My System: Biostar P4M900-M4 Intel Pentium 4 3.0E OC'ed to 3.30ghz 1GB RAM Windows XP Pro SP2
What is the best graphics card I could get without the CPU bottlenecking for ~$100? I can get another gigabyte of RAM if needed. I am not upgrapding the CPU and motherboard anytime soon, so please don't suggest that.
Message edited by someguynamedmason on 04-10-2008 at 12:41:18 AM
The 3870 X2 will most likely, but is still cheap. You will need to overclock that CPU to the max to get your moneys worth. The 9600 GT will most likely be the best with bottlenecking in the equation, but if you can squeeze a few more ghz out of that Pentium I think you will get a decent amount of performance out of the 8800 GTS G92. If you plan on upgrading motherboard/CPU with in a year, it will be cheaper than buying a new card, then the 3870 X2 is the best. All depends, by the way you can get a good $50 motherboard, a 5000+ BE for under $100 and a decent cooler, you can most likely double the performance you get out of any of those cards. You said you did not want to upgrade, I must ask why? If price, case, PSU, anything is a problem I am sure it can be fixed for a reasonable amount of money. If not then the 9600 GT will be your best bet.
Message edited by The_Blood_Raven on 04-10-2008 at 12:48:20 AM
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What doesn't kill me only pisses me off!
I don't want to upgrade because I am 15 so I can't afford it.
My PSU is fine. It's and Antec Earthwatts 380, but it has 34 amps on the 12v rails and I have heard of people running 8800 GT's on it, so it should be fine. The 9600GT uses less power.
I was planning on upgrading the graphics card and maybe the ram, and then calling it good. When I have enough money, I will build a new PC with all good components.
I was hoping for something cheaper than that. I don't need a card that can run max settings at 16 million x 9 million resolution on Cyrsis. I want something around $100.
Message edited by someguynamedmason on 04-10-2008 at 01:36:45 AM
I already used a PSU calculator, and it has plenty on watts. And I know 34 amps is enough. In the reviews people with more powerful systems than me had 8800 GTs on it.
I am going to be playing mostly source games.
Message edited by someguynamedmason on 04-10-2008 at 01:44:48 AM
If playing CSS even a OCed 8400GS will be able to play it at 1280*720 with most settings at max. I know this because I play CSS/HalfLife Death Match at these settings with my E2180 + 8400GS based rig. (Check http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=314696 under GPU info). I use my main rig for other games (ie Crysis) and let my friends use the 8400GS based one when they come over to play (mostly CS/HL2D.)
Message edited by Shadow703793 on 04-10-2008 at 01:53:03 AM
ATI Radeon HD2600XT or 8600GT for $100, although don't expect to play modern games at high resolutions with them. If you save a bit more you may be able to get the Radeon HD3850, which is a big step up.
i think the 9600GT will be your best bet!because all the rest in the high end is will be hungry for data(from CPU).and the price.performance ratio is still the best of all.
but games and graphics subsystem today is mostly depend on the GPU to do the rendering.but if you dont want to upgrade the graphics card for the nect year or so the 3870x2 will be better.(if the driver support gets better than what it always been even now)
go for an 8800gs...no one mentioned that yet, and its the best choice for your system. if you look around, i'm sure you can find it for ~$100. i've seen $110. 86xx and 26xx are wastes for gaming..
I have heard of problems running nVidia PCI-e 2.0 cards on PCI-e1.0a motherboards with Via chipsets. I am not sure if this has been fixed yet (I would think so) but it would be best to contact the manufacturer before you buy to make sure.
