Sensible answers please, no 'you should upgrade to PCIE'.

My system spec is this:

ASUS A8V Deluxe
AMD 64 4600+
2GB RAM (4 x 512MB)
GeCube ATI 1950 Pro 256MB AGP
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum

There is a chance I can get a Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 512MB, for approx £135 delivered.

The question is will I get the full benefit of this card or will my system bottleneck it?

Is it just better for me to stick with the 1950 Pro?

Depends on how high is the resolution you're trying to play your games in.

But I think you should upgrade, for even if you have your processor bottlenecking the overall system performance, you WILL have improved gaming speeds with the 3850.

I'd say go for it man, your case is one of the rare cases that I'd actually recommend sticking with an AGP system. Your system shouldn't bottleneck it too much, considering that the 4600+ is still a damn nice processor. Add 2GB of ram to that equation and it's like one of those old venerable veterans that can still kick ass, even after the war is over and they've been replaced with new recruits.

You should be able to sell that X1950 pro AGP for a good amount if you do it quickly. And with your cpu, the 3850 will surely allow higher playable settings.

Look how the 8800GT and GTX do on 5 different systems. You'll see as resolution goes up things get GPU bound rather quickly on the 8800GT even.
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/$5 [...] /page4.asp

Pouring money into a barely alive AGP slot with single core processor? Not really a great idea. Why not just get a cheap new mobo? Shouldn't be no more than 30-40 pounds that would take your current processor.

1950pro can easily play most games out there fine. I wouldn't waste money into a dying bus.

I took it he meant the X2 4600+ as the fastest single core A64 not including FX series is the 4000+.

Not worth it in my humble opinion.

I know its tempting. I have almost the same config as you, except I have the weaker sapphire x1600pro 512 mb and 3GB system ram. It handles HL2, UT2008 just fine. FSX is a little choppy but still quite playable. Everytime I see a sale I get tempted but I don't really need the card.

I wouldnt buy any card just for the sake of DX10.

If you're like me on a limited budget, then I don't really think that the level in improvement that you will see is worth the 130 pounds -- sorry I cant find the proper symbol on my Canadian keyboard

You're better off waiting for a more powerfull future card at the same price.

just my 2 cents

Damn, I agree with you guys, I thought it was a X2, which would have been perfectly able to handle it. Nevermind on that one.

I have a HD3850, a X1950PRO, a X1950GT, and a X850XT---all 256mb RAM, on my family's 4 custom-built computers, all PCI Express.

All have dual cores: mine, an E6300, and (3) X2 4000+'s for my wife and kids.

I have a 1280x1024 NEC 90GX2 19" LCD monitor, and they have 1280 x 1024 NEC 70GX2 17" LCD monitors.

When I upgraded from the X1950PRO to HD3850, my Oblivion RPG game framerates essentially doubled.

And in all games we play, overall, my framerates increased 50 to 100%.

Even on a single core computer, the move to a HD3850 would be substantial.

So, if you're truly unhappy with the performance of your otherwise very solid X1950PRO, then I would recommend the upgrade.

Good luck!

I agree. The HD350 beats the X1950XTX and that was a good step above the 1950 pro. I believe he has a dual core x2 4600+, but even if it was an A64 4000+ single core typo he meant to say, then it would still benefit. I moved from a X1800XT to a X1950XT to a 8800GTS paired with an FX-55 single core and saw a playable difference with each upgrade. And the X1800XT trades blows with the X1950 pro so I know the 3850 could be a huge increase even with a single core CPU.

The old top GHZ settings for 939s without bottleneck using the 1XXX series was 2.2 . Being that the 3850 is a slight step above a 1950XTX, a 2.2 GHZ shouldnt be much of a bottleneck. Cant remember the article, but this was all done before. It should be fine.

As always it all depends on the game, but personally I wouldn't bother for the move from the X1950Pro to the HD3850 while opening up maybe a bit of features isn't like it's adding new games he couldn't play before, it won't be dramatic and as such I would say it's not worth it unless you like to tinker (as such OC your CPU) and you can sell the X1950Pro for a good price and recoup a good chunk of the money.

Overall if it were me, I'd just save my money and put it towards a more complete upgrade even if it were in stages.

There's a reason why GrapeApe is a mod. He is veteran and knows what he is talking about. He is great with words and knows his stuff.

Make sure you have a good PSU to support the new card, if you don't already have a quality PSU.