Video card performance

Ron

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I have an Geforce TI 4400 video card & an Athlon 2100XP processor and would like to upgrade to a faster video card. Would I get a decent performance boost if I upgraded to a newer midrange card, or would my relatively slow processor hold back the newer cards performance. In other words, are the newer GPU's still fairly CPU dependant, or have they really evolved to the point where they don't rely on your CPU all that much (especially in 3d games).
Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

Ron
 
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It depends of the games, some are more CPu limited than others. Modern graphic cards take of a big chunk of the load from the processor(graphic wise). You'd probly see a nice performance increase in DX9 tittle but not so much in DX8/8.1. Your cpu will probly remain the limiting factor but if your goin for a 9600/Fx5700 or something in that range, you should be satisfied with the upgrade and the cpu wont limit you that much.

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-3-3-8, Leadtek FX5900 w/ FX5950U bios@500/1000, 2X30gig Raid0
 

Ron

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Thanks for your reply. I was thinking of something like a 9600 pro. I would really like to see a chart of video card performance using different cpu's, but I'm sure there is no such animal. When benchmarking, they always use one of the fastest cpu's available so there's really no way to see the whole story.
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Depending what games you play, a R9600 Pro may not be much an upgrade. Older games, the Ti4400 will keep up. OGL games too. But newer DX9 games, the R9600Pro would be faster. The R9600P would do better with AA/AF, but honestly still isn's good enough to use that on many newer games. To me, it seems a R9700 pro/ R9800/ R9800 Pro would be a better upgrade. Don't get me wrong, I think the R9600 pro is a nice card, just not a great upgrade from a Ti4400 unless you have use for the old card or can get a good price for it.

This cpu scaling review only has the R9800 XT and X800 pro. As you can see, the X800 Pro is a waste of money on an XP2100+. I'll look older reviews with cpu scaling and post them if I find any.

<A HREF="http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/x800_pro_athlon_xp/page3.asp" target="_new">http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/x800_pro_athlon_xp/page3.asp</A>




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Ron

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Thanks for the link Paul. I can see that the effect of the processor in the scores varies with the game that is benchmarked and the resolution it is run at. And if you do come across older benchmarks with cpu scaling, I would greatly appreciate the link to it. Thanks again,

Ron
 

baldurga

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Hi Ron,

My sugestion is go for 9800Pro. With that GPU you CPU is not being a serious bottleneck compared to 9600XT.

You can look at <A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030120/index.html" target="_new">Tom's Hardware Graphs 2</A>, not exactly your CPU there, but usefull to see the trend and which games are more CPU dependent. You are closer to 2700+ than to the Athlon 1000.

You can also try to overclock your CPU a little bit to see if there is a significant improvent in games you play.

Hope this helps!

Note: 9800Pro should be about 10% faster than 9700Pro and 9600XT could be near 9500Pro. That may help when looking at the graphs.


Still looking for a <b>good online retailer</b> in Spain :frown: <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by baldurga on 07/01/04 01:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

ltj311

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Hi Ron. It really depends on how much you are willing to spend. But I would definately recommend a 9800np. NOT the 9800SE.

I had a xp2400+, 512mb pc2100, and a Ti4200. When I upgraded to a 9800np...the difference was flat out ridiculous. I can't express to you the jump in quality and fps with this card. It was my first ATI card and it pretty much made me an ATI fanboy from the first day I used it.

The 9800np is practically equivalent to the 9700pro but with enhanced shaders.

You can get one <A HREF="http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=320724" target="_new">here</A> for $170. Of course you can go for the 9800pro which will give you about 10% more performance, but you will have to pay another $30 at least. Up to you whether it's worth it or not.

But yes, you WILL get a massive performance upgrade with a 9800. I would stay away from the 9600. For a little more, you can get alot more boost with the 9800.

--

"I'm a rageaholic."
(<i>starts crying</i>)
"I just can't live without rageahol." - Homer Simpson
 

baldurga

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Sorry Itj311, but I would <b>NOT</b> recommend the card you linked at all! It's the 128 bit version! Is far from 256bit, regular 9800np. <A HREF="http://apps.ati.com/ATIcompare/result.asp" target="_new">Here</A> you have the official specs.

Don't expect Sapphire 9800np 128bits will perform as you will see in reviews around the web, they test the 256bit version!

Ron, I strongly suggest NOT going for any 128bit 9800. Make sure when reading specs of the card. You can find some threads about this "Sapphire issue". Even a boicot campaign started, until Sapphire decided to explicit indicates 128bits version on the box.


Still looking for a <b>good online retailer</b> in Spain :frown:
 

ltj311

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My bad. I wasn't aware the 256mb version was SO much better than 128.

You promoting AGP 8x too?

baldurga, you make it sound like I'm recommending the guy go get a 9800se or something. The 128mb 9800np is STILL a good card. I must have missed the memo that they are now obsolete compared to the 256mb version.

Ron, whatever baldurga says, that's fine. But what I said still applies. <b>I</b> purchased this card and <b>I</b> still got a HUGE performance increase.

Do some research, I wasn't aware 256mb was so important. I don't think it is, at least not in todays games, but do some research first if you want. If you plan to keep this card for a while, maybe it is a good idea to look into 256mb.

--

"I'm a rageaholic."
(<i>starts crying</i>)
"I just can't live without rageahol." - Homer Simpson
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ltj311 on 07/01/04 04:10 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Actual just to clarify, it is NOT 256MB of memory that he is refering to. It is the 256-bit memory interface. You probably have a 256-bit card if you have a real 9800 non-pro. Saphire recently released these crippled 128-bit ones as a Radeon 9800 pro and now renamed it to a non-pro. But it is far from R9700 Pro or R9800 non pro performance.

A BBA Radeon 9800 non-pro is a safer bet than a Saphire now. But unless you can find it for $180, why not just buy a 9800 Pro.

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ltj311

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Ooooh. I see. My fault. I wasn't aware of the different 128/256 bit in a 9800np. I linked the Sapphire card because I was unaware of the different sized memory interfaces. F me I guess. :p

Well, like paul said, if you can find a REAL 9800np then go for it. But also like he said, if you are willing to spend a little extra you can get a 9800pro too.

pauldh, how would I go about finding out if my 9800 is a 256-bit version? Are there any programs which will detect this for me?

Strike that. I just downloaded Aida32 and it said...Bus Width=256-bit. I guess that's what you are talking about?

--

"I'm a rageaholic."
(<i>starts crying</i>)
"I just can't live without rageahol." - Homer Simpson
 

pauldh

Illustrious
Good for you that it is a 256-bit. I doubt you would have been so thrilled if you had the 128-bit Saphire. People speculate it's close to 9800SE performance. I have yet to see benchies on it, but it obviously can't be nearly as good as 256-bit versions.


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ltj311

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Yea, no kidding. That's why I love this forum. I always learn something new.

Anyways, Ron, my first post still stands. As long as you make sure its the 256-bit 9800np, it's a VERY good card. I messed up by giving a link to the wrong card. But hey, at least we got it cleared up the difference between the 128-bit and 256.

--

"I'm a rageaholic."
(<i>starts crying</i>)
"I just can't live without rageahol." - Homer Simpson
 

baldurga

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Hey, I'm too late! Debate has ended! :wink:

Yes, I was talking about 256bit and not 256Mb. Your statements are true and I agree with you. Just the link was creating some confusion.

Still I don't understand why Sapphire is labelling as 9800np, that's misleading. Or at least they should show some benchmark.



Still looking for a <b>good online retailer</b> in Spain :frown: