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Is it worth a new graphics card, or am I CPU limited?
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Blonks  
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 More options Nov 2, 1:48 am
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
From: Blonks <Blonkster@_NOSTINKINSPAM_ntlworld.com>
Date: Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:48:55 +0000
Local: Mon, Nov 2 2009 1:48 am
Subject: Is it worth a new graphics card, or am I CPU limited?

I've got a an Athlon x2 4200+ running at 2.65GHz and an 8800gts 512mb.

I've moved from a 19" to 24" monitor with a 1920/1080 res and my frame
rates have dropped accordingly.

So, is it worth getting something like a 4870 1Gb (which is very cheap
ATM) or is my CPU the limiting factor?  

If a new GPU would help then is the Radeon stil the best price /
perfomance?

A new GPU is a  relatively cheap upgrade (£100) as any other upgrade
would need a new mobo, cpu etc.

TIA

Blonkster

--

'What we have here is a failure to communicate'


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Schrodinger  
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 More options Nov 2, 4:56 am
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
From: "Schrodinger" <n...@way.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 17:56:52 -0000
Local: Mon, Nov 2 2009 4:56 am
Subject: Re: Is it worth a new graphics card, or am I CPU limited?
"Blonks" <Blonkster@_NOSTINKINSPAM_ntlworld.com> wrote in message

news:8l7re5hks4gcp9dib50654l6egb5n2v1dn@4ax.com...

I guess it depends on what games you want to play.

According to the benchmarks at Tomshardware (and elsewhere) the 1024mb 4870
is around 15% - 35% faster than your existing 8800GTS.

http://tinyurl.com/yftv4tn

I guess if it's very marginal, then spending £100 on an average 25% increase
might be worth it, but I have a kind of rule of thumb never to upgrade
unless it is between 50% and 100% better.

It might buy a little more time though.

Having said that, you can get a new Ahtlon Quad Core and Motherboard for
around £110 and that might make more of a real life difference?


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Blonks  
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 More options Nov 2, 6:15 am
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
From: Blonks <Blonkster@_NOSTINKINSPAM_ntlworld.com>
Date: Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:15:19 +0000
Local: Mon, Nov 2 2009 6:15 am
Subject: Re: Is it worth a new graphics card, or am I CPU limited?

Thanks,

I hadn't realised it was such a small difference, unless you turn up
the AA/AF.  
I'm with you on the performance increase percentages - think I may
have to investigate mobo/cpu upgrades....

Blonks

--

'What we have here is a failure to communicate'


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Benjamin Gawert  
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 More options Nov 3, 9:27 am
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
From: Benjamin Gawert <bgaw...@gmx.de>
Date: Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:27:49 +0000
Local: Tues, Nov 3 2009 9:27 am
Subject: Re: Is it worth a new graphics card, or am I CPU limited?
* Blonks:

> I've got a an Athlon x2 4200+ running at 2.65GHz and an 8800gts 512mb.

> I've moved from a 19" to 24" monitor with a 1920/1080 res and my frame
> rates have dropped accordingly.

> So, is it worth getting something like a 4870 1Gb (which is very cheap
> ATM) or is my CPU the limiting factor?  

Test it. Take a demanding game with integrated benchmark like Crysis,
set it to 1024x768 and change the quality settings so that you get a
somewhat decent frame rate. Now do some benchmark runs at various
resolutions but with unchanged quality settings. If the frame rate
varies quite a lot between the benchmark runs then the GPU is the
limiting factor, however if the frame rate stays in the same ballpark
then the CPU is the limit.

As different games behave differently do the test with several games.

> If a new GPU would help then is the Radeon stil the best price /
> perfomance?

Depending on how the pricing is at where you live, yes. I got myself a
Sapphire Radeon 4870 Vapor-X 2GB recently. Yes, the 58xx series is
faster but more expensive, and the new Radeon 5770 can't surpass the
4870. I also had a Gainward GTX 260 GS with 1768MB before for testing
and the Radeon was a tad faster, and also less expensive.

Benjamin


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