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P4 system, GPU limit/bottleneck?

estebanrey

estebanrey

estebanrey

Soldato
Joined
8 Mar 2007
Posts
10,938
Hi all, doing one last major upgrade to my P4 rig to see me through the next 6 months before Windows 7/DX11 is worth getting and was wondering if there's a ceiling on what Graphics Card I should get seeing as I'm still running a single core system.

Asus P5AD2-E Premium Mobo
Intel P4 3.0GHz Processor
4GB Crucial Balistix PC2-8500 RAM
{and currently} ATi X1950 Pro GFX card

All I currenlty play is Battlefield 2 and Pro Evo 2010 and I'm not interested really in playing bleeding edge DX11 titles just yet but at the same time although I'm playing old/non- intensive games I wouldn't mind having the scope to play Crysis or similar modern titles.

So I was looking at the 4890 and the GTX 275 both at around £150 but is it worth me paying that much or could I just get away with 3850X2 at around £75?

I could upgrade my processor if needed but reluctant to spend a penny on a single core upgrade (my mobo won't allow dual core) as I'm planning to build a new machine in 6 months or so.

So will my limited P4 cause a bottleneck with the newer cards, is it worth me getting one?
 
SfnX said:
owch only single core, my man your in the stone age.
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Hmmm yeah but as I said I play BF2 and PES 2010. The former is definitely NOT a multi-threaded and I'm pretty sure PES 2010 doesn't need to be. (I did manage to get almost constant 60fps on it with my current set up before my old ram blew up).

As I understand it a decent single core is as good as (if not better than) a mid-range dual core when using games/apps not specifically designed for multi-core PCs...


SfnX said:
invest in a new processor to start or it will bottleneck your gpu from getting higher fps!
Click to expand...

Yeah but that would require a new Motherboard...ergo a new system which I simply can not afford right now.

I can throw a couple of hundred (the RAM I mentioned I haven't got yet, will be ordering tomorrow) at it now.

I've always been under the impression that the processor isn't that important for gaming anyway as the GPU does 90% of the work.

magicroundabout said:
if you're upgrading in a months time anyway i wouldn't bother to be honest
Click to expand...
6 months mate
 
spirits247 said:
Grab a cheap 3850 to see you over, or if you want a bit more power a 4850/8800/9800GT/9800GTX series of card until you do the upgrade.

Anything more powerful is a waste.
Click to expand...

kerrgreg said:
a 4890 will can bottle neck some dualcores it will be wasted in yours but you could get it and and then transfer it to your upgrade
Click to expand...

Cheers guys for the advice. I will be going for at least the 58XX in my future rig as I do it for DX11 so looking to a card to sell with the machine (a mate who just wants to play Pro Evo will buy it off me for £100 when I come to sell).

I think I'll go for a 3850/3870 then. Not worth stretching to £75 for the 3850X2 though I suppose?
 
amigafan2003 said:
you haven't mentioned the res you'll be running at?
Click to expand...

Well Ideally 1920x1200 to go with my OcUK 24" monitor. The funny thing even with mix-matched poor RAM and my X1950 I manged to get 60fps on PES2k10 with only minor slow down during congested pitch situations.

I'm wondering now if it's even worth me bothering with the PC2-8500 Ram when I could just get PC2-6400
 
jigger said:
I would say a 4670 DDR3. But I think I would sit tight with the x1950 TBH.

I have a rig with a 8800gs and q6600 and it plays BF2 at 1920 x1200 with x 4 AA no problem.
Click to expand...

Cheers, just looked up rpices on 8800 figuring they'd be cheap as they are old but for some reason they are more expensive than the 9800s????

Anyway, the X1950 does pretty much do want I want but I do get some slow down in some of my games. BF2 takes about 5 mins of gameplay for the FPS rate to stabilise and can't get 1920*1200 with 4AA at the moment but I think that may be down to my poor RAM set up as much as anything (will be getting a RAM upgrade tomorrow, currently have 2.5gb of mismatched RAM).

The reason I need to replace my X1950 is the fan has become very noisy, I've put the stock fan from my old ATi 750 (or sum fing) for the time being but not sure it's doing the job so a new card will be needed.
 
spirits247 said:
I'm not so sure they are at the prices they are now going for. If they were still £120-150 I'd agree.

It means the minimum framerate won't drop so low and you can have max settings in the the drivers. Plus he's playing at quite high resolutions.

The P4 will massively limit FPS, but the card will render a better image with less slowdowns at the maximum speed the P4 is capable of.

If spending as little as possible is the goal, then yeah I'd agree.

As far as balance goes, a x1950 is a good combo with a P4 and you really do need a better CPU to get the most out of modern cards.
Click to expand...

Thanks very helpful.. I do OC my proc to 3.4GHz not that makes much difference to the advice I suppose.
 
jigger said:
Anything much qiuker than the x1950 will be wasted until you upgrade IMO.

If you look around you can build a p45 wolfdale system with a GTX260 for £200. If you sell you current kit and throw another £100 at it you could build a very tidy system.
Click to expand...

Yeah thought about that but really I want to wait until Win 7 and DX11 are mainstream and then build an i7 (or i9 even) monster :D

believe it or not my now ancient PC was beast when I built it years ago...a bit like me really only I can't be upgraded as easily :D
 
Thanks again guys, really useful stuff and it means I should be able to get a everything I need tomorrow instead of spreading it over 2 weeks.

One last thing, would 1GB be a waste as most of the cards I'm now looking at (3850/7800s) are 512mb and that's what my current card is so in a weird way I don't feel I'm upgrading if I buy another 512mb.

Just need someone to tell me I'm being stupid really.
 
Sasahara said:
Old stock that's probably been forgotten.

Buy 2nd hand. I picked up a 7900 GTX for £30.
Click to expand...

If it's old stock you'd think they'd be selling it cheaper to get rid....

Hmm, bit skeptical of used GFX cards though, you don't know how much they've been OC'd but worth a butcher's I suppose etc
 
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