Performance gain? Expert opinions plz

[Major_Trouble]

My sons computer was starting to show signs of stress so I have bought him some new bits for Christmas and I was interested what people thought we might get in perfomance gains.

Current system....
AMD 2800 Sempron
Asrock K8NF6G-SATA2
1Gb DDR 400mhz
ATI x1950 pro 512mb

New parts....
Intel Core2 Duo E4500 (will overclock it a bit)
GigiByte GA-P35-DS3R
2Gb Geil DDR2 800mhz 4-4-4-12

We're going to reuse his 425w Hiper PSU, HD, GFX card and be re-installing WinXP Pro (not 64 bit).

Now I think his GFX card was badly bottlenecked by the CPU and with all the anti-this-&-that required to surf the net the dual core and larger mem will give a lot more responsivness and a healthy gain in FPS when playing games. I just want to know from some of you experts what you expect the gains will be.

I will be doing the upgrade soon and will report back with the results for those interested for their own potential upgrade performance increase.

 

[Danra]

I do not suggest that you overclock the CPU with the power supply the old you will be using.

The new setup will dramatically increase gaming performance [you did not mention what programs you were looking increased performance from]. You will be able to run any game on the market though some of the new demanding games and using all graphics maxed out will run slowly. You will need to compromise with a few new games, that is, do not run them at maximum graphics settings and you will be fine, they will still look very good.

If you are talking about gaming performance, he will be pleased.

 

[epsilon84]

A quality 400W+ PSU is more than capable of overclocking a C2D, I'm using a 2 year old 480W Antec Neo and it handles my E4400 @ 3.35GHz / P5B Deluxe / 2GB DDR2 / 8800GTS 320 without a hickup.

Having said that, it'll be pretty pointless overclocking the CPU if you will continue using the X1950 Pro as you will be GPU bottlenecked in most games anyway. Perhaps with a 8800GT it would be wise to crank up the CPU clock a bit, though.

 

[Harrisson]

Major_Trouble, suggestion - since you on the budget for new parts, get AMD dual core (>4000+), AM2+ MB, 2GB memory and ATI 3850, you will get WAY more fps in games than spending most of the money on Intel system and then going out of the budget thus keeping old video card.

 

[killz86]

how is a 1950pro a bottleneck for a c2d i have a q6600 o/ced 3.0/1333 and i use a 1950pro on a lg 1680x1050 and it runs my games good. so i dont see where you got the 1950pro is a bottleneck unless a apg then maybe.

 

[jitpublisher]

I would definetly get the Intel system you picked out. The 1950pro will be an excellent card to go with it.
You can always upgrade the video card later if you feel the need. Just because the the 1950pro is not as fast a card as an 8800 or 2900 series card does not mean you shouldn't buy a certain processor.

 

[epsilon84]

how is a 1950pro a bottleneck for a c2d i have a q6600 o/ced 3.0/1333 and i use a 1950pro on a lg 1680x1050 and it runs my games good. so i dont see where you got the 1950pro is a bottleneck unless a apg then maybe.

Because it's a mainstream last gen DX9 card? You don't seem to grasp what a bottleneck means - it's the limiting factor in framerates.

Therefore, an E4500 @ 3.5GHz and at stock will see almost NO performance gains in most games because the X1950 Pro will be limiting the framerates of the game. Even with a 8800GT, there will only be modest performance gains from an overclocked E4500, the vast majority of games are more GPU bound than CPU bound.

 

[epsilon84]

Major_Trouble, suggestion - since you on the budget for new parts, get AMD dual core (>4000+), AM2+ MB, 2GB memory and ATI 3850, you will get WAY more fps in games than spending most of the money on Intel system and then going out of the budget thus keeping old video card.

Find me a cheap AM2+ mobo please?! And we don't even know how the HD 3850 performs, it only comes with 256MB RAM standard, which makes it a rather poor choice for the latest games.

The HD 3870 will be a better choice with 512MB, but I'd definitely wait for reviews before deciding between it and the 8800GT. I have a feeling the 8800GT will come out on top though.

 

[Major_Trouble]

A GFX card upgrade at the moment is out of the question. At least not until the 8800GT and even the 8800GTX replacement has been released. Far to close to new stuff being released to take the plunge for my liking.

The Intel based upgrade parts have already been bought (a special bundle price) so don't bother suggesting AMD this or an Intel that cos' those parts are fixed.

What I want to know is if you guys think the old Sempron based system was holding back the x1950 pro and how much we might expect to gain in games like Call of Duty 2 and 4.

 

[yomamafor1]

A GFX card upgrade at the moment is out of the question. At least not until the 8800GT and even the 8800GTX replacement has been released. Far to close to new stuff being released to take the plunge for my liking.

The Intel based upgrade parts have already been bought (a special bundle price) so don't bother suggesting AMD this or an Intel that cos' those parts are fixed.

What I want to know is if you guys think the old Sempron based system was holding back the x1950 pro and how much we might expect to gain in games like Call of Duty 2 and 4.

You won't see much gain in performance in COD2 because its mainly a GPU bound game. However, for COD4, you should see some noticeable, if not dramatic increase in performance.

You should be able to overclock your E4500 a bit using the 425W. I had 500W running 8800GTS and Q6600 (3.6Ghz), both work perfectly.

 

[slim142]

I think the video card is good for now. Wait until the G92 8800GTS comes out and depending on that upgrade ur GFX.

By the time you upgrade your GFX card, also upgrade your PSU because you wont be able to handle a new videocard without a new PSU.

So far, it was a nice system upgrade. Make sure to install AV and Antispyware. defragment once a month and you should be good.

 

[Harrisson]

Find me a cheap AM2+ mobo please?! And we don't even know how the HD 3850 performs, it only comes with 256MB RAM standard, which makes it a rather poor choice for the latest games.

The HD 3870 will be a better choice with 512MB, but I'd definitely wait for reviews before deciding between it and the 8800GT. I have a feeling the 8800GT will come out on top though.

http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?40090
Those MBs start at 60-70$. Of course one have to wait for fully next gen MB, but they should be out within a month or two.

3580 comes out in both 256 and 512MB, and you can check preliminary benchmarks here:
http://we.pcinlife.com/thread-844605-1-1.html
http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=202510

1950Pro is comparable to 8600GTS, and 3850 demolishes 8600GTS OC. I picked this and not 3870/8800GT because of the budget, Major_Trouble spend it all on Intel system while he could get this rig.