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Thread: whats more important the cpu or the vid card?

  1. #1
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    whats more important the cpu or the vid card?

    Hey its been a while since ive checked in on the forum life been a bowl of $#@*. To make myself happy im thinkin of doing a small upgrade but i could use some advice before i spend any hard earned cash. so anyhoo my rig as it is now looks like this-

    1.AMD T-bird 1ghz
    2.motherboard ? all i know is it only accepts up to a 1.2 T-bird
    3. 20 gig HD 7200 rpm
    4.256 megs sdram
    5.geforce3 ti200 from chaintech slightly OC'd
    6.hercules fortissimo2 sound card
    7. dvd drive

    so whats more important a new mobo with say an amd xp 18 or 1900 and some ddr ram? or a new vid card like a geforce 4 ti4200? i know i dont have the clams for everything so i want to invest in what will improve gameplay the most and keep me good for the next 12 months or so. thanx for any suggestions.

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member grimfandango's Avatar
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    you got a good sys right now. Keep em for some time.
    If you plan to buy a new cpu,mombo later go for the gf4ti4200.
    you can use the vid card on your new sys aswell



  3. #3
    Ultimate Member Ape0r's Avatar
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    CPU definetely. The Ti 4600 only preforms 30% better than a Ti 200, think about it. Any game you can come up with a GF3Ti200 will run perfectly. Upgrade your CPU if you really want to, personally I would wait for the clawhammer.

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    Hey ApeOr whats a clawhammer ?

  5. #5
    Ultimate Member Ape0r's Avatar
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    Heh... it's the next generation processor from AMD. Scheduled for late this year/early next year, it will be the first 64 bit CPU for the masses, and will also run 32 bit applications with superb preformance . It will be known as the Athlon Ultra or something along those lines. The 800 MHz test model was beating Athlon XPs by 40% on some tests, and the release model will be 2 GHz+ and will be rated at 3400+ or higher. Its code name is Clawhammer, also known as the K8 (the Athlon, Tbird and Athlon XP are all K7 processors). It will truly r0x0r j00h b0x0rz.

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    ah, whatta ya know a new cpu, ill bet its gonna cost a hell of a lot more than i can afford but it does sound sweet. I mean the xp's are fairly new and already theres gonna be somethin to smoke em. Oh well, thats the only thing that bums me out about PC's and gaming, its impossible to keep up with the latest technologies(did i spell that right?) so heres a question what would you say would be the best cpu to buy for say under 150 dollars?

  7. #7
    Ultimate Member Ape0r's Avatar
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    Athlon XP 2000+ runs for 148 I think. SDRAM is also holding you back, go DDR.

  8. #8
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    I agree with the first statement... You've got a pretty decent system that should run all of todays games perfectly fine, its still far from obselete. What I would do is wait it out a little while longer until the next BIG upgrade becomes available, and build a second killer system. Upgrading the video card isn't a good idea, because your processor won't be able take full advantage of lets say a GF4 Ti series card. And if you upgrade your processor, you'll also need to upgrade your motherboard, and then you'll also want to upgrade your memory to DDR since ur SDRAM would be a bigger bottle neck in a faster system.

    If you're bent on upgrading something, i'd suggest getting some PC2700 DDR memory if your motherboard can support it. Then, if/when you do decide to build a second system, you can use that memory in it, and put your SDRAM back into this machine.

    -Ramon

  9. #9
    Gone Forever....... gibsinep's Avatar
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    I think getting another 256mb ram would be nice. Also maybe a bigger hardrive. I know you wanted to know CPU or video card, but I think RAM and harddrive. Unless you want to replace your motherboard.

    I am guessing since it only accepts to a 1.2 t-bird it only has a 100mhz bus. A high bus can help a system out a lot or a low can drag it. If you want a new cpu get a new motherboard that supports ddr and the newest Socket A chips.

    If not just get more Ram.
    Nothing in life is as certain as death, but death is not a wall but a doorway to a new adventure

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    Well it looks like Im gonna keep my vid card and swap out my mobo, up grade to DDR, and squeeeese out an amd xp 1800 hope fully ill be happy with the performance boost, without having had to sell my body, or make a pact with the devil to get a descent performance boost. any other suggestions keep posting i read this forum every day, you guys are the best, and bipolar if your out there your a life saver..PEACE.

  11. #11
    Ultimate Member grimfandango's Avatar
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    Dont waste your $$$$
    Keep your sys for some time.

    AS Gibsinep, If you want just add 256mb ram. It will make it a little faster.



  12. #12
    Gone Forever....... gibsinep's Avatar
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    Well it looks like Im gonna keep my vid card and swap out my mobo, up grade to DDR, and squeeeese out an amd xp 1800 hope fully ill be happy with the performance boost, without having had to sell my body, or make a pact with the devil to get a descent performance boost. any other suggestions keep posting i read this forum every day, you guys are the best, and bipolar if your out there your a life saver..PEACE.

    You will most defintly notice a difference if you do this.
    Nothing in life is as certain as death, but death is not a wall but a doorway to a new adventure

  13. #13
    Senior Member kazuza's Avatar
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    Ddin't quite read the thread replyes above, but who ever says CPU isn't more important then the Graphics Board, then THEY DON'T NEED A COMPUTER....


    .........THEY NEED A PLAYSTATION!

  14. #14
    Ultimate Member Ape0r's Avatar
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    If your CPU can't take advantage of a powerful graphics card, then why have a powerful graphics card?

    In my Athlon classic 700 w/ 384 PC100 SDRAM and my Geforce 3 Ti 200 I scored about 4400 in 3dmark2k1

    Now, on my Athlon XP 1656 MHz 512 PC2100 and the same graphics card, I score 7200.

  15. #15
    Gone
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    Yup, you gotta feed that hungry beast those poly's or its always waitng for the cpu to get it there. But theres always a bottlekneck somewhere, there is no truely balanced system yet- look at the pci bus.

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