CPU v. GPU

[Project86]

What would the hypothetical difference be, all other things being equal, of these 2 setups:

Duron 1.3 with a higher video card, let's say Radeon 9000pro, GF3, or something in that range

vs.

XP 2100+, with a GF2ti


Just wondering where to spend the money, I have a GF2ti, so just getting a good cpu is an option. OR I could get a Duron for $30, get a better video card, then sell the GF2ti and the Duron and get a better cpu later.


Any ideas?

[BaldHeadedDork]

Depends a lot on the games you want to play, if they are CPU or GPU intensive-or both.

I would probably lean toward the first setup because even a Duron (or a Celeron) has enough horsepower at 1.3 gig to run any game that I can think of. But some newer titles would show a big difference in performance and picture quality between a GF2 and a Radeon 9000 Pro.

Also, and I'm going to cut and paste this for video card questions, how big is your monitor and what resolutions do you want to run at? That makes a huge difference in how much video card it will take to get the job done.


Interesting question, hope this helped-

BHD

[Project86]

First off, I have a 19" monitor. I usually run at 1024X768, call me crazy, I like big fonts! I think I agree with you: spend a little on a Duron (since it still has a lot of juice, and it's cheap, and it can probably OC a bit, and cpu prices drop quickly, so I can upgrade easily) And then sell my GF2Ti on ebay or something for $40 or so, and snag a very nice video card. Either Radeon 9000pro or higher, or else a GF3 or higher. Anybody else?

[HardwareJedi]

Yeah, I think You'll be much happier with the DX8 Compatable Radeon or GF3. The GF2 will not scale well with Processor speed. So getting a much faster CPU is not going to boost performance w/ the GF2 as much as the Better Video card w/ the Duron.

[The Coolest]

I would go for a 1200 duron tho, its very easily unlocked and doesn't require any pin mods as the 1300 needs, so you won't have any problems reaching 133FSB or more. I think that an XP 1600+ is a SCHWEET deal right now about $50 and can OC to like 1700-1900 MHz without a problem, I think a Rad9K Pro and XP 1600+ would be the best bang for the buck

[quegyboe]

Yeah, I also agree with the majority here...the Duron / Radeon 9000 combo would be better overall for gaming, due to the DX 8 support.

[Cullam3n]

Like the other's said, the first setup would probably be more suited for your liking. However, if you live in the USA, and can shell out an extra $20 or so, you can pick up an Xp 1600+ from Newegg which is highly overclockable and is a very, very, very, very, good chip.

-PC

[funnyperson1]

i agree with The Coolest, getting a 1600+ for 50$ and a 9000Pro/8500LE will make you happiest for your money :)

[Project86]

Yes, I think that sounds the best: 1600+, and a 8500LE. I think that should run just over $100. What HSF should I get for mild OC, nothing too crazy or expensive?

[Cullam3n]

How much do you want to spend?

Sunon 80mm 39cfm - $5 - newegg
Thermalright SK7 - $30 - heatsinkfactory/plycon
AS3 (3 gram, 1 cc) - $6 - newegg

That not's a bad combination. Give us a budget and we'll work with it. =)

-PC

[Project86]

maybe 150, for the cpu, video, and hsf?

[nfsga]

I'm wondering if you can actually use a 1600xp...what exactly are you upgrading from?

[f00t]

if you are going to play games such as fps'ers then buy the radeon or geforce. If you play strategy games (mostly 2D such as
CC) a cpu upgrade would be better.

I, also, would go for the vid card option because all strategy games coming out now are/will be 3D and your cpu should be able to handle it np. If not, then oc it to hell.

[PhobMX]

dude, if you are getting a video card, go for a r8500LE

DONT GET A R9000!!! , a r8500LE ownz it even with 64mb of ram, besides they both cost about the same. And that cooling setup suggested by cullam3n sounds just good, just dont think the fan is in the quiet range, maybe the top maximum noise an average joe will tolerate.

[Project86]

Well, I'm OK with a lot of noise, but I just don't really want to spend a ton.

I can use the XP1600+, I've got an MSI K7T-Turbo mobo (not in use... I currently am on a PII450 and oldschool mobo) which will seem like a HUGE improvement, and this board is supposed to be pretty decent for overclocking. I got a big copper block over the northbridge, it's my first investment in watercooling, I'll pick that up piece by piece. But even just sitting there, it's going to cool WAY better than the tiny heatsink that was on before. I'm getting some Crucial CAS2 PC133, which is about as fast as I can get for SDRAM.

