AMD 3500+ how bad would this bottleneck a 8800GTS 320mb??

[coke]

I posted a few days ago asking for help on decidng which new card to buy I was considering a 1950 pro. But in the end I have decided to hold off for a couple of weeks to see firstly how the 8600 cards shape and also to see what ATI's new offerings are like and how they affect nvidia's pricing.
The reason I after a new card is that my friend has just upgraded his computer and I have bought some of his components off him. I going from a 2.5 Barton with 1.25g of ram and a 7600gs AGP, to a 3500+ 64 bit with 2g of ram and whatever graphics card I get.
Like I say after recently deciding against buying something like a 1950 pro, I am now looking more and more at spending a bit more and getting something like 8800gts 320mb.
So after reading some other recent posts on here, would the cpu badly bottleneck?? What sort of performance gain would I get from this compared to say a mid range X2 or something similar??
Even so I may still consider getting this card in terms of future proofing myself a bit more as I can later upgrade the cpu etc...

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Depends on the game, some games are CPU centric (like Supreme commander, going from a GF7600 to GF8800 doesn't yield as much as going from an AMD64 3800 to C2D E6300.

Also while you might end up somewhat CPU limited in games, they should be playable, you may need to tweak some settings to get the most out of it, but that's the same as graphics. And if you do reach a plateau that should mean you should get performance free AA or higher resolutions, unless your graphics card is equally maxed.

PS, I'm surprised I have to point this out to you, would've thought you'd already know this;

:twisted:

 

[Gary_Busey]

Bottlenecking is also when you break a bottle in half and stab someone in the neck with it, but that discussion is for a totally different forum.

 

[coke]

It just I have heard that some people think it makes a lot of difference and others not so much.
But if I buy this card I even if it is bottlenecked I still gonna get better or even the same performance than I would from a cheaper card such as a 1950 pro and then when I upgrade I will reap even more of the benefits...

 

[coke]

I really could do with some more advice here people please. I have even heard people say that bottlenecking with a the same card and a similar processor actually led to them seeing a fall in their performance. Could this be the case? I really cant afford to do a full upgrade of mobo, processor and ram. And like i say I have only just bought these parts albeit cheaply from my friend.
I really do not know what to do...

Edit: Obviously the processor is better than my current one, and I will about twice as much ram. But could the bottlenecking led to me seeing less performance than my old system with a 7600gs was giving me???

 

[nightscope]

I really could do with some more advice here people please. I have even heard people say that bottlenecking with a the same card and a similar processor actually led to them seeing a fall in their performance. Could this be the case? I really cant afford to do a full upgrade of mobo, processor and ram. And like i say I have only just bought these parts albeit cheaply from my friend.
I really do not know what to do...

Edit: Obviously the processor is better than my current one, and I will about twice as much ram. But could the bottlenecking led to me seeing less performance than my old system with a 7600gs was giving me???

Yes, there will be a bottleneck, but it will most definitely perform better than your old system. Personally I wouldn't buy the graphics card unless I have a decent dual core, but it's up to you.

 

[coke]

Yeah ideally I would love to get a dual core but at the I would either have to buy a socket 939 x2 or a new mobo, processor and ram. Hopefully I will be able to upgrade these at Christmas. I was initially planning to get something like 1950 pro, but the extra performance and DX10 coverage of 8800 turned my head. Also my friend just bought one with a dual core AMD and whilst i knew that my performance with same card wouldnt be anywhere near as good as his it sounding now that it may be worse than I thought due to bottlenecking. But I do need a new card and thought that spending a bit more now will save me having to upgrade the card again in a few months time. I am really confused now what to do...

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

It just I have heard that some people think it makes a lot of difference and others not so much.

People overyhype the bottleneck so much that they make people focus on that rather than getting a great deal on a good card.

But if I buy this card I even if it is bottlenecked I still gonna get better or even the same performance than I would from a cheaper card such as a 1950 pro and then when I upgrade I will reap even more of the benefits...

The thing is do you want to put a mediocre card into your rig so the next time you upgrade your CPU is bottlenecked by your card?

No go buy the GF8800GTS, enjoy it, and then when you can , upgrade your CPU.

Buying the X1950P is a good 'value' deal but IMO, upgrade for the future or you will be asking us this question again in 12 months, and likely not have as good a value option IMO.

The X1950Pro is ~$140, the GTS320 can be found for $240, so if you get the X1950Pro now, then in a year when you want to upgrade do you think you can get an equivalent card plus resale of your X1950Pro for $100? Even if you can then that means you break even on price and the whole time play at a lower level when you could've been enjoying play on a GF8800GTS.

IMO, get the best you can afford in your budget each time you upgrade.

 

[coke]

As an example I should be able to play BF2 and 2142 at max settings on a decent res and still get good fps, right? What about stuff like Stalker??

 

[ryokinshin]

bf2142 yes definatly ull be maxed out, and same with talker, those are not cpu games, its only a problem when u play rts games really. the 8800gts is a great card, i woudlnt suggest the 8600gts or 8600gt over the x1950pro though.....

 

[speedemon]

What you guys are forgetting is if the 8 series is chosen you should also consider the price of visa , otherwise the 8 would be a waste in that system. 8)

1950 pro or a 79 series for that system if you want to stay on the cheap side for now + I would recommend a dual core cpu

 

[ryokinshin]

if he dosnt paly cpu intensive games it woudlnt matter too much
esp if hes gettin dual core xmas he can survive, and the 8800gts he can keep

 

[coke]

But if I got say the 1950 pro for example and I was running a cpu intensive game I would get the same performance anyway...

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

GF8800 doesn't need vista to own all other contenders.

The GF8800 does a damn fine job in games like Oblivion on XP and would dominate the X1950P and GF7900s with a ton of settings unavailable.

Think of the DX10 as gravy, but the GF8800 is the best DX9 card out there, and a great deal even if DX10 and Vista didn't exist. That he has those additional options open to him is just an added benefit of the card.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

From what I remember reading back when, either from annands or THG, that a A64 will see benifits up to around 2.4ghz. And the 1900 series was out at the time.

 

[coke]

From what I remember reading back when, either from annands or THG, that a A64 will see benifits up to around 2.4ghz. And the 1900 series was out at the time.

Meaning exactly?

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

OH crap, dont make me look it up. What I do remember was, they used a solution to take the gpu out of the formula. Meaning that it would have to use the cpu to see improvements. As threy increased the cpu ghz up, they saw improvements up to around 2.4 ghz, then it tailed off

 

[jitpublisher]

If you are going to buy a GPU, get the best you can afford.
The card might not live up to it's full potential with your CPU, but it DEFINETLY will not perform any worse than a lesser card. As someone already mentioned, get the top dog card, and use it until you save up enough to upgrade your processor and memory, and *surprise* you won't need to upgrade the GPU as well to be cranking out those big frame rates.
Remember, you will always have a bottleneck of some kind in your system. The bottleneck is the slowest part, that holds the rest of the system from reaching it's full potential. Since all the technology inside most any PC is not on an even keel, some one part of the system, no matter what you do or how much you spend, is going to be a bottleneck.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

I totally agree with you. Posting advantages of a cpu should NOT come under consideration when buying a gpu. To the OP, get the 8800, it will outperform the 1950 anyday anyhow.

 

[mrmez]

Bottlenecking is also when you break a bottle in half and stab someone in the neck with it, but that discussion is for a totally different forum.

I thought that was a 'dear friend knife'?