Anyone playing games with a high-end video card on a low-end system?

"Robert McCurdy" <robertwm@orcon.net.nz> wrote in message
news:47a0ad2e$1@news.orcon.net.nz...
>> BTW, shouldn't this be a new newsgroup thread, not a reply to my thread?
>>
> It is a new thread! (I'm not sure what a 'new newsgroup thread is - do I
> need to create one?)

Your using 'Outlook Express', so to start a new thread use the 'Write new
message' icon, by default it's at the top left, next to the 'Reply to group'
icon....

HTH.

--
Jez, MBA., Country Dancing and Advanced Astrology, UBS.
'Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.'-Zappa

I think your system would benefit from a 8800GT. Of course, it probably
can't benefit 100% from it. Please read this article about older CPUs (3800)
running a newer video card (ATI X1950). The setups are different, but I
think the theory and conclusions are still valid for your setup.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...form-analysis/

Alternatively, have you looked into if you could reflash your mb bios and
maybe upgrade the CPU?

"Ant" <ANTant@zimage.com> wrote in message
news:47a03473$0$30677$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Hello!
>
> I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how high-end
> video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory) run on
> low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is overclocked)
> with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).
>
> I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
> 1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
> that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
> and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
> It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
> Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
> current/newest games like Crysis (see http://pastebin.ca/884075 for Crysis
> v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS average),
> etc.
>
> Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI or
> NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the bottleneck
> is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My detailed
> computer specifications can be found here:
> http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm.../computers.txt (primary
> computer).
>
> Thank you in advance.
> --
> "Really. And do these lions eat ants?" --John Cleese in Monty Python's
> Flying Circus
> /\___/\
> / /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
> | |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
> \ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: philpi@earthlink.netANT
> ( ) or ANTant@zimage.com
> Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

On 1/31/2008 10:47 PM PT, Michael typed:

> I think your system would benefit from a 8800GT. Of course, it probably
> can't benefit 100% from it. Please read this article about older CPUs (3800)
> running a newer video card (ATI X1950). The setups are different, but I
> think the theory and conclusions are still valid for your setup.
>
> http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...form-analysis/

Dude, these are OLD games and hardwares. I want to see links on newer
video cards (e.g., 8800 GT) on a slow CPU setup (e.g., Athlon 64 X2
4600+) with newer games (e.g., Crysis and World in Conflict). All those
games listed in the article run fine or almost fine, even Oblivion!


> Alternatively, have you looked into if you could reflash your mb bios and
> maybe upgrade the CPU?

Um, why would I want to reflash my memory? What's wrong with my curent
BIOS? I am using the latest BIOS too! How much faster do I get for just
upgrading the 939 CPU on my current motherboard? Remember, this is
mainly for gaming.


> "Ant" <ANTant@zimage.com> wrote in message
> news:47a03473$0$30677$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> Hello!
>>
>> I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how high-end
>> video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory) run on
>> low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is overclocked)
>> with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).
>>
>> I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
>> 1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
>> that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
>> and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
>> It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
>> Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
>> current/newest games like Crysis (see http://pastebin.ca/884075 for Crysis
>> v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS average),
>> etc.
>>
>> Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI or
>> NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the bottleneck
>> is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My detailed
>> computer specifications can be found here:
>> http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm.../computers.txt (primary
>> computer).
>>
>> Thank you in advance.
--
"For every 1 person on earth there are 1 million ants." --Factoid for
the video of Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" Pop Up Video
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: philpi@earthlink.netANT
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Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

Ant wrote:
> On 1/31/2008 10:47 PM PT, Michael typed:
>
>> I think your system would benefit from a 8800GT. Of course, it
>> probably can't benefit 100% from it. Please read this article about
>> older CPUs (3800) running a newer video card (ATI X1950). The setups
>> are different, but I think the theory and conclusions are still valid
>> for your setup.
>>
>> http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...form-analysis/
>
> Dude, these are OLD games and hardwares. I want to see links on newer
> video cards (e.g., 8800 GT) on a slow CPU setup (e.g., Athlon 64 X2
> 4600+) with newer games (e.g., Crysis and World in Conflict). All those
> games listed in the article run fine or almost fine, even Oblivion!
I've just dropped my 3870 into my x2 4200+ system and Crysis runs fine.
I have most of the gfx o[ptions on high, with only shadows and post proc
on medium. At 1024x768 and 1280x1024 it perfectly playable. I've also
tested UT3 and to be honest cant really feel any difference between my
gaming rig and my old x2 4200+. I'll see if I can borrow a mattes 8800
to run the same tests on.

>
>
>> Alternatively, have you looked into if you could reflash your mb bios
>> and maybe upgrade the CPU?
>
> Um, why would I want to reflash my memory? What's wrong with my curent
> BIOS? I am using the latest BIOS too! How much faster do I get for just
> upgrading the 939 CPU on my current motherboard? Remember, this is
> mainly for gaming.
>
>
>> "Ant" <ANTant@zimage.com> wrote in message
>> news:47a03473$0$30677$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>>> Hello!
>>>
>>> I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
>>> high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of
>>> memory) run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system
>>> (nothing is overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all
>>> updates).
>>>
>>> I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
>>> 1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching
>>> option that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no
>>> FSAA (0X), and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X
>>> anisotropic, etc.). It does almost fine for older games like
>>> Oblivion, C&C3, Orange Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However,
>>> not so well with current/newest games like Crysis (see
>>> http://pastebin.ca/884075 for Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks),
>>> World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS average), etc.
>>>
>>> Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer
>>> ATI or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
>>> bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games.
>>> My detailed computer specifications can be found here:
>>> http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm.../computers.txt (primary
>>> computer).
>>>
>>> Thank you in advance.

On 2/1/2008 4:07 AM PT, Richard P typed:

> Ant wrote:
>> On 1/31/2008 10:47 PM PT, Michael typed:
>>
>>> I think your system would benefit from a 8800GT. Of course, it
>>> probably can't benefit 100% from it. Please read this article about
>>> older CPUs (3800) running a newer video card (ATI X1950). The setups
>>> are different, but I think the theory and conclusions are still valid
>>> for your setup.
>>>
>>> http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...form-analysis/
>>
>> Dude, these are OLD games and hardwares. I want to see links on newer
>> video cards (e.g., 8800 GT) on a slow CPU setup (e.g., Athlon 64 X2
>> 4600+) with newer games (e.g., Crysis and World in Conflict). All
>> those games listed in the article run fine or almost fine, even Oblivion!

> I've just dropped my 3870 into my x2 4200+ system and Crysis runs fine.
> I have most of the gfx o[ptions on high, with only shadows and post proc
> on medium. At 1024x768 and 1280x1024 it perfectly playable. I've also

How about when you crank those up high for 1280x1024? Is it still
playable and smooth? I assume you have DirectX 9.0c in XP?


> tested UT3 and to be honest cant really feel any difference between my
> gaming rig and my old x2 4200+. I'll see if I can borrow a mattes 8800
> to run the same tests on.

Yeah, UT3 is smooth for me but I don't play UT series.
--
"If I want to be a robber, I rob the king's treasury. If I want to be a
hunter, I hunt the rhino. What is the use of robbing beggars and hunting
ants? So if you want to love, love God." --Swami Vivekananda
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: philpi@earthlink.netANT
( ) or ANTant@zimage.com
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.