Hi

I prefer to call myself as a casual gamer but when i play games it matters to me that game should run atleast at mid settings if not high. Recently i tried to play Assassins Creed and it runs at 5-10 FPS at mid settings. So i was wondering what would be the culprit.

I have following configuration :
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (OCed to 2.2GHz)
Asus A8N-VM Mobo
Nvidia 6600GT PCI Graphics card
1 GB DDR 400 RAM
160GB Sata

I did test for same game on http://www.systemrequirementslab.com and it pointed out that my processor is the cause of my incompatibility with the game. Is this right ? If yes , i m going to upgrade my cpu only (socket 939) as i dont have much budget and i wont be having enough money for next 2 years ( i m a student ) so i cant upgrade to new AM2 and motherboard combo.

Which processor would be good for me (provided i m a gamer) ? My budget is around $100 , and is it really worth to upgrade only cpu in my case ?

Regards
EnLi

P.S. : I will be away for next 1-2 days..so accept my apology in advance for late reply.

Bad news... Its your processor.
Worse news.... Good luck finding an upgrade for a Socket 939 motherboard...

I would have said upgrading the processor won't give much of an increase before the GPU becomes the problem.

Assuming it's not currently!

I have an AMD 64 3700+ 939. it's overclockable upto 2.8ghz on my old Biostar NF4ST, only 1.375v needed, sits at stock now.


Bad news....i live in australia

Hmm ..i didnt get exactly what you said mi1ez.

What should i do then ?

I don't think its your proc as much as its your graphics card and your RAM. There is no way a 2.2ghz A64 will bottleneck a 6600GT. That system is about as old or older than mine, and pretty much the same (cept I run 2gb RAM and an X800pro). Assassins Creed is a pretty demanding game, you are going to need an entirely new CPU/mobo/gfx/RAM/PSU to be able to run any current game at mid to high settings.

Which is why I'm about to drop $1500 on a new one this summer.

But, since your budget is only about $100, I think it would be extremely beneficial if you dropped $30 on another gig of RAM and the other $70 on graphics. I would recommend something like a 2600XT, you should see a major boost in FPS.

GFX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161174
$100 - $20 MIR
RAM
-Find whatever is cheapest and allows you to still run dual channel. If you have a single 1gb stick in your board, get another 1gb stick. If you have 2x512mb, get another 2x512mb kit.

I believe this should give you a giant leap in performance compared to what you see now. Good luck.

Thanks doomturkey for great suggestion. Yes my system is 2 years old.

I will try adding new 1GB DDR1 stick in pc and see if it helps..I will be posting again in 4-5 days as have exams to attend to

EDIT: I would like more suggestions on this problem before i decide anything.

Thanks a lot

I think its more you GPU when it comes down to assassins creed. although these guys are right you need a new computer, dont feel to bad so do i.

i currently am planning a nehalem build, cause it will take me that long to save up the money before i can upgrade.

I used to have a similar system. athlon 64 3200+ processor with 1GB RAM & 6800GT. I have decided to go for an upgrade as I was also unhappy with the performance when it came to play modern games. I got myself a dual core processor (Opteron 170 - you can still get X2 939 processors @ ebay), upgraded to 2GB RAM and finally bought a Geforce 8800GTX - . I invested approximately 500 US$. It was a huge performance boost! (increase 3d mark 05 from 4500 to 14500!) - that was the much better solution for me than investing 2,5k $ for a new system...

I needed 1.7V to do that, 1.75V to hit 2.9GHz. I got a bad chip, I blame Hector! Living in Australia isn't a bad thing, except our prices

@enli: Anoth gig of RAM won't improve framerates at all. You are playing a 2007 game on a 2004/2005 video card, that just doesn't work any more. Your CPU is going to bottleneck anything you buy (that is decent of course) to replace your 6600GT. You don't need an expensive upgrade, but you do need an upgrade. A 9600GT/9600GSO and an E2160 would probably give you 5-6x your current framerate at a typical resolution of 1280x1024.

Ok guys.. what would be a good graphics card under $100 ?

I suggested another gig of RAM because it really is a huge boost in doing everyday tasks, I recently added another gig and it was the best $30 I ever spent on a PC upgrade.
And a 9600GT would definitely be better than the 2600XT I suggested, only thing is its about $30-40 more expensive, so if you want to drop some extra cash, it could be worth it.

I'm a student too, so I feel your pain. Between books, car payments, food, and booze, I have never been so poor.

EDIT: The CPU would probably bottleneck a 9600GT and you would get about the same perf as with a 2600XT b/c of this. If you do what randomizer suggested, you will have to drop money on the E2160, mobo, graphics, and RAM (needs DDR2). If you really don't want to spend more than $100, then get the 2600XT I suggested, it is the best buy you can get on a card for about $100.

@enli: None, they are all crap. Spen another $19 and get this for a significant performance improvement: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130332

EDIT: Yea being a student sucks. $120 textbooks

Get these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819116036

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130332

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128337

And pretty much any nice looking RAM from here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] (PC2+6400)

Of course, it depends on your budget. If you don't want to OC, you can shave another $5 off the RAM and get lower speed stuff.

Good old Australia... term fees... $400+ per term... textbooks do seem pretty good now...