Is AGP 4x an anchor for my rig?

[Preecher]

All,

I have an AGP 4x mobo (asus p4t 533-c )... Given I am limited to AGP 4x, is that enough of a bottlneck to NOT see any performance gains by upgrading my card? I was looking at the latest article about the 7800GS and thought I could squeeze more life out of my rig by upgrading the vid card to that. I currently have a regular nvidia 6800 (125mb) card installed. I am able to play games like F.E.A.R and HL2 but need to go to medium settings and stick to 1024x768 (no A.A.) to get that smooth gameplay. Once I start turning on the neat dynamic lighting features n stuff or if I try 1600x1200.. my FPS drop below playable levels.

Sooo.. can I get more life from a new card (even if the mobo is 4x) or should I start saving up to build a new rig?


current specs are
asus p4t 533-c (533mhz fsb)
2.23Ghz intel P4 533fsb (stock settings)
1gb pc-1066 RIMM
nvidia 6800 (stock settings)
some WD 80Gb 7200rpm drive

Thanks!!

 

[parlee]

first of all i wouldnt get a 7800gs for that rig, ur processor is the bottleneck, 99% of the time 4x agp bandwidth isnt even used, that being said... the 6800 is still a nice card, although kinda old its still powerful enough to run all games at high/medium settings. id consider upgrading ur processor, if u dont want to spend a lot id say socket 754 is ur best bet since there crazy cheap now... or even socket 939 with an agp/pci-express motherboard. id ditch the intel, unless ur a huge fan, becasuse amd has better processors this time around, and for less money. id suggest getting a 939 cpu, amd64 3200+ venice core (run cooler, overclock better) with and a pci-express/agp mobo... get some more life out of that 6800 before u upgrade to a 7800... the memory may also be a problem, i dont know if thats supported by any amd chipsets, if not, u can get a gig of value memory for under 100 bux, all of that would be around the same price as the 7800gs, and prove to be faster than a 2.23 and 7800gs, simply because ur processor right now is bottlenecking, with a 7800gs u will see little performance increase.

3200+ 140
pci-express/agp mobo 75
1 gb pc3200 (corsair, or any value memory) 70-100

all that for same price as a 7800gs, u may not be able to run fear or hl2 at 1600x1200, but if u want to, get a 3200+ with a pci-express mobo, 1 gb pc3200, and a 7800gt for pci-express (basically ditch the old computer) all that can be had for under 600... good luck!

 

[ShortyNumber45]

Upgrading your video card to a 7800 GS is just a waste of money. Yeah, you're right saving your money for now is the wisest thing to do and later you could upgrade to an AMD 939 platform which is an excellent upgrade path.

 

[dvdpiddy]

Oh yeah! it will slow you down. get a new rig

 

[parlee]

the difference (in 3dmark05) from 4x to 8x with same setup is less than 200 points, save till u have 600 and get a 3200 1gb memory and a 7800gt, reuse all other things, that will be a solid computer for another 2 weeks (jk more like a year or so)

 

[Preecher]

hahaha 2 weeks.

Thanks for the input friends. I suppose I will just hold on to the current PC as is for now and save up for a AMD solution....

Interesting to know that the CPU is probably my weakest link.

Cheers!

 

[parlee]

yea by far, that 6800 even the non gt is still leaps and bounds ahead of that 2.3... if it had ht, itd be a bit closer if u overclocked, but without ht its very slow a new cpu would show almost double the perforamnce