upgrading to a 8800 series

[spacegrass]

Hi, I would like to know if my spec would be a bottleneck for a 8800 series gts or gfx card;

athlon 64 3700 @ 2.5ghz
2 gigs ddr 400 ram
asus a8n sli
hiper 580 type r

 

[spacegrass]

I will also be using a monitor with a native res of 1650x1050, would a GTS be suitable to run titles such as company of heroes, fear and prey at that res?

 

[ca9phoenix]

you are going to bottle neck with that setup, i'd change to a decent c2d setup now then consider an 8800 later.

 

[Xplo]

Firstly upgrade your cpu,mobo,ram, keeping your current gfx, then update to 8800 when you get the money.

Be sure to OC that c2d tho..

 

[Jabbs]

Hmm so am i running a core 2 at 3.0 would that be classed as a bottleneck to a 8800gts, only say this as i was going up tomorrow morning to overs to get it.

 

[lay-z-boy]

Dont upgrade your current cpu/mobo/ram setup, not worth it.

Get the 8800gts and crank up every setting and detail to the max and enjoy ultra smooth framerates

 

[HangTime]

The following should be of interest: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_8800_gtx_gts_amd_cpu_scaling/page10.asp

Basically you will see far more of a boost (in games) from a GPU upgrade than a mobo/RAM upgrade. As you can see, in FEAR at 1600x1200 a 3800+ with 8800GTS beats an FX-62 with x1950xtx. OK so a conroe setup is going to beat the FX-62 but even so the fact remains that most games are GPU-limited at the res you are talking about (1680x1050) with AA+AF.

While traditionally I have tended to built 'balanced' systems, with 'good value' highly overclockable components (mobo/cpu/ram/gfx), I've come to the conclusion in recent times that often the best way to get top performance in games is to get a very high end gfx card and then scrimp elsewhere, buying el cheapo RAM and a relatively low end cpu. Spending an extra £100 on the gpu (say a 8800GTS instead of a x1950xt) makes far more of a difference in games than an extra £100 on the cpu (E6600 instead of E6300). Likewise while some high fsb/low latency RAM will give you a few percent extra, it doesn't justify shelling out an extra £50+ more which you could have used for a better GPU.

It's one of the reasons why I'm still using a Venice 3000+, but with a relatively modern GPU (7900GTO). I've upgraded my gfx, but I can't see myself touching the mobo/cpu until a new groundbreaking tech arrives, or Conroe drops down to proper bargain basement prices (say £250 all-in for a decent mobo, 2gig DDR2 AND cpu)

 

[boosfuk]

Get the 8800GTS. I've just done the upgrade with a comparable system to yours and can now run games in 1680*1050. with the eye candy turned on. Maybe when the newer DX10 games come out it might be necessary to upgrade the CPU.
The improvement over my previous 7800GTX is astonishing.

 

[citizen__erased]

I've got an 8800GTS paired with a socket 754 3700 clawhammer and it's pretty awesome. So i can't get massive 3d mark scores, who cares? It runs any game i throw at it completely maxed out and at a good frame rate, thats all that matters. I think some people feel they have to justify getting conroe systems. My CPU is obviously a bottleneck but i essentially get to switch on all the eye candy for free. Don't let anyone put you off getting an 8800.

 

[spacegrass]

Ok then, I guess I just need to know if a gts will fit in a thermaltake soprano?

Hangtime that article was excellent, looks like most of the games that interested me were mostly gpu bound

 

[LeeMc]

Gotta go with Hangtime on this one , you WILL see the most benefit from a GPU upgrade rather than going to c2d(you'll be able to have ALL the candy on in every game out there now) , read the firingsquad article on cpu scaling with a64 x2's and see for yourself (don't forget atm an X2 in MOST games is the same as a similarly clocked single core a64) , personally I would go with a GTX if you can afford it , if later next year you fancy a system upgrade I.E. cpu/mobo/ram you already know the card will just get faster along with your upgrade , defo the way to go IMO.

 

[melbourne720]

Ok then, I guess I just need to know if a gts will fit in a thermaltake soprano?

From what I have heard, the GTS is the length of a ATX motherboard - only a GTX is longer (and needs special case considerations).