Hi, I have a somewhat unique situation, let me explain briefly (or not)...
I mostly quit gaming about a decade ago, but I occasionally still play my old favorites, which are almost exclusively idTech3 games: Quake III: Arena, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Soldier of Fortune II, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Call of Duty 1. As some of you will remember, these are CPU-heavy games.
Back then I was running an overclocked AMD Opteron and a GeForce 6800 Ultra and was able to maintain 125 fps (very important for this game engine). Over time, parts have failed (GPU, mobo) and I've replaced them with even older stuff I had laying around. Currently the box is running a Pentium IV @ 2.53 GHz and a GeForce FX5600. I now get half the desired fps at best, a quarter during heavy action. Some of you will also remember that we were snobs and crybabies back then and couldn't tolerate framerates below 60 (we whined about anything below 90) -- I still fit that description!
I intend to stay on Windows XP Pro (I won't be using it for anything but gaming, it'll be offline otherwise).
I'm hesitant to spend a nickel more than necessary. I've settled on the Intel G3258, which should be plenty for my needs. This necessitates a new motherboard; the MSI H81M-P33 is highly recommended, and cheap, so I'll get that. This further necessitates new RAM, so I'll get the cheapest 4GB stick I can find (more than enough for XP). And then I'll need a PSU because mine is suspect; I can get an EVGA 400 watt for cheap.
Suddenly my $67 CPU upgrade has turned into $150+. But that still leaves me without a GPU (and I know the integrated graphics won't suffice, despite my games being CPU-heavy)....
And so I finally get to my question: What's the cheapest GPU that won't bottleneck a G3258 on idTech3 games?
I have no need for future-proofing; it's inconceivable that I'll ever want to play newer games or do anything else with this box.
I should also mention that I use an old CRT monitor, 1024x768 @ 100 Hz, or 800x600 @ 120 Hz, and have no need for anything better.
I was looking at the GeForce GT 730, as it would keep my total upgrade at under $200; I'd have a very hard time spending more than that for such limited use. Would this GPU suffice? I'm obviously pretty clueless about post-2006 hardware as I stopped paying attention.
Thanks!
I mostly quit gaming about a decade ago, but I occasionally still play my old favorites, which are almost exclusively idTech3 games: Quake III: Arena, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Soldier of Fortune II, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Call of Duty 1. As some of you will remember, these are CPU-heavy games.
Back then I was running an overclocked AMD Opteron and a GeForce 6800 Ultra and was able to maintain 125 fps (very important for this game engine). Over time, parts have failed (GPU, mobo) and I've replaced them with even older stuff I had laying around. Currently the box is running a Pentium IV @ 2.53 GHz and a GeForce FX5600. I now get half the desired fps at best, a quarter during heavy action. Some of you will also remember that we were snobs and crybabies back then and couldn't tolerate framerates below 60 (we whined about anything below 90) -- I still fit that description!
I intend to stay on Windows XP Pro (I won't be using it for anything but gaming, it'll be offline otherwise).
I'm hesitant to spend a nickel more than necessary. I've settled on the Intel G3258, which should be plenty for my needs. This necessitates a new motherboard; the MSI H81M-P33 is highly recommended, and cheap, so I'll get that. This further necessitates new RAM, so I'll get the cheapest 4GB stick I can find (more than enough for XP). And then I'll need a PSU because mine is suspect; I can get an EVGA 400 watt for cheap.
Suddenly my $67 CPU upgrade has turned into $150+. But that still leaves me without a GPU (and I know the integrated graphics won't suffice, despite my games being CPU-heavy)....
And so I finally get to my question: What's the cheapest GPU that won't bottleneck a G3258 on idTech3 games?
I have no need for future-proofing; it's inconceivable that I'll ever want to play newer games or do anything else with this box.
I should also mention that I use an old CRT monitor, 1024x768 @ 100 Hz, or 800x600 @ 120 Hz, and have no need for anything better.
I was looking at the GeForce GT 730, as it would keep my total upgrade at under $200; I'd have a very hard time spending more than that for such limited use. Would this GPU suffice? I'm obviously pretty clueless about post-2006 hardware as I stopped paying attention.
Thanks!
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