Card... CPU? CPU... Card?

[Feanaro]

I will be upgrading my PC sometime between now and, uh... when I get some money. So, the question. Should I upgrade my video card or my CPU? Instead of doing independent research and attempting to understand the subject, I expect y'all to provide the answers for me! :D

I have a PCI Express Radeon X300 and a Pentium 4 2.8GHz. Which should I upgrade first? My hunch is the graphics card, mine is pretty crappy to begin with. But then I hear of CPU bottlenecking and such. I don't know if that would actually be a problem. But there isn't much point in getting teh sup4r card if my CPU smacks it around like a redheaded stepchild, preventing it from reaching its full potential. I don't think I need to upgrade my RAM just yet, I have teh gigity.

I can pick a CPU for myself but I'm not so sure about the card. It must be a PCI Express card. I want a good card but it can't cost eleventy bajillion bars of gold bullion. I'm not a fanboy of ATI or NVIDIA, I have no brand loyalty. Wait are you waiting for? Start telling me how to spend my(as yet nonexistant) money!

[StandingCow]

Graphics card > then another gig of 3200 ram > then mobo and cpu (939 socket)

This is assuming you already have DDR ram on your current system.

[siddy]

technically if you're worried about bottlenecking, pick up a new card and overclock your CPU.

I'm not too well versed with Intel CPU's, but my first assumption is that a new card would suit you fine.

[Feanaro]

then another gig of 3200 ram

I only have two slots, which are occupied by two 512 sticks.

overclock your CPU.

I'm not an overclocker, for varous reasons. Not gonna happen.

[siddy]

I'm not an overclocker, for varous reasons. Not gonna happen.

Ok. Well, I still stand beside the fact that I believe that you wouldn't be bottlenecking your system too much. But it really depends on what card you want to get.

[Delta]

In simplistic terms.

The highest FPS attainable by updrading one but not the other would be achieved by upgrading your graphics card, but like you said, then things will in most-if-not-all-scenarios be CPU limited.

Then you can upgrade your CPU if you absolutely feel compelled to upgrade, but that would be stupid. You should just save for a new Mobo / AMD 64 proc and stick that in the case with your new graphics and existing DDR ram (I'm assuming you have DDR 3200 ram) and then you're ready to rock.

[HostileIntent]

first of all p4 = lose lose lose but i won't get into that. I'd say definetly go with the new graphics card. Nvidia recently came out with their 7800 series which kick ass especially in sli. ATI has yet to produce a card to rival the 7800 in performance but they are working on it.

[GundamCL]

Actually the x1800xt just came out and beats the 7800 gtx in almost every category, but only a slim margin.

[HostileIntent]

Actually the x1800xt just came out and beats the 7800 gtx in almost every category, but only a slim margin.

oops, serves me right for looking at old magazines. You're right, that card did come out and will be shipping in november. Either of those cards would be great to have :D

[Agent Law]

Too bad the X1800 XT costs so much. D=

[furious_geOrge]

p4 2.8 is a decent chip, if it's a hyper-threaded 800fsb and not the crappier 533 fsb version. definitely the video card is the problem there, no question. x300 is like the celeron of video cards. or the cyrix.

[phide]

You may wish to wait until the 14th of this month to make any moves. nVidia may be reducing the MSRP on the 7800 series for arrival of the new 7800 GTX 512MB. ACTUAL prices of cards may or may not change, however, since the current GTX is, at the moment, generally $100-150 below MSRP. The GT may fall to a very impressive and attainable price point.

And stop with that "YOU GOTS TO HAVE 2 GIGABYTES" shit. Two gigs is beneficial only in circumstances where the developers were too lazy to optimize memory management (Battlefield 2). Aren't you ever curious as to what BF2 is pushing into RAM?

Nothing wrong with P4s. Compared to single core, single-threaded A64s, the HyperThreaded P4s are actually somewhat more multitaking friendly.

[StandingCow]

You may wish to wait until the 14th of this month to make any moves. nVidia may be reducing the MSRP on the 7800 series for arrival of the new 7800 GTX 512MB. ACTUAL prices of cards may or may not change, however, since the current GTX is, at the moment, generally $100-150 below MSRP. The GT may fall to a very impressive and attainable price point.

And stop with that "YOU GOTS TO HAVE 2 GIGABYTES" shit. Two gigs is beneficial only in circumstances where the developers were too lazy to optimize memory management (Battlefield 2). Aren't you ever curious as to what BF2 is pushing into RAM?

Nothing wrong with P4s. Compared to single core, single-threaded A64s, the HyperThreaded P4s are actually somewhat more multitaking friendly.

Umm.. first off I never said YOU GOT TO HAVE 2 GIGS! It was a suggestion. And yes, if you wanna play current games like BF2 and future games you need 2 gigs to get the best performance, AND with windows vista comming out (recommended 1 GB RAM) your gonna want alot.

So, I was thinking of the future and current new games. :)

[Glock23]

I have a similar question to ask folks here. I had purchased a 6600GT from Gigabyte, but I am RMA'ing it, as I keep getting thread-loop-lock Stop errors related to the card + drivers. I've tried many different driver versions, and this happened with all of them. I researched it a bit, and apparently it's a common problem with the 6600GT series, by many different manufacturers.

So, my question here is, what, in the future, should I move to? I thought I read something somewhere about getting a certain brand of 6800 and being able to softmod it into basically a 6800GT/Ultra or something.

