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so ive got a 256meg hd3850 and a 1080p tv...

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FyreDaug

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2004
Location
Saskatoon, SK
and so far I have no complaints, decent framerate on most games at 1920x1080. I use a evga K8-NF41 mobo and athlonx2 3800 (think its 2ghz). 2gb ddr1 only

I just kind of mixmatched my two systems to make this one a little better, 2gb ram now instead of 1. same cpu, but the main drive is now a raptor. so while im in here im curious what I should do with this 3850.
1) its only the 256meg model
2) the board is geforce SLI based (means I cant use two ati's right? been outta the loop for a while)

so all this said, where is my current bottleneck? I think this chip should be decent enough for a while. but I would like to step up the video cards I think. sucks I cant go buy another 3850 and slap it in there for a cheap upgrade.

so what would I be looking at for a decent single card upgrade these days? I dont want anything super crazy, just better than this (atleast equal to what two 3850's would do) and be nvidia so I can buy another later down the road. I do LOTS of HD playback aswell as a fair amount of gaming

like, im looking at a EVGA GTS 250 right now. 1gb version. that should hold me off for a while, and the sli upgrade in a year or so should be another little boost no?
 
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make the second rig into a HTPC.

The 3850 should be fine for most playback given a decent processor etc.
the second one runs an agp board. p4 3.2, 768ddr, x800pro and is the "bedroom" htpc for mostly watching tv while in bed.

the one on the big tv though is for gaming and stuff too

im looking at a gts250 right now
 
Wow, what games did you play on your current setup? It is for the better that you can't stick another 3850 in there as a 256MB 3850 is honestly bottom of the barrel these days. A 2Ghz dual core Athlon 64 is really cramping your style as well. Don't get a GTX 280 as it is just a waste.

See if you can make the leap to an E5200 and an HD 4870 or GTX 260.
 
why would the 280 be a waste over the 260? I realize this board and its parts may be holding me a back a little, but I think the 280 is way more future proof than the dumb-280 (260). I dont like the fact im on a ddr1 board either. I got this system for nothing so im just trying to make the best of what ive got, and if that means finding a good deal on a gpu then I think I should. ill upgrade the rest of the system around xmas
 
Trust me you don't want any card faster than a 3850 with an x2 3800+, look at my system, I am barely feeding enough power to my gpu because my cpu is to slow. Upgrade your cpu first then worry about your gpu.
 
well I got the 280gtx. I couldnt pass it up

as im installing my new raptor and getting the new drivers for a fresh xp install (screw vista and 7) I notice:
my system has 4 512's, thus 2gb but not any room to expand unless I buy new bigger sticks
its ddr1
this k8 nf41 board is apparently alot more dated than I thought it was.

so whats the current bottleneck? cpu SPEED? how about main system bandwidth being only ddr1-400? is 2gig enough?

I do lots of stuff that can offload to the gpu, do the bottlenecks still count the same here? when the software is programmed to do gpu work

can I even use this board much longer? psu is good, 600watt
 
A 280 is not gonna be a big improvement for you with your current cpu, your going to be bottle-necked bad. I can't even give my 8800GT enough power with my 3800 @ 2.4GHz...
 
In terms of gaming you won't notice a huge difference between fps (like 5-10 max depending on game) with that RAM compared to like DDR2. 2Gb is generally fine for gaming. It's generally you need more when you want to multitask more effectively and use more RAM intensive apps.

I would've probably have told you to wait, save up, and get an entirely new system lol. But if it's for free I would've just kept the HD3850 and the other parts, and use it as a 'on-the-side' system or temp system till you can afford a nicer one.

Realistically for what, $750 (australian) I could probably build you a better comp than you've got running now (With the exception of the GFX card, I'm talking about better than the 3850). *shrugs*. Really now that you've gotten the 280 the only thing you can do is wait until you have enough money for a new system bar the gfx card. That's about it. And the PSU, was that a newer one stuck with an old machine? Or is it as old as the machine, cos it's 600W's (due to capacitor aging) wouldn't actually be 600W anymore.. I'm not sure as to the exact amount but yeah..
 
ive got a few decent running systems, I build something new every 16-18months. so I do have another one I could sell to someone and retire this board/chip/ram as one of the other ones, and then essentially buy a new board soon. I dont know why the dual core 64bits started on just ddr1, thats weak.

however, its performing just fine, and I think this card should do better 1080p movies and stuff too
 
lol that was easy, alright, I just sold off a whole system in hopes of getting a good new board/chip/ram

ill retire this system and put a 6600gt or whatever the hell this other pcie card is and call it a day.

so now im looking at about 500 bucks to spend. its on an ocz 600w, which I think should be sufficient. its like 9months old.

hows this look:
EVGA nForce 790i Ultra $204.97
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Processor $139.97
Kingston KVR1333D3N9K2/4G PC3-10666 1333Mhz 4GB Kit (2x2GB, 9-9-9-26, Lifetime) $87

sold a whole computer for 3 parts!
 
but instead I got an asus m4n82 deluxe, a phenom 9950 quad 2.6, 4gb 1066mhz

its way faster just cruising the fresh install
 
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