By the way, I checked best buy today for that GF4 ti4200, way gone. They said it was gone in the first 20 minutes!

I think for now, I'll just go with the 1600+ over the Duron, and get a good HSF, and run my GF2Ti. It will still be a HUGE improvement over what I have now (PII450 and TNT2) so I'll be happy. Then later when I upgrade video, upgrade big to a high end GF4 or Radeon.

Thanks for the help everyone!

[Project86]

Cool, I just ordered from Newegg, an XP1600+ (the one they advertize as AGOIA, but we'll see what they really send). It was just under $90 for that, a fat thing of AS3, and a nice HSF. I didn't get the most radical HSF around, just a Glacialtech 2410pro. I'm sure that will do the trick for me, and it was very cheap for what it is. I'm not interested in MAJOR overclocking yet, maybe later when I have a watercooled setup. So as soon as this stuff comes, the setup can be put together! I'm excited!

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'm sure I made a good choice. Next order of business: new videocard.

[OC-Master]

If your PC exceeds 1GHz then I would strongly recommend upgrading the GPU. CPU upgrades from 1GHz+ PCs are almost worthless compared to the difference that going from like a gefore 1 to geforce fx would make.

Right now, the Radeon 9700 Pro upgrade would kill any CPU upgrade that you could ever do.


OC-Master

[Project86]

Well, I'm going from PII450 to XP1600+, so that should be a HUGE difference. Also, I'm going from TNT2M64 to a Geforce2Ti, also a huge improvement. It's still not a high end setup, but it's good enough to run most anything at a decent level, and is a good base for upgrading. My old setup was maxed out.

[OC-Master]

Originally posted by Project86
Well, I'm going from PII450 to XP1600+, so that should be a HUGE difference. Also, I'm going from TNT2M64 to a Geforce2Ti, also a huge improvement. It's still not a high end setup, but it's good enough to run most anything at a decent level, and is a good base for upgrading. My old setup was maxed out.

Dont get the GF2 TI if you havnt already got it. The bare new minimum now is a GeForce3 TI 200 128MB. These cards go for as low as $150 Canadian and can be found in most brands!

You need 128MB of video ram my friend. Games like UT2003 and Doom3 show large FPS gains over 64MB cards.

back a few weeks ago, I seen someone bench a 64MB GF4TI 4200 against a 128MB version and the 128MB version pulled far away in Doom3 and UT2003.


OC-Master

[Vertical_Zer0]

Durons are nice, and they're an easy overclock. In fact, almost all of them come unlocked already!

[Project86]

I've already got everything already (it's either here or on the way). The GF2Ti I picked up for $35, so I think it was a good buy. When I do upgrade, I'll go big with a very high end card that won't need upgrading or a while. But for now, this will do fine.

[OC-Master]

why didnt you just get the Celeron-T 256 1.4GHz upgrade? You can keep everything you got but have 1.4GHz of performance. Buy a powerleap slot to fcpga2 adapter.

[Project86]

Because I have an OLD and low quality mobo... why would I keep using it if it's holding me back? It crashes frequently, won't let me use any video card higher than a TNT2M64, has NO options for voltage or fsb tweeking, and it just generally sucks. So then I would spend almost the same as I spent on a new MSI mobo and XP1600+, but have no upgrade options, and less performance. Doesn't make much sense...


Hey what sort of 3Dmark scores are you getting with that setup OCmaster? I see you are using a similar video card as what I will be.

[OC-Master]

Originally posted by Project86
Because I have an OLD and low quality mobo... why would I keep using it if it's holding me back? It crashes frequently, won't let me use any video card higher than a TNT2M64, has NO options for voltage or fsb tweeking, and it just generally sucks. So then I would spend almost the same as I spent on a new MSI mobo and XP1600+, but have no upgrade options, and less performance. Doesn't make much sense...


Hey what sort of 3Dmark scores are you getting with that setup OCmaster? I see you are using a similar video card as what I will be.


Haha,

Thats a good question, I havnt checked ever since I changed drivers, overclocked the CPU behond 1333MHz and so forth. Although I expect it should be around 5000 or so.


OC-Master