I'm a fan of Nvidia, as I will be running Linux (again at some point in the future) and I don't like to deal with ATI's drivers, as they are shit in Linux.

[StandingCow]

think it was the 6800 GTO.... but Im not 100% on that

[nojmaster]

I'm very pleased with my 7800GTX, if you've got the cash I'd recommend it. It'll be current for ages and when it's not, you just need to buy a second one, which, by the time you need it, should have dropped in price significantly.

[Mirsky]

Apparently, urban rumour has it that the 6800 GTO2 can be unlocked from 8 to 16 pipes to effectively give you a 6800XT PE at a fraction of the price.

Or, the 6800GT has now been renamed and resold at a lower price point...Nvidia 6800GS - http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26929

[Glock23]

Apparently, the GT hasn't be renamed, it's a brand new card for (probably the holidays only) US$100 less than the GT, but with comparable performance.

Looks quite enticing.....

Anandtech article about it :: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2593&p=1

[Maddog]

slightly similar question too, dunno how well u all can answer. What would make Photoshop run better on my PC, new gfx card, cpu, or ram?

currently I got a 9800pro, amd 2500+(1.8ghz) and 1gig or ram

[lucky644]

2.8 GHz is fine for now...

[lucky644]

slightly similar question too, dunno how well u all can answer. What would make Photoshop run better on my PC, new gfx card, cpu, or ram?

currently I got a 9800pro, amd 2500+(1.8ghz) and 1gig or ram

If there's a lot of files open, like when I'm editing 20+ things, it eats all 1GB of my ram....

So, if you use a lot of ram, get more ram.

I doubt CPU cycles will matter much, and your video is fine for that use. But then again it all depends on your PS usage.

[phide]

Doubling your RAM will actually lead to exponential increases in Photoshop performance. There isn't much going on with your video card in Photoshop, but the CPU is obviously a factor.

The factor of having excessive amounts of RAM for gaming is, somehow, still open for "debate".

[spartan]

A 2.8GHz is more then enough horsepower under the hood to run programs at a good capacity. Hyperthreading and the 800mhz FSB is icing on the cake, if you have the chip with those features.

The x300 is your bottleneck for games, plain and simple. If you don't already have a gig of ram... well, that would be next on my list of things to upgrade.

[SOCOM-DELTA]

I have a PCI Express Radeon X300 and a Pentium 4 2.8GHz. Which should I upgrade first? My hunch is the graphics card, mine is pretty crappy to begin with. But then I hear of CPU bottlenecking and such. I don't know if that would actually be a problem. But there isn't much point in getting teh sup4r card if my CPU smacks it around like a redheaded stepchild, preventing it from reaching its full potential. I don't think I need to upgrade my RAM just yet, I have teh gigity.


if money is that tight for you, then i would recommend just upgrading your video card. for now, your CPU is plenty fast.

the upgrade depends on your motherboard, really. does your mobo have an nForce chipset? what's the make & model of your mobo?

[Feanaro]

My CPU does have an 800MHz FSB. Not sure on Hyper-threading, not motivated enough to look.

the upgrade depends on your motherboard, really. does your mobo have an nForce chipset? what's the make & model of your mobo?

I have an Intel D915GAG with, surprisingly enough, the 915G chipset.

For now, I am looking at an ATI X800 XL and a Geforce 6800GT. Both are at the extreme end of my estimated price range, about 250-70 dollars.

[Agent Law]

Get a X800 GTO, then crank it up.

[siddy]

My CPU does have an 800MHz FSB. Not sure on Hyper-threading, not motivated enough to look.



I have an Intel D915GAG with, surprisingly enough, the 915G chipset.

For now, I am looking at an ATI X800 XL and a Geforce 6800GT. Both are at the extreme end of my estimated price range, about 250-70 dollars.

I coudln't remember if you had PCI-E or not, but if you do, don't get the 6800GT, get the 6800GS, and overclock it to GT speeds (which it should do anyway, it's the same chip) and you'll save your self some money. Although I think the x800GTO with unlocking the pipes is the best way to go, but again that's PCI-E only.

[Agent Law]

I coudln't remember if you had PCI-E or not, but if you do, don't get the 6800GT, get the 6800GS, and overclock it to GT speeds (which it should do anyway, it's the same chip) and you'll save your self some money. Although I think the x800GTO with unlocking the pipes is the best way to go, but again that's PCI-E only.
It says in his first post that he does have PCI-Express. And, yes, get the the GTO² (²!!!). That thing is just begging for you to mod and overclock it.

[siddy]

It says in his first post that he does have PCI-Express. And, yes, get the the GTO² (²!!!). That thing is just begging for you to mod and overclock it.

yep. the next upgrade i'm getting is an Asrock ULI s939 mobo, with a GTO2. Otherwise, i'll get a 6800GS, or wait for the 7800GT's to drop since the ultras have come out.

[Feanaro]

You may have convinced me to get the X800GTO. Why the GTO2 though? On newegg the GTO2 is about $100 more than a GTO, even more if I go OEM. What does it offer for that cash? I'm a cheap bastard, keep that in mind.

[HarryB]

If you're getting a GTO, make sure it's either a GTO from Connect3d or a GTO2 from Sapphire. Otherwise you won't be able to unlock the other pipelines and will essentially have a gimped card.

[Agent Law]

Though you can still overclock both upwards of 200MHz higher than stock.