might be a better idea than 4670 (which is still an awesome card for the money and low power consuimption)

P.S. A P45 mobo would be a good upgrade but maybe waiting until p55 is a better idea? (supposedly these chipsets will be available this summer and the LGA 1156 Socket they use will support the 32nm Clarkdale dual cores)

 

[Face2Face]

Quad core is a must with GTA 4 ----- I would say 4670 or 9600 Gt for your setup-- Don't plan on playing GTA 4 @ 1920X1200!!!

 

[fmaste]

Again, thanks!

So, If I want to game, an Xbox 360 is a good deal. But now the question is, is it possible to build a computer that is equal in graphics / gameplay as a Xbox 360? If the answers is yes, with what hardware?
I can reuse parts of my old computer (PSU, DVD drive, HDD, Audigy 2), so maybe building a new PC is better.

 

[angry hampster]

Xbox 360 can only put out 720p right?