X1800XT vs GTX8800 (but with AMD socket 939 3700 CPU)

[Old Wino]

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[gurusan]

I would upgrade the entire platform first....

 

[Richdog]

Pairing an 3700+ rig with an 8800GTX would be like trying to race a Ferarri with a 1.4L engine in it.

 

[Old Wino]

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[gurusan]

Gigabyte P35-DS3R
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-088-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913

Crucial Ballistix PC5300
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-088-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=144

And scout the MM for a used Core 2 Duo...budget like 50-100 for the CPU.

Or buy new:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-158-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793

Also I don't know what kind of PSU you have, but you might want to look into upgrading that.

Or...you could just slap in a dual core 939 like an Opty 165 or 4400x2, clock it up, and add a 2900 Pro...but if it were me, I wouldn't want to be upgrading an older base platform at this point.

 

[krisbutler]

id get a new processor over a gfx card quite a few games are very cpu hogging eg css i noticed about a 40% difference going from a 4800x2 to a e6850 cpu on the same card x1900xt 512mb

 

[krisbutler]

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £36.99
(£43.46) £36.99
(£43.46)
Asus P5K Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £79.99
(£93.99) £79.99
(£93.99)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.66GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £106.99
(£125.71) £106.99
(£125.71)
Sub Total : £223.97
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.25
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £40.64
Total : £272.86

 

[Jack Bauer]

I did a simlar upgrade for a few days while upgrading to a c2d. Turned out the x1800xt was bottlenecked at 2.4 Gig. So the 8800 made little difference. This was dependent upon the game tho. Unless you can get the 3700 up to 3 GHz it wont be worth it.

 

[krisbutler]

same price if not cheaper than a gtx and you will see huge improgvements could always add a beter cpu if budget stretches

 

[Old Wino]

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[krisbutler]

haha what games do u play as the x1800 is still a very good card imo

 

[Jack Bauer]

haha what games do u play as the x1800 is still a very good card imo

Yer, with a new cpu it will run most games high or close to. Some of the newer ones may need dropping down a bit.

 

[Old Wino]

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[Old Wino]

Yer, with a new cpu it will run most games high or close to. Some of the newer ones may need dropping down a bit.

Hmmmmmmmm (slowly scratches chin), Could just push in one of these as a short term fix...

 

[gurusan]

Hmmmmmmmm (slowly scratches chin), Could just push in one of these as a short term fix...

go C2D! so much better...really. This is coming from someone with a 4400x2 @ 3.03ghz as well....my e6300 completely owns it.

 

[krisbutler]

to be honest u wont see much difference im putting in that cpu (slay me if u want ) most games like higher clock speeds and the 3800 although being dual core doesnt have an increase ** best off doing it properly first time round

 

[Old Wino]

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[krisbutler]

obviously you could get a 4800 x2 but they are rare and very pricy all in all u will see a huge difference let us know what u decide on and if we were right

 

[benjo]

I'd just like to add my 2 pence.

I've gota Q6600 @ 3.5Ghz, 4Gb G.Skill and an x1800xt-512mb... and the x1800xt is definatly holding me back. Bioshock, MoH:A etc are struggling at high settings, so i would still consider a new graphics card in the mix too. Plus side is, i can play BF2 with 200 bots and get no slow down

 

[krisbutler]

it will hold you back in bioshock but if you dont upgrade the system 1st there is no point of getting a gtx