Need your advice - 8800GT/CPU question

[d3lit3]

Hi,

I'm planning to buy an 8800GT when it hits Russia, but I have a question...

First of all, here's my rig:

Pentium D(Dual core) @ 3.2 Ghz
2 GB RAM Kingston @ 667 Mhz
Gigabyte 7600GT 256 MB
430 w power supply Thermaltake

1.If I buy an 8800GT, will my CPU bottleneck the 8800? If so, how much? By a lot?Are we talking 10FPS or 40?

2.Will my power supply handle it? And if it doesn't will it just break, or will it break the whole computer or start a fire etc.

3. Would it help if I OCed my CPU? Would it remove the bottleneck?

And, last question, how will I be able to play Crysis if I do get the 8800GT? Very high detail?

Thanks.

 

[dobby]

although your CPU is the bottle neck in your system in game i doubt you will notice the difference as the CPU does little in terms of bottle neck in games as they are so graphic orinated.

your PD will oc brilliantly i think it was a well known fact that the 820 could OC to 4.1Ghz so imagine cold cold Russia you'll get close that that.

if you read the recommend spec for crysis which is 3.0ghz single core you are well inside the bracket with a duel core @ 3.2ghz

upgrading would be nice to a C2D but not nesseray and doubt you would see an amazing gaming performance boost

your PSU wont be stable if you run a 8800gt, and especially not if you OC, it might do it for a while and then get tired and go to sleep. i would get a 530w and above perhaps 600w for the future
so:
Q1: yes not by much
Q2: perhaps not for long
Q3: it would lower the bottleneck but you would see the improvement in PC applications rather than games

 

[d3lit3]

Thanks for replying dobby

Just wondering, if my PSU "goes to sleep on me", how will it break down? I'm just asking because I'll probably wait until it breaks then buy a new PSU if it's safe. How does the PSU break? Does it break anything else? Can it damage the CPU or graphics card or any stuff if it breaks?

Thanks again.

 

[akhilles]

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/TR2power/w006970/w006970.asp

If that's your psu, the +12V has up to 18A. The recommended psu is 425W 28A. True to told, PCI-E 1 & 2 both draw up to 75W. Any more must be drawn through the 6-pin pci-e power cable. Stock 8800GT uses up to 105W load. Wattage-wise, your psu is ok. Amperage is a question mark.

No, it won't break. It MAY underpower your video which results in lower performance.

Best bet is get a new 450W-550W psu. For good makes & models:

http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiered+PSU+Listings?t=anon

Crysis is probably the most CPU/GPU-intensive game. So don't expect to max out everything in game with 8800GT.