Ultra-Old CPU/RAM and HD 4870/4850?

[Eluros]

Hey, all!

So, I'll cut right to the chase. I have a Socket 939 Motherboard with 2 gigs of DDR RAM and an AMD Athlon 3800+ X2 processor. I do a ton of gaming, but the current generation (Assassin's Creed, CoD4, and etcetera) of games is wearing out my video card; I'm only able to play at 800x600 if I want settings maxed.

I can't afford a new Motherboard (and getting a new CPU would require me to do so), so I'm thinking about a new Video Card to replace my 7900 GT, which has served me well for many years. Here's my questions...

1. Pretend that I already had an HD 4850. If I upgraded to an HD 4870, would I receive much (if any) performance increase, or would the bottlenecks in place negate any possible gains?

2. Compare my current rig to a modern one (say, an x48 Motherboard and an e8400 with 4 gigs of DDR2 RAM). If both had an HD4850 in them, would my old rig perform significantly worse at higher resolutions in modern games? If so, by what degree?

I've done quite a bit of research, but haven't found any articles that can really help with my questions. If I missed something, I'd appreciate any/all links to articles I could use to further research this issue.

Thanks so much! I really appreciate it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

TomsHardware.com has an article on CPU scaling in the components section, that might help.

With either a 4850 or 4870 you will be able to increase the screen resolution, possibly much higher.

What is the native resolution of your monitor now? When will you be replacing it?

How soon will you upgrade your motherboard, CPU and RAM?

The 4850 is a very good card for screen sizes up to 16x10 / 16x12. It starts to run out of steam at 19x12. So if you don't expect to have a 19x12 monitor for years you can just get the 4850.

 

[slckofit]

I'm still running 939 also. Have an opteron 165, 1gb of ram and the hd4850. Been playing half life 2 with max settings at 1920x1200 without a problem.

 

[Eluros]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
TomsHardware.com has an article on CPU scaling in the components section, that might help.

With either a 4850 or 4870 you will be able to increase the screen resolution, possibly much higher.

What is the native resolution of your monitor now? When will you be replacing it?

How soon will you upgrade your motherboard, CPU and RAM?

The 4850 is a very good card for screen sizes up to 16x10 / 16x12. It starts to run out of steam at 19x12. So if you don't expect to have a 19x12 monitor for years you can just get the 4850.

Thanks, Dave, for the assistance!

I think I found the article... does this look right?

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...ing-compared,1759.html

Unfortunately, I have the old Socket 939 (not the AM2 version), so I'm not sure exactly what the takeaway should be... I may have missed the point or got the wrong article, though.

Right now, the monitor I have is a 19". I'm not sure what the native resolution, but here's the manufacturer's link:

http://fujiplus.com/fp989wdb.html

I would, however, like to upgrade to a 24" at some point, as well as get a blu-ray drive so my PC can be my media center as well.

I unfortunately may not be able to upgrade for some time, which is why I'm considering doing the video card now.

Thanks, slckofit, for your input, as well!

 

[SlowSpyder]

If you can only play at 800x600 now, then I'm willing to bet that with your current system the 4850 will be a huge upgrade. Also, if I were you I'd push that 3800+ a bit if you haven't. A dual core A64 in the 2.5GHz range is still fast enough to game on.

*edit - Read this article on GPU/CPU scaling.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Thnaks SlowSpyder that's the article I was thinking of.

The 4850 is already nicely discounted ($150 - 175 after rebate), while it's hard to find the 4870 for less than $310.

When you do finally get the 24" monitor and CPU/motherboard upgrade the 4850 will be able to run many games at the full 1900x1200, and the rest at 1680x1050 so I'd get the 4850 instead of spending almost twice as much for the 4870.

 

[Tempered81]

e2140 + Mobo like $95

2gb ddr $25

hd4850 $145


or e7200 $120, nice mobo $65, e8400/3110/q6600 $169, etc..

 

[Eluros]

Thanks for the responses, all! I appreciate it. I definitely have a some good material to read and think on.

However, I would still appreciate it if I could get answers to my initial two questions. I'll repost them in case anyone forgot what they were.

1. Pretend that I already had an HD 4850. If I upgraded to an HD 4870, would I receive much (if any) performance increase, or would the bottlenecks in place negate any possible gains?

2. Compare my current rig to a modern one (say, an x48 Motherboard and an e8400 with 4 gigs of DDR2 RAM). If both had an HD4850 in them, would my old rig perform significantly worse at higher resolutions in modern games? If so, by what degree?

Please assume I'm using a 24" monitor.

 

[SlowSpyder]

1 - Not sure? My guess is there would be some performance gains in general, but I think the 4850 is still a pretty decent performer at 1980x1200?

2 - Not really a one size fits all answer. I'm sure that a more current system would give you better measurable frame rates with either a 4850/4870. Some games would probably show little to no improvement, others would probably show a solid improvement. My guess is that while your current CPU may hold back your frame rates somewhat, most everything should still be playable. I use a Phenom at 2.8GHz, many people on this forum would say that my CPU isn't enough to game, but I haven't run into anything that I can't play with it. But, I can say that I'm fairly certain that upgrading your 7900GT to a 4850 will be a much better upgrade for gaming then keeping your 7900GT and upgrading your CPU to an e8400.

If I were you I'd go buy the 4850 and see how it does. If your system doesn't seem to game as well as you'd like it to, then also save up for a C2D upgrade. Also, the 3800+ X2's usually overclock quite easily to the 2.5+GHz range. If you can, I would think that overclocking your CPU will be a nice help with the 4850. Just my $.02