new processor = better benchmark

[danthemanohhyea]

I"m not sure if this is the right place for this but...
i've got a ti-4200 and i'm getting around 1500 in 3dmark 03, could it be that my processor is holding me back from getting higher marks??

Currently i've got:
Duron 1.4ghz (identified by computer as an athlon 1600+)
asus a7v266
512mb pc2100 ram
GeForce 4 TI-4200 w/8x agp & 128mb ram

if my processor is holding me back, i'm looking at getting an athlon 2400+ would that greatly improve my marks?

[danthemanohhyea]

oh and my video card is oc'd to 259/589 if that helps any.

[Midknyte]

3Dmark03 is more video intensive than CPU. You are better off upgrading your video card.

[RamonGTP]

It really wouldn't benifit you to upgrade either one unless you upgrade both. Your processor isn't fast enough to take advantage of the more powerfull DX9 cards. And upgrading the CPU will also show little improvement in 3dmark 03 becuase as stated above, its more of a gpu benchmark than cpu.

[danthemanohhyea]

would the athlon xp 2400+ be fast enough for dx9 cards? i'm sure i could get a dx9 card somewhere.. doesn't bother me if i'd have to upgrade both.

[Midknyte]

that would be a nice upgrade. :)

how much budget are we talking about? best bang for the buck is the ATI 9800Pro right now. For a little less, you could get the nvidia 5900xt cards.

[danthemanohhyea]

I don't have a lot to work with, so whatever i do buy will take some time to get, however, i could get the 5900xt and make it a 5950..

[Midknyte]

I've heard of guys flashing 5900s to 5950s, but not 5900xts. the xts use slower memory, so you might end up trashing the card. you can overclock the heck out of some of them. The Gainward and Leadtek cards should be pretty solid. You could also try your luck with the BFG 5900XT OC. I'm not sure how much more overhead you could get out of it, but at least you're warranty will cover it in its overclocked state.

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Best combination in terms of price to performance at the moent when lookign at CPU and Video cards woudl probably be the follwoing IMO

XP2400+ Mobile (its basically identical to the XP2500 Mobile and overclocks liek no-ones business)

Radeon 9800 Pro, they are a little more expensive than Nvidia's offerings, but are slightly faster, paticular in future DX9 apps and if you shop around they can be had for amazingly low prices.

As stated, 3dmark03 is more of a DX9 video card compliance test than anything, a simple processor upgrade wont do much for your cause

(my old ti4200 at 275/600 on XP2400+ @ 2.35Ghz would only get 1500 marks too)

--Jakk:t