Video card and CPU match up

[dcgoff]

It’s past time to upgrade my system and I need some help. I play FPS’s and was thinking of upgrading my video card to the 8800 GT with 512mb so here is the question. What would be a good match as far as a CPU and ram to be able to get the most out of the card yet not have too much wasted horse power?

 

[dagger]

It’s past time to upgrade my system and I need some help. I play FPS’s and was thinking of upgrading my video card to the 8800 GT with 512mb so here is the question. What would be a good match as far as a CPU and ram to be able to get the most out of the card yet not have too much wasted horse power?

That depends a lot on the game. There is no clear cut off line. Why don't you tell us what games you play, what's your cpu and how much ram, we'll tell you if it's enough.

 

[Evilonigiri]

I'm not too sure if the 8800GT is worth it anymore. The 9600GT has fallen in price and performs closely, making it difficult to recommend the 8800GT.

 

[stridervm]

Well, I also suggest you tell us what resolution you'll be gaming at, it also helps, as higher resolutions tend to rely on good video cards, while lower resolutions tend to rely on processor speed.

 

[dos1986]

Video card...

$70 Dual can be clocked to $210 Dual

Can a €70 Video Card be clocked to $210 Video Card?

No..

$75 E2180 and $195 8800gts ftw

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116052

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325

 

[dagger]

I'm not too sure if the 8800GT is worth it anymore. The 9600GT has fallen in price and performs closely, making it difficult to recommend the 8800GT.

The cheapest 9600gt is $150, while the cheapest 8800gt 512mb is $170. Looking at benchmarks, that's a big gap for only $20. 8800gt is still the best bang for the buck. Since a lot of people are praising 9600gt, it's easy to lose sight of just how much better benchmark scores 8800gt got. It makes sense. The g94 core on 9600gt is half a g92 core oced.

 

[Evilonigiri]

The cheapest 9600gt is $150, while the cheapest 8800gt 512mb is $170. Looking at benchmarks, that's a big gap for only $20. 8800gt is still the best bang for the buck. Since a lot of people are praising 9600gt, it's easy to lose sight of just how much better benchmark scores 8800gt got. It makes sense. The g94 core on 9600gt is half a g92 core oced.

I see a MSI 9600GT for $139.99 with Mir at egg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127333

The cheapest one there is $125 with mir.

It's also OCed, and here's the link to how it performs in real life: http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ4NSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

It performs well against the 8800GT, so I feel that if the OP is playing at lower res, the 9600GT should do fine.

 

[aevm]

Upgrade to 8800GTS 512MB to avoid cooling headaches. Add 2GB of DDR2-800 and an E6750 (or at least E2180) and overclock.