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Thread: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

  1. #1
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    Default 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    Hey guys,
    Turns out that 5 years ago my dad (who died two years ago) put £500 into an investment bond for me just for fun! I only found out today that he'd done this, and when it matures in a few weeks It all goes into my bank account! That means I will have a large amount of money to spend! And thats the best part - my mum says it's not for saving its for spending on whatever I want

    So, I'm going to get a Kaos Pad for my DJing, another 19" monitor for my 'pooter, and I was considering buying an 8800GTX as well and giving the rest of the money to charity.
    My question is, my current rig, (p4 3.0ghz, 2gb XMS pro pc3200 cas2.0, 7900GTX 512mb) maxes bf2142 out easily, but I want to run the DX10 games as I have vista and the technology looks mindblowing. I'm also a game dev so I will need to be familiar with the 'next gen' DX10 games and be able to implement the technology in future work. I was wondering whether buying an 8800GTX would be a waste of money on a rig which isn't exactly top of the line? I mean, a P4 3.0ghz is no E6600!

    The problem is that I dont want to just buy pc stuff, I want to get the kaos pad as well, and if I do that I cant afford to upgrade cpu, mobo, ram etc.

    So would it give me a big enough advantage to merit going DX10 and spending the money?
    If I'm going to do it I have to do it now while I'm about to go to the states!

    Peace,
    H

  2. #2
    . Spawn-Inc's Avatar
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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    go for 4gbs of ram is that even worth it or necessary? lets say you have 2gbs of ddr2 pc8500 at 1000mhz and 4gb pc5400 running at 700mhz which is better?


    Note: sorry to hijack

    if i had what you have i think i would be content i would put the rest of the money away in savings and get a awesome computer once DX10 is common
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  3. #3
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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    This is what TomsHardware said:

    That said, there are a few things we would like to point out. The first is that Nvidia's cards had better gains from a faster CPU and platform. Part of this can be directly attributed to the driver; Nvidia's driver is known to utilize more of the CPU, so the more the CPU can deliver, the better the performance.
    One thing is for certain: you need bleeding edge horsepower to get the most out of DX0 hardware. If you are in the market for a high end card, you'd do best with an entirely new system.
    The long and short of this experiment is that you need a high speed platform to get the most out of the new DX10 hardware. If you were planning on getting a $600 graphics card to replace your 1-year-old graphics card, it would behoove you to rebuild your box. Of course, this means that the whole graphics upgrade will cost you a lot more than just the graphics card.

    If you don't do the job properly, the net effect will be like hooking up a pair of garbage speakers to a Bose or Klipsch sound system. The effect would be the same... less than optimal performance, and an experience that is far from ideal given the money you spent.
    Full article:
    http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/11/...cpu/index.html

    But despite this, I think it would be great for you to get an 8800GTX, especially since you don't go to the states that often. Not only is it for gaming, but you are also a game developer. You might not get the most out of the 8800GTX, but it will still be a very good boost in performance. Not to mention, that you will be DX10 ready.

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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    So, the new plan is to buy an 8800GTX, and a Kaos pad, and not buy another monitor. Instead, I will save the money until my friend has enough to buy my motherboard/ram/cpu/gfx off me, and put that money together and buy a new E6600 setup (mobo/cpu/ram) to make the most of the 8800GTX.
    Silenced_Coyote thanks for finding that article for me - it's just what I was looking for! +rep

    Spawn-Inc - I'm not sure what you're talking about - I didn't say anything about 4gb of ram :S

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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    Whenever your friend happens to buy your motherboard/ram/cpu/gfx, I don't think you will have your eyes set on the E6600. Intel is going to release some more Core 2 Duos and they are going to be very cheap. Think of a cpu that is clocked faster than the X6800, but costs less than half of what it is selling at right now.
    http://www.dailytech.com/Intels+Next...rticle6484.htm

    And who knows what AMD will come up with.

