Is the CPU + Memory or GPU more important on a budget Gaming system?

[Scrutinize]

Is the CPU + Memory or GPU more important on a budget Gaming system?



Sorry if this has been done recently but I have been back a few pages and without the search function I can’t tell. I also thought I would post it here as its more GPU related. I haven’t built a system in 3 years or really looked at doing it again until a couple of weeks ago so I am really rusty.

Basically I posted in general hardware a few days ago about building a gaming office rig built around a very tight budget Intel C2D system, but it came to the conclusion it wasn’t doable and wouldn’t be that great at gaming because of the cost cutting on the GFX.



However, this week I noticed OCUK are doing the PowerColour ATI X1950XT for £117.49 or the 1950pro for £93.99 => ....http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-066-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=404

Therefore with these prices, swapping from the C2D to a budget AMD X2 system would save enough off the CPU/MB to accommodate a better GFX in my budget (cheap as inhumanly possible £300 , and I would re-use some of my old hardware HD/DVD/FD)

This would mean that I could build a PCIE system with a fairly decent GFX in for a low cost.


So would it be better to go for a lower AMD CPU spec and this XT/PRO? How CPU limited and memory limited will my gaming be these days with a card like that? I have been trawling the benchmarks over the last couple of weeks and still haven’t found my answer. I have also noticed on TomsH that they have been doing their 3day rig build with the 1st day as a budget system but for the money I think I can seriously better it.


I was thinking of the following spec and can I get away with it/would it be any good?

CASE/PSU

I was hoping to the following case for either spec. I noticed that OCUK use this in their Titan pre-built systems with the 1950pro/7950GT but would it run and or fit a 1950XT. This is kind of crucial as it’s the cheapest case with reasonable power supply I can find/afford

• Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (£46.99)

GPU/CPU/Memory Spec 1)

• PowerColor ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Extreme SILENT Heatpipe 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - (£93.99)

• AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - (£54.04)

• Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit - £58.74

• Asus M2V/Abit KN9 (Socket AM2) (£44.64)/ (£46.99)

• Total £300.75

So the key things here are the 3800X2 and the 2GB memory coupled with the cheap motherboard (I am undecided on which one either the NF4 Ultra or VIA chipset). I have put crucial memory in as I know it will work/be compatible, I can always chuck in some better stuff at a later date, but for now since I won’t be overclocking it would suffice.


GPU/CPU/Memory Spec 2)

• PowerColor ATI Radeon X1950 XT Extreme SILENT Heatpipe 256MB GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - (£117.49)

• Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit - (£31.71)

• Total £297.17

Here I have swapped out the pro for the XT but had to reduce the memory from 2GB to 1GB to keep it in my budget.


So the question remains, for the sake of getting a good GFX is it worth stepping down from a C2D (4300/P5B set up) to the AMD 3800? With a C2D I would be looking at a 7600GT in my budget realistically compared to an XT in the AMD system.

Will 1GB and a XT be better than 2GB and a Pro? I could always go up to 2GB memory in a couple of months time as its cheaper to add more memory than change the GFX afaik?

Your thoughts and help will be much appreciated.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Scrutinize]

Personally, if I was you, I'd get a nice C2D and 2gig RAM. I'd then buy a second hand gfx card just to tide me over until the DX10 mid-range cards get released. The 1950Pro will get a DX10 update in the R670, apparently. Hopefully it will be faster.

But if I was changing my mobo/CPU/RAM, I sure wouldn't opt for an AM2.

Thankfully I'm not in your shoes; I'm waiting to see what AMDs K10 family turns out like. At the mo, my Opty 146 and 7800GT are still serving well

I have a Nvidia FX5900XT in my current 754 set up, so desperation is maxed out. I figured an AMD system will see me gaming for 12 months at least whilst everything changes properly to DX10 inc the games, then I can build a new rig next year.

It would be nice to be able to buy a PC game and run it from the last 2 years, I have missed out on all of the decent releases simply because my system /cried at the thought of any graphical processing required.

As long as I can play a back catalogue from the last 2 years and anything this year then I would be happy really at decent resolutions. LOTRO looks like a PS1 game atm

#edit...I had also thought of shoving a 1950pro AGP into my system but the mobo doesn't seem to like anything recent even with a bios update and the cpu would be too limiting.

 

[Scrutinize]

Check out this link to a review from Tomshardware. They were testing to see if older processors could power the more powerful of today's mid-range GPUs (which is the sort of level you've mentioned):

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/01/agp-platform-analysis/page11.html

The conclusion is that the AMD system is indeed good for these cards.

Of course if you're playing at low resolutions like 1024x768, you're likely to find the faster CPU is the better bet. The AMD platform will definitely be a dead end though, while a new Intel platform might be able to take some upgrading in 12 months when you do your big overhaul.

Ok so I wasn't expecting those results , they mean that aa AGP 1950 pro in my 3200 (@2200) 754 system would cut the mustard.

Maybe I should purchase an AGP card then for now and wait it out a bit longer before changing my system.

 

[Scrutinize]

So I have gone ahead and put an AGP upgrade into my system to give it a go.

AMD XP3200+ @ 2200 stock
Freezer 64
K8V Pro
1 GB PC3200 (2x512)
160 GB SATA Maxtor
HIS X1950Pro IceQ3 AGP (590Mhz core 1.54Ghz mem) (running Cat 7.4)
Thermaltake Xaser Gaming Tower

Tried a bit of overclocking and the system will run happily at 2409 Mhz with a minor V core and V mem increase but all the tests were done at stock.

3D Mark 2006 gives 4594 points - noted that the cpu test in there was a slide show @ 0 FPS.

I can run Lord of the Rings Online (seems to be a modern oblivion in terms of graphic requirments) almost maxed out and it looks awsome and the only thing causing lag is lack of system memory and cpu by the looks of it. Knocking the detail settings down a little bit lets it all run fine.

Will be running a 3D Mark 05 once it it downloaded.

3D Mark 05 Added - 8567 points

So there is still some life in the old AGP systems. I will be building a new rig over the next few months but with this result, I can afford to pick a better system.

On a side note, I love the quality and look of the card, the whole system seems to run a bit cooler as it vents outside + it is very quiet.

 

[Scrutinize]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/2007/05/11/system_builder_marathon_uk/page10.html

Budget X2 3800/N4 vs Mid E6600/P965

Again interesting results. A more than playable 8800GTX machine for £700