Best GPU for this setup without performance drop

[ccshopland]

Hi.

I have a problem at the moment in that I want to play the recent releases but that I fear my current old machine just cannot handle the games. I want to upgrade the GPU to at least play the latest releases in low detail, but the games must still be playable.

My current setup is -

AMD Athlon 64x2 4200+ 2.2ghz
3GB Ram
Asustek M2V, VIA K8T900
ATI Radeon 2600 XT

My question is what is the best GPU for my current setup before I get performance drops with bottle-necking? I have a PS3 but find the customisation of the PC much better for gaming. However, if the upgrades to the PC won't be worth it, or that I have to upgrade many other things or indeed buy a new machine, then I may have to stick to my PS3 for gaming for now.

Many thanks.

 

[Deemo13]

Honestly that is a very slow processor. And my guess is that you have only a 300W PSU. You are going to have a hard time playing the latest releases. The MAX I would recommend is a 9800GT, and that might even bottleneck.

Do you have the proper power supply to support a better card?

 

[ccshopland]

The PSU is 400W, but could I upgrade that too? The issue then is that it would probably be near £150-200 to replace both PSU and GPU when there are gaming rigs out there for around £350.

 

[Deemo13]

That is true, you could probably build a gaming computer for that price. BUT the thing is if you upgrade the power supply to something good, you can use it again if you decide to build your own computer.

What kind of 400W is it? You might be able to run the 9800GT on it depending on how good it is.

You can also get a Radeon HD6670, which is newer and will for sure run on your computer.

 

[bigcyco1]

I recommend this http://recs.richrelevance.com/rrserver/click?a=3e89ae564e77b361&vg=e5f4b018-c99a-42ec-980f-904e50cb5177&pti=2&pa=content1&hpi=2241&stn=SolrSearchToView&rti=2&sgs=&u=44162467201208200454327617511728&uguid=72db2be4-08d7-4003-42e2-084e50af4a2a&channelId=WEB&s=44162467201208200454327617511728&pg=1565&p=2042280&ct=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tigerdirect.com%2Fapplications%2FSearchTools%2Fitem-details.asp%3FEdpNo%3D2042280%26csid%3D_61 The Radeon HD 7750 is the fastest graphics card you can get right now that doesn't require an auxiliary power input; it draws all that it needs from a 16-lane PCIe slot.

 

[abegnale]

I recommend this http://recs.richrelevance.com/rrserver/click?a=3e89ae564e77b361&vg=e5f4b018-c99a-42ec-980f-904e50cb5177&pti=2&pa=content1&hpi=2241&stn=SolrSearchToView&rti=2&sgs=&u=44162467201208200454327617511728&uguid=72db2be4-08d7-4003-42e2-084e50af4a2a&channelId=WEB&s=44162467201208200454327617511728&pg=1565&p=2042280&ct=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tigerdirect.com%2Fapplications%2FSearchTools%2Fitem-details.asp%3FEdpNo%3D2042280%26csid%3D_61 The Radeon HD 7750 is the fastest graphics card you can get right now that doesn't require an auxiliary power input; it draws all that it needs from a 16-lane PCIe slot.

+1; was about to say this.

 

[bigcyco1]

+1; was about to say this.

 

[Deemo13]

That's true, but I was going with the 6670, mainly because I have an Athlon 4600+ and it was bottlenecked by a GTS250.

That being said it did run games well with the GTS250 (which is about the same speed as the 7750 btw).

So if you have the budget for the 7750, which is not too much more expensive, then I would go for it. If you dont care to put much money into the old computer, then stick with the 6670. I believe the 7750 is about 40% faster overall.

 

[ccshopland]

Thanks for the reply guys.

Will the Radeon HD 7750 have any detrimental effects to gaming though because the processor is so weak. What I'm trying to say is will the upgrade in GPU be almost negated by the lack of processor power and therefore is it worth upgrading.

Will the strong Radeon go hand in hand well with just a dual core processor?

 

[abegnale]

Thanks for the reply guys.

Will the Radeon HD 7750 have any detrimental effects to gaming though because the processor is so weak. What I'm trying to say is will the upgrade in GPU be almost negated by the lack of processor power and therefore is it worth upgrading.

Will the strong Radeon go hand in hand well with just a dual core processor?

Hi,

I cannot definitely say how much of a performance hit the video card will suffer because the CPU cannot fully drive the video card to it's full potential but basing off a few charts I feel there still would be an overall improvement as opposed to what you are currently using.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
I took a look at your older card (2600 XT) just to see where it was in the hierarchy and compared it with the 7750; generally, the 7750 should be light years ahead of the 2600 XT.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/35?vs=362
To check for how much CPU power your processor (4200+) could provide on the newer cards (at the time of testing, Anand had it paired it with a GTX 280), I compared it with a 980 BE. When you view the chart, skip all the way to the bottom to compare game benchmarks to see the framerates that the 4200+ provided (note that the 4200+ was not available so I just chose something similar).

I feel that you should get similar results when pairing the 4200+ with the 7750 at 1680x1050. Overall, the difference between the 2600 XT vs the 7750 should allow you to play newer titles at roughly medium settings (the 7750 having the advantage here).

Any thoughts welcome.
HTH.