Need Some Advice Please

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by VenomousDuck, Feb 18, 2008.

  1. VenomousDuck

    VenomousDuck Well-Known Member

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    I want to update my system a little. I know 2 years ago I pretty much had the fastest system I could afford. My current specs.

    Athlon 64 X2 (W) 4400+ 2.2 GHz
    2000 MT/s (mega transfers/second)
    Socket AM2

    2 gigs PC2-4200 MB/sec

    320 GB SATA 7200 rpm

    16X DVD(+/-)R/RW RAM (+/-)R DL LightScribe drive

    EVGA 7900GS 256MB PCI-E

    500 Watt PSU

    Vista Home

    What I want to update at this time is the video card and the processor. I'm want to get the 8800GT 512 PCI-E. For the processor I'm unsure on the fastest one I can put on the board. I would like to update to AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor. Will it work on my board? At this point I can only get one. The card or the processor. Thing is when playing say TF2. When there is alot of action my fps drop from 80-100 to 15- 25 on a 32 player server. I have a gut feeling my card isn't strong enough. But on the other hand my processor isnt the fastest either. What should I update?

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.as...+125W+Processor

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.as...1-AR+Video+Card

    OR

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.as...YDF4+Video+Card

    My board.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Coolguy

    Coolguy Well-Known Member

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    CPU is bottlenecking in my opinion.

    also, vista might be the problem :)
     
  3. VenomousDuck

    VenomousDuck Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, Vista has always been a problem for me gameplay wise. But applications run very well. Thing is i'm on a limited budget, like most people who live on thier own. Being CPU constrained is not near as bad as being GPU constrained imo. But i'm unclear on what to do. I probably won't be able to afford the processor.. that i'm not sure will even work on my board.. if I buy the card for about 6 months without dipping in my savings. By that time I probably would be better off buying a new motherboard and processor combo. I can get a Asus M2V-MX SE Socket AM2 VIA K8M890 DDR2-800 PCI.e Motherboard with 6400 x2 for only $50.00 more than the processor itself I listed in my previous post.
     
  4. xlink

    xlink GR's Tech Enthusiast

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    overclock your CPU.2.8-3.0Ghz should be very possible AND FREE. Emphasis on the free part. unless you're playing say Supcom CPU performance doesn't really matter a huge amount, most games the FPS diference ebtween a 2Ghz c2d and a 3Ghz c2d is around 1-2%(basically negligible)

    as for the card, I usually just go for the cheapest card. they all use the same GPU so ehh.


    for the card I'd say this
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127329

    looks like it has a beefier cooler and it's about the cheepest
     
  5. VenomousDuck

    VenomousDuck Well-Known Member

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    Alrighty thanks. I looked at the card also. But I was worried about it fitting in my case. I read a few rewiews. And they said it took up 2 slots. As for overclocking i'm a little leary. Even if it "bottlenecks" the new card. It can't be more than a few fps.
     
  6. xlink

    xlink GR's Tech Enthusiast

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    I follow the stock volts = no harm rule.

    basically if you keep the voltage at stock(auto is not stock FYI) it is all but idiot proof. An athlon at 2.8Ghz is an athlon at 2.8Ghz regardless of whether or not it was sold as such.
     
  7. MattMann

    MattMann Well-Known Member

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    Upgrade your ram. When I had vista I had 2 gigs of ram and playing COD4 would lag up a bit. After I put another 2 GB (total 4GB) I saw a huge jump in performance. And I only upgraded the Ram.
     
  8. MattMann

    MattMann Well-Known Member

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    If you choose to upgrade your card that one the xlink recommended is actually pretty good.

    I bought the EVGA superclocked 8800GT and added the Zalaman Heatsink to it. But this card has all the same specs and Cost about 70 bucks cheaper overall. The heatsink on it is apparently the same zalaman one that costs about $60 bucks.
     
  9. VenomousDuck

    VenomousDuck Well-Known Member

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    Ok thank you guys. I ordered it this morning. I'll get more ram today.
     
  10. xlink

    xlink GR's Tech Enthusiast

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    2GB RAM is probably enough FYI. unless you're running into issues where it explicitly says you need more

    my experience on XP with 2GB RAM
    cnc3 open
    CSS open
    photoshop with a some stuff open
    500mb owrth of firefox open(many many many tabs)
    winamp open

    no slow down and 10% of RAM still unused.


    also assuming you're using a 32bit OS not all of 4GB is accessible. 2^32 = ~2billion. There are roughly 2 billion bytes in 2 gigabytes. Inherent limitation of ALL 32bit OSes. technologies like PAE allow some memory to be mapped as a PCI device but it's basically just a work around and not all4GB is accessible for the bulk of systems(depends on the BIOS and motherboard)
     
  11. cheatsmaster

    cheatsmaster Gotta Catch 'Em All!

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    Try using Intel Core Quad Extreme 3.0 ghz for the processor. :D The one with 12mb cache.
     
  12. xlink

    xlink GR's Tech Enthusiast

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    consider posting something which is within reach of the bulk of the population. Very few people can justify such an extravagant purchase.
     
  13. gonezorz

    gonezorz Banned from GR

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    + a new board, plus new RAM to justify getting an overclockers chip.

    ridiculous.
     
  14. VenomousDuck

    VenomousDuck Well-Known Member

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    Well, got the card today. Installed the card in the PC . Takes up alot of room btw, 2 slots. Started PC, went to MSI site to make sure there was no BIOS update. Went to Nvivda and downloaded lastest drivers. Launched Counter-Strike source. Just to be dissapointed with the performance. I can't even break 100 fps playing @ 800x600. I'm getting 35- 80. I was getting an average of 60-80 with my 7900 @ 1024X768. Any suggestions? I've used Ntune and turn all the settings to high performance.
     
  15. Aznddongman

    Aznddongman Well-Known Member

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    If you want top notch video card, I think the new xfx Geforce 9600 is the best.


    I think.


    But it is the newest.

    Maybe you have a defective card? Are your drivers installed right? Does your computer support this card? What card is it?
     

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