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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Silenced_Coyote View Post
    Whenever your friend happens to buy your motherboard/ram/cpu/gfx, I don't think you will have your eyes set on the E6600. Intel is going to release some more Core 2 Duos and they are going to be very cheap. Think of a cpu that is clocked faster than the X6800, but costs less than half of what it is selling at right now.
    http://www.dailytech.com/Intels+Next...rticle6484.htm

    And who knows what AMD will come up with.
    If Intel can get another 4 MHz out of their frontside bus...I might have to switch to Intel.

    Sorry for the slight hijack!
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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    If you don't want a GTX go for a GTS, it's still got plenty of power. You could always go for the extra 2GB ram and run duel channel. A Core 2 Dup E6600 would also be great.
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    Welder Of Aluminum bartvandenberg's Avatar
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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Silenced_Coyote View Post
    Whenever your friend happens to buy your motherboard/ram/cpu/gfx, I don't think you will have your eyes set on the E6600. Intel is going to release some more Core 2 Duos and they are going to be very cheap. Think of a cpu that is clocked faster than the X6800, but costs less than half of what it is selling at right now.
    http://www.dailytech.com/Intels+Next...rticle6484.htm

    And who knows what AMD will come up with.
    i completely agree. your system right now is still very decent. a 7900 gtx? and you wanna upgrade? even a p4 3.0ghz and 2 gb xms? you wont get that extra boost you want. in fact, id be suprised if you noticed a whole lot of performance increase. i just built a e6400 ( which is o'c to over 2.9 at the moment), 8800gts, and 2 gb ddr-2 800, and the guy who has it now upgraded from a p4 2.8 ht, 6600gt, and 2 gb ddr400.

    sounds like a good upgrade, and according to 3dmark06, (his score was like 2000 or something, and now its 9500.)it is. but.. the real world peformance just isnt there.

    with all that crap said. i would personally wait to blow the money till the next wave of kick a$$ stuff comes out.

    and i have a buddy who's a game developer too, and hes got a 7900 gt, and hes plenty happy with. Def not willing to spend another $600 bucks for a few fps.

    oh yah.. btw....4 gb's or ram would be pretty useless, considering most programs still dont even utilize 2 gb. check to see if the new dx10 games will even utilize it.

  9. #9
    Blunt Master 5000 CanaBalistic's Avatar
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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    Quote Originally Posted by bartvandenberg View Post
    oh yah.. btw....4 gb's or ram would be pretty useless, considering most programs still dont even utilize 2 gb. check to see if the new dx10 games will even utilize it.
    Not true at all...

    Imagine a system running:
    The latest game title @ 2+Gb
    Vista @ 1+Gb
    Background tasks @ 512Mb
    Norton scann @ 512Mb

    Most applications dont use much memory. Games, however use an incredible amount of ram. New games that are DX10 compatible will no doupt use up to 6-8GB of ram by the time DX11 arrives. Vista is also a ram hungry OS. I've heard rumors that vista uses 2GB of ram just to run the OS.

    In times like thies, "The More The Better" should be ringing in the background of everyones head when it comes to memory upgrades.
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  10. #10
    Gaming Console Modder Mitternacht's Avatar
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    Default Re: 8800GTX on P4 3.0ghz rig - is it worth it?

    Quote Originally Posted by CanaBalistic View Post
    Not true at all...

    Imagine a system running:
    The latest game title @ 2+Gb
    Vista @ 1+Gb
    Background tasks @ 512Mb
    Norton scann @ 512Mb

    Most applications dont use much memory. Games, however use an incredible amount of ram. New games that are DX10 compatible will no doupt use up to 6-8GB of ram by the time DX11 arrives. Vista is also a ram hungry OS. I've heard rumors that vista uses 2GB of ram just to run the OS.

    In times like thies, "The More The Better" should be ringing in the background of everyones head when it comes to memory upgrades.
    Good thing my board can support 8 GB of DDR2. And yeah, even though 1 gb is recommended, it just won't cut it.

    It's kinda funny, considering the drastic leap of minimum requirements between XP and Vista. I think Microsoft took too many leaps forward on this one.

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