What card to get?

(Nail) #41

absolutely

(Brandon) #42

Be sure you got a PSU strong enough

(SCDS_reyalP) #43

This is a misunderstanding. Better graphics cards don’t take more CPU. A faster graphics card just means there is less chance of being renderer limited, thus giving you more chance of being limited by something else.

(Isabel Lucas) #44

This is a misunderstanding. Better graphics cards don’t take more CPU. A faster graphics card just means there is less chance of being renderer limited, thus giving you more chance of being limited by something else.

Actually a faster graphics card does - look at the tests on Andtech and Tom’s hardware that specifically look at this. All the data from the graphics card is sent to the CPU for processing and then back before being output. So more info processed by faster card = more info sent to cpu. That also why dual graphics cards only show gains of 20-40% and not 100%, its the cpu thats bottle necked by the extra info, not the cards.

Thats also why Shader Model 4.0 can make big gains because it renders differently and this allows not only faster calculations but also for all the graphics info to be processed soley by the GPU (not CPU) for the 1st time ever.

Al.

(Brandon) #45

So by that you mean , if you have a 2Ghz CPU and a 7900GT card , the video card will work 70% than it should
and when you have a dual core 4.0Ghz CPU , a 7900GT card , the video card will work 90-100% than it should ??? :???: :???: :???: :tapir:

(SCDS_reyalP) #46

Err, the extra info implies higher detail or something. My point was that given the same input, a new graphics card will not take more CPU.

In other words, if you have an uber graphics card and a slow CPU, you won’t get the advantage of the uber graphics card, but you won’t be any slower than a slow CPU and a medium graphics card.

(EB) #47

ah, the famous: retraction , oh noes!, this is what I meant since I was proven wrong post. :stuck_out_tongue:

(Nail) #48

cutting edge, for agp, please !!
replacing piece of poo onboard shared ram adapter with the 9600XT will give him much higher framerate and way more fun playing ET

(Isabel Lucas) #49

Err, the extra info implies higher detail or something. My point was that given the same input, a new graphics card will not take more CPU.

In other words, if you have an uber graphics card and a slow CPU, you won’t get the advantage of the uber graphics card, but you won’t be any slower than a slow CPU and a medium graphics card.

So your advice would be spend $800 + on a cutting edge graphics card but run the graphics settings on low to keep the output the same. Kind of seems an expensive way of acheiving low quality graphics.

Far better to buy a cheaper mid range card, run med to low graphics depeniding on the system effects, and put the money saved towards a full system upgrade at a later date.

Al.

(kamikazee) #50

AFAIK, he’s not giving an advice but just trying to explain that the CPU does not get loaded more, it just exposes the CPU bottleneck.

(Nail) #51

quit stroking your e-penis in the guys thread, you want to show off your uber leet pc knowledge, go on a game show

(SCDS_reyalP) #52

No, I said nothing even remotely like that. :banghead: The only card I have recommended in this thread is a 9600XT, for $50.

All I was trying to point out is that a faster graphics card, by itself never* makes your system slower. Some people seem to be confused by the terminology of a “fast card bottlenecks a slow CPU”. That’s all I was trying to clear up.

*barring some unusual bug or something.

(caelumstarson) #53

…How can one improve their CPU? New motherbarod and such i presume?

(SCDS_reyalP) #54

Every motherboard supports a range of CPUs, usually all the models that use the same socket. The manufactures specs will tell you exactly. If you want CPU better than what your motherboard supports, then you have to get a new motherboard too. This often also means you have to get a different type of RAM.

If you are looking to upgrade your system, you should spend some time looking at reviews and such. If you need basic information like this, there are plenty of newbie guides and tutorials too. Google is always a good place to start.

(caelumstarson) #55

alright thanks, while someone is actively looking at this thread i have a wall in my map made with the gtkgensurf plugin and when i go to put a texture on it of course it looks like pixels. How would i “group” these objects so they are one part not like 50?

(Nail) #56

best to keep mapping questions in the relevant forum, keeps things together and makes search function work better

(caelumstarson) #57

my bad

(Isabel Lucas) #58

…How can one improve their CPU? New motherbarod and such i presume?

It all depends on what you have at present motherboard wise. CPU’s come in different fitments called sockets and the CPU must have the same socket as the motherboard. Looking at your specs its unlikely that your motherboard would support any of the current socket fitments, so yes you’d need a new processor and motherboard.

Also, your memory will probably need an upgrade although it possible a new board might support your old memory - you’d have to check. However its likely memory that old is slow and so would bottleneck your system.

Finally, as someone else mentioned there’s PSU considerations. Most modern grpahics cards require much high wattage PSU’s and more importantly ATX 2.0 + standard. The ATX standard refers to the amount of current available. Its likely your existing PSU might struggle to supply enough current to an upgraded graphics card even without any other modifications.

You need to decide a budget and a list of priorities therefore. As you can see, its very difficult to change certain components without in effect a full system upgrade when your system is this old. If you want to just do graphics card, you can probably get away with graphics card and PSU alone. Its unlikely a modern PSU will have the same motherboard connector but you can buy adapters quite cheaply.

However, if you want to upgrade CPU to anything 1/2 decent, then bank on Motherbaord, CPU, Memory, PSU and graphics card if doing graphics as well = almost a full system upgrade, and if doing that then you also need to think about your case as older cases simply don’t have enough ventilation for modern components.

Hope this helps,

Al.

(Sypher2) #59

if your willing to spend 300$+
go for this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=Suggested&Description=14-130

with that, you wont have to upgrade till the PS4 comes out, 10years imo

(Ragnar_40k) #60

The fastet AGP card atm is the Gainward BLISS 7800GS+. Despite of its name it has a 7900 core (with 24 pixel pipelines, the 7800 has “only” 20). Pricing starts at about 300€: http://geizhals.at/eu/a198786.html