How much of a bottleneck is the CPU in this setup?

[disnoid13]

Hello All!

I'm looking at differnt options for upgrading my system. Here are my current specs. I've got a budget of maybe $350 US.

AMD Athlon 64 2800+ (S0cket 754)
1.5 GB Crucial Memory
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
MSI K8N Neo Platinum (MS_7030)
Antec Tru Power II PSU
160 GB SATA Hitachi
Dell 2005FPW 20.1-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD (1680 x 1050)

I've heard this board is highly recommended as kind of a stepping stone:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123257

I'm still debating on a graphics card, but am looking at one of the 7900GTs, which ever I can get the best deal on (after some research, looking at the x1800xt or whatever else might work without too much bottlenecking). The other problem would be memory, I'd drop down to 1GB as the board only has 2 slots and I've got 3 512MB sticks.

I'm wondering how much of a bottleneck my CPU would be using this MB and GPU? Should I just consider the 7800GS AGP for now? 6800 or one of the x8xx series?

These are some of the games I play: Battle for MiddleEarth 2, Battlefiled 2, Battlefield 2142 (when it comes out) Crysis (when it comes out), Dawn of war, and some various other games.

I'm looking to upgrade with the hope of getting by until next summer when I can build a new rig, possibly reusing the GPU I get now.

Thanks for any input! Much appreciated! Any other upgrade suggestion would be great also!

Jim

 

[raven_87]

Might as well just snag the 7800GS now. Take the rest of the remaining $400 and put it into a high yield investment account and wait for your next crop of GPU"s before making the move to PCI-E.

However, 'yes' ; because in that respect, your CPU will most likely be the bottleneck in your system. Not anything to monstrous, but a little fine tuning on your CPU couldnt hurt

 

[sirheck]

i agree.

i see a diference <cpu bottleneck?> with 2 cards <sli or xfire>
but dont think there will be much with just one card in agp

 

[angry_ducky]

Newegg has this BFG 7800GS for $245 after a $50 MIR. This is probably the best price I've seen for a 7800GS. Your CPU won't bottleneck the card too much, although you might want to overclock a bit just to improve overall system performance. If you don't want to spend $245 on an AGP card, this Open Box Leadtek Geforce 6800 will provide a nice performance for only $99 (with free shipping, to boot!)

 

[rwaritsdario]

Newegg has this BFG 7800GS for $245 after a $50 MIR. This is probably the best price I've seen for a 7800GS. Your CPU won't bottleneck the card too much, although you might want to overclock a bit just to improve overall system performance. If you don't want to spend $245 on an AGP card, this Open Box Leadtek Geforce 6800 will provide a nice performance for only $99 (with free shipping, to boot!)

Depending on what youre gaming, ild say go for the second one so you will get to build that new rig next year sooner.
You might want to get a big typhoon or a good zalman to OC your CPU, check if your mobo allows it first...

 

[disnoid13]

Sounds like a great deal, but unfortunatley it's a PCI-E card. Unless you guys meant for me to go ahead and buy the MB i mentioned.

Thanks again for all the feedback this is great and very helpful!

Jim

 

[pauldh]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122009

7600GT AGP just came out and for a good price. Not too far behind a 7800GS but for alot less money. That should hold you over until you do a new DX10/vista rig.

 

[disnoid13]

Thanks Paul! This is probably what I'll go with. I didn't realize these were out yet.

Jim

 

[angry_ducky]

Sounds like a great deal, but unfortunatley it's a PCI-E card.

Sorry; I neglected to look at that part. I could've sworn it was an AGP card a couple days ago . I'd get that 7600GT that Pauldh linked to.