Graphics Cards powers and limitations?

[Guest]

Hello:

How far is a new powerful graphics card going to push a gaming system? I mean, how CPU dependant is the amount o improvement a GeForce2 Ultra can make over a TNT2 on a standar system? If it is CPU dependant, then how much CPU power is needed to make it worth?

Thank you.

Ramón.

 

[Guest]

Yes, Graphics cards do vary in their CPU requirements.
A GeForce2 Ultra will perform better than a TNT2 but that depends on what you would call a standard system.
In my experiences I've seen TNT2's perform OK on a 300Mhz chip but much better on higher speeds. (this also depends on what variation of the TNT2 Chipset the card is)

To get full usage of a GeForce2 Ultra you will probably need a 1Ghz+ CPU, but a 700 or 800Mhz CPU should run the card OK.

 

[HolyGrenade]

The TNT series of graphics chips make the CPU do the Geometry Transformations and Ligting calculations. That is why they are pretty CPU dependant. The GeForce Series of chips are what nVidia calls GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). They have a Transformation and Lighting engine on hardware, which means they are capable of doing all of that without help from the CPU. However, even these days games aren't programmed to take 100% advantage of all of that. But things are changing.

The Radeon series of cards from ATI are the same. The Geforce 3 and the Radeon 8500 cards have all of that and new "shaders". They can also tesselate curves into triangles, freeing up even more cpu time.

The voodoo cards and the Kyro cards and the cards from matrox don't have these features.


<font color=red><i>Tomorrow I will live, the fool does say
today itself's too late; the wise lived yesterday

 

[Guest]

For a standar system I refer to my system (hee):
PIII 550E
I'm thinking on upgrading my CPU, but if a brand new Graphic Board can make a good job and then later I get a CPU to complement it I would be fina... but if a new beefy CPU would boost my current card (that is actually doing a fine modest job) I stick with the CPU cause it will boost many more features than just 3d games.

¿What do you think?

See the CPU "Upgrading Nightmare" for more details...

Thank you.

 

[Guest]

So is a Radeon 8500 a valuable card?

I would buy a GeForce3 cause I tend to feel beter with big brands that help nice support on my card... but I ain't very informed... honestly.

Ramón.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

also depends somewhat on the game you are using.

for example quake 3 and serious sam LOVE having a fast video card that can handle T&L and all those other nifty modern special effects.

unreal tournament however is mostly dependent on the CPU and memory/system bus combo. of course you will see an improvement, but it will be minor.

for a VERY rough CPU/graphics match go for the following

300 - 600 Mhz = tnt - tnt2ultra
600 - 1000 Mhz = geforce1, kryo1, geforcemx,radeon
1000Mhz+ = radeon, kryo2, geforece2gts or greater.



I'll respect your comments & opinions, even if i disagree with them, Provided you display maturity.

 

[HolyGrenade]

I don't think ATI have released any pricce info on the Radeon 8500. But it looks like a really good card.

If you Buy a GF3, GF3 Ultra, GF3 Advanced or whatever or the Radeon 8500, you'll be OK for a few years to come. With the other cards you'll almost certainly have to upgrade again within a year or two max.

I'd say no matter what your cpu speed is, if you can affor it, get the best of the cards. Obviously, you can only get the best card you can afford. It true that getting a fast CPU will give you advantages in all different apps. But except for specialist apps like 3D Development tools (3D Studio Max, Maya, Lightwave etc.) and cryptography tools etc., most programs will run happily on your CPU. Although upgrading can make the system feel more robust. Besides a Gigahertz CPU doesn't cost that much.

If you play your games at high resolution, in systems above around 800MHz, the graphics card is usually limited in memory bandwidth. Also, the T&L cards do most of the work them selves, so getting a faster CPU doesn't help that much. The non T&L cards make the CPU do most of the work, so getting a faster CPU does seem to show some improvement. Plenty of new games are considering having pretty complex physics engines that should make the CPU work for its money.

So, at the end of the day it comes to a simple advice. Get the best system you can afford. Getting "Bleeding edge" technology would probably mean paying a high premium. So, if you get stuck in choosing a High end Graphics card and a mid range cpu, or a mid range graphics card and a High End CPU, I'd say go for the first option. CPU power is abundant these days.


<font color=red><i>Tomorrow I will live, the fool does say
today itself's too late; the wise lived yesterday