Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: SickBeast
I would get one but I think my CPU is too weak for it...
I only have an XP3200.
I have bad news ... for your wallet
it is an decent match ... especially if you can get a little O/C on it
anything over a ~P4 3Ghz is OK ... especially if you are already getting decent FPS but would like *details* and eyecandy turned up.
I'll sound a word of caution here ,my main rig is an XPM 2500 @2.5GHz (178FSB) ,for the few modern(ish) games that I play (HL2 ,Guild Wars & NFS UG2) my CPU is only just fast enough in the more 'active' moments.
Except in one scene of HL2 (when your in the boat fighting a helicopter) the explosions bought my rig down to a 'fast' slide show (so far thats the only scene that's done that ,not finished the game yet).
When I upgraded from the 9700 Pro to the X800 XT I was able to run at higher res & details but in some of the 'more active moments' it still slowed down.
Possibly some of this is down to my 'low' FSB (though its on tight timings of 2.5-2-2) ,so I wouldn't of thought it'd make a huge difference?
Btw I've got 1GB of RAM ,& I'm fairly sure it wasn't swap file activity
I'm not too worried anyway as the X800 XT will go in my S754 rig when I upgrade this rig to C2D ,but if it was my only rig I'd be somewhat annoyed that I still got slow downs after spending £££ (& its a lot cheaper than a 1950 too).
Here's a rare article comparing an
XPM @ 2.37GHz vs Ath64 3000 vs a P4 3GHz HT
An XP 3200 is about as fast as a P4 2.8 GHz going by old AT & THG reviews (depending on the game etc).
Sickbeast
One way to be certain is to benchmark the games you'll want to play on your current card with the res & details very low & see what the minimium FPS is using FRAPS.(chances are the game won't show min FPS but average)