CPU Limited?

[BlindMelon7]

I am thinking about buying a HD4850 but I'm not sure if will really be worth it considering the rest of my system.

I have 2gb of ddr400 ram, an athlon 3200 (at 2.4ghz) and a really crappy motherboard.

My current graphics card is an x1950 pro and I play GoW, Crysis (well... I try), grid, assassins creed, call of duty etc etc and my poor computer is really struggling.

What do you guys think I should do?

[staffsMike]

spend the £120 odd on a new mobo, cpu and RAM if your PSU is up to it. The x1950pro isn't too bad for gaming even now

[BlindMelon7]

I just bought 2gb of ram though.

Maybe I could buy an X2 3800? They can be had for £15.

[BlindMelon7]

hmm, Intel E1200, MSI P35 NEO2-FR, 2GB Corsair TwinX XMS2. £115.

Not sure about this.

[staffsMike]

That will work yeah (with reference to the 3800 X2)

AMD isn't a bad way to go on a small budget.

You could get an X2, 780G (or 690G) mobo for £45 (£35 for 690G), and 2GB DDR2.

There aren't many good intel boards on a strict budget. The G33's aren't too bad and P31 is ok but I would steer clear of that MSI, too many issues with them.

[BlindMelon7]

How would the celeron compare to an overclocked X2 3800? How well would the celeron overclock for that matter.

[staffsMike]

How would the celeron compare to an overclocked X2 3800? How well would the celeron overclock for that matter.

The celerons actually have the potential to overclock to 2.8-3.0GHz with little fuss. Maybe 2.5GHz for the X2.

[BlindMelon7]

But what would that mean performance wise?

[staffsMike]

Anywhere around 2.2 - 2.5GHz on a dual core is generally more than enough for most games. Then it's the grpahics cards which make the most difference So with that in mind the 3800X2 isn't a bad move especially if you can get one cheap.

[Mithrandir]

Anywhere around 2.2 - 2.5GHz on a dual core is generally more than enough for most games. Then it's the grpahics cards which make the most difference So with that in mind the 3800X2 isn't a bad move especially if you can get one cheap.

That's interesting. Will a dual core, say 3800x2 @ 2.3ghz be comparable to my Opty 146 @ 2.8ghz.
I notice my CPU is maxed out during games.

[staffsMike]

Well my 2.2GHz in my laptop runs about 80% in most games and that is plenty enough for them to run happily. This is with an 8400gs graphics card.

The 1.8GHz C2D my mate has with am 8600GT run games a whole lot better and still manages, afaik, not to be too CPU limited.

For a desktop comparison, the frame rate drops maybe 1 or 2 when running my E6600 @ 2.4Ghz as opposed to 3.6GHz So once you get up to that 2.2- 2.4GHz arena it really counts for very little to go higher.

I havn't got a decent single core to compare I'm affraid

[Mithrandir]

Well my 2.2GHz in my laptop runs about 80% in most games and that is plenty enough for them to run happily. This is with an 8400gs graphics card.

The 1.8GHz C2D my mate has with am 8600GT run games a whole lot better and still manages, afaik, not to be too CPU limited.

For a desktop comparison, the frame rate drops maybe 1 or 2 when running my E6600 @ 2.4Ghz as opposed to 3.6GHz So once you get up to that 2.2- 2.4GHz arena it really counts for very little to go higher.

I havn't got a decent single core to compare I'm affraid

Thanks staffsMike, I might have to experiment a little.

[BlindMelon7]

So picking up a hd4850 and a 3800 x2 might not be such a bad idea? It will work out less than £150 and hopefully give me a good framerate boost! I only play at 1280x1024 so anything more I think is overkill.

Ooh, while I'm at it, do you reckon I'd have a lot of trouble playing DiRT on my current rig? I saw it in gamestation and I was intrigued

[BlindMelon7]

This kinda makes me wonder why people buy extreme edition processors.

[staffsMike]

The only problem me and my mate had with DiRT on our laptops was the "high" setting for sound, it would absolutely kill the CPU. Other than that it seemed alright. It will probably benefit from dual core though

[Jakg]

Even then you'd still be CPU-limited.