can a vidcard be "too fast" for a cpu?

[beth]

hello, I only have a vague idea about bus speeds.

For a Sempron 2200+ running at 1.5GHz, what videocard would you suggest?

 

[cleeve]

Every system has a bottleneck, and it depends on the software you use more than anything else. CPU, RAM, videocard... it all depends.

In general, for gaming, your Sempron is going to have a hard time with newer titles (Doom3, Half-Life 2, etc).

If you want the most bang-for-your buck out of your current platform, you should probably:

1- Get a used Radeon 9700 for dirt cheap on ebay, or a new 6600GT. Better yet would be an X800GT, but I'm not sure if those come in AGP.

2- Get 1gb of RAM

3- When you can afford it, dump the Sempron 2200+ and get an AthlonXP 2600+. Much faster processor in real life.

Of course, after all that it probably makes more sense to get a new system... so to make it worth your while, the best bet might be to get the used 9700 PRO and run your system until you can afford to upgrade entirely. They go for as low as $45 on ebay, don't pay more than $60 though.

________________
<b>Geforce <font color=red>6800 Ultra</b></font color=red>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~3300+</b></font color=red> <i>(Barton 2500+ o/c 412 FSB @ 2266 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark05: <font color=red>5,275</b>

 

[davemar14]

Best bet would be a 9800 Pro or a 6600GT. These offer good performance for today's games. The 2200+ is definetly holding your system back. I upgraded from a Athlon XP 2400+ to a 3000+, and that was a nice increase in performance in games.

My System:
<A HREF="http://amdgamingrig.dyndns.org" target="_new">http://amdgamingrig.dyndns.org</A>

 

[beth]

how about for an old AthlonXP 1600+ ? Would a Radeon 9200 be a good match? I'm not really looking to play the current games; just satisfied with the oldies like the Sims =P

 

[davemar14]

Find a GeForce4 Ti (4200,4400,4600) card. I had a 4200 with my Athlon XP 2400+ and it ran all of today's games. I ran UT2004, Doom3, and Half Life 2. Granted, I didn't have the settings on highest, but it was very much playable. Since you have a 1600+, that will definetly be a bottleneck. But upgrading the card to lets say a GeForce4 Ti, 6600GT, or 9800 Pro, would give about the best performance you will get from that system. There is no point in putting in a 6800 series or X800, as these cards won't be worth the money since the card will be waiting for information from teh CPU. For games that don't require a lot of processing power, you could get away with an ATI 9000 or 9200 like you said.

My System:
<A HREF="http://amdgamingrig.dyndns.org" target="_new">http://amdgamingrig.dyndns.org</A>

 

[marneus]

wouldnt a AXP1600 be slower than a Semp2200 ??

A 9600 or 9800 series card would be better but a 99200 will run the sims okay

Trust me I know what I'm doing... ooops, grab the cat...