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dudleycpa

Member
Joined
May 20, 2002
I apologize in advance if anyone has answered this before.

I have a Asus P4T533-C with two 256M of ram. A 2.66C O/C to 3.12 (that's at stock voltages). A WD 120 hard drive.

What is killing me is my Geforce2 GTS w/32 megs of ram.

I have read that you need at least a PIV @ 3.2 gigs or an A64 for a high end video card.

I'm trying to think if it is worth to upgrade to a 6800 or a x800? I might think about adding more ram if I can find a decent video card. - Or maybe I should upgrade the whole system?

It is a sad day when Doom3 and Rome: Total War barely run on one's system. Games really need to be played at 1280x1024 (at least)

Thanks in advance!!!
 
I don't know where you read that you need at least a 3.2g p4 to get the current gen vid cards. I am sure the minimum specs are much lower. Maybe what they meant was that if it's lower than 3.2, the CPU may be the bottleneck instead of the vid card and this is not too big of a concern for you running 3.1ghz. So sure buying a new 6800gt or x800pro would get you some very nice gains and you would definitely run Doom3 and RTW at very respectable framerates.
 
Thanks kouch - that's what I meant.

So 3.1ghz wouldn't be a bottleneck?
 
With the top of the line cards it is but you can still get something that will give you fantastic performance for less than $200.
 
Funny I thought about a 9800pro about 5 months ago....

A 6800 or x800 is too much for my system?
 
you would do fine with a 6800 or x800 series card...if you have the cash for it then go ahead, if you pick up a 9800pro then it will be the bottleneck in games, and if you get a x800/6800 your cpu will bottlneck (which isnt bad cause 3.1ghz is nothing to laugh at) in otherwords you will get better preformance in games with a nex gen card then with the last gen cards...also games nowadays are RAM hungry and a GB is quickly becoming a standard.
 
No,I think the 6800 or X800 will be fine with your pc If you want to spend the money.
I'm watchin the Yanks right now:) Tied up at 3.
 
Drec - thanks for the post.

I have wondered if buying a x800/6800 and adding another 512 meg of ram might be the way to go.

Then I wonder if it might be better to buy a 939 A64 3200, mother board, and a gig of good ram with a PCI-E video card might be better financially in the long run.

Why spend 700 on a video card and ram when you could by the new mother board, cpu, ram and video card for 400 dollars more?
 
I have a 2.6c right now running @ 3.0 and I am using that with a BFG 6800 gt and I get pretty consistently 60 fps in Doom 3 I would go ahead and just upgrade the vid card I dont regret it one bit
 
Is the 6800GT worth the $100 over a 6800?

I'm thinking with a 6800 the GPU would be the bootleneck; with a 6800GT the CPU will be the bottleneck
 
Depends on how much you game, what type of games and what res you like. Having both I have gone over this extensivly. If you like High res gaming ie. 16x12, or 12x10 then the GT is going to be more helpfull. Generally my NU can do what my GT does (when its at stock speed) at 1 or 2 resolutions lower. Like far cry on my GT I play at 12x10 and on the NU I play at 12x7. The NU is really a great card and being around $275 (give or take) its a great price point. People are saying the 6600GT is comparable to the 9800pro and the 6800NU beats it across the board. I deffinitly notice a big difference between it and my former 9800XT. On paper it might not be a big deal, but higher res, and going from high to very high in games and being very playable sold me.
 
Thanks Nandro -

You have some great infomation there.

I have two very opposite thoughts about what you said. To me $100 bucks to play at 1 or 2 resolutions higher is a no brainer. I also have the tendency to hold on to hardware for a long time. Case in point - b4 the 2.66C that I have I was running a celeron!

On the other hand I not a huge gamer. I play Rise of Nations and Heroes 4. Not very demanding on a video card.

I am trying to figure out what becomes the bottleneck. I think that with a 6800GT it would be the cpu. I am wondering if with a 6800NU if it becomes the video card. If it is I figure I'll just buy a 6800GT.

Thanks
 
It annoys me that I will spend 400 dollars on a video card and might not be able to use it in my next system. Then again I figure a 6800GT and another 512M of ram might "hold me over".
 
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