8800gts with a 3400+

[giant384]

would these 2 combined bottleneck alot with my current system.
i really want a 8800gts 320mb but i don't really want to drop the ball on upgrading my motherboard,cpu, and memory right now. i just received around 900 for graduation and im not spending it all on pc upgrades. so anyone think this will hinder anything?

also i currentlly have a 450w psu dual rails with 18A on each. think i need a better one?

 

[Gunner]

I can't say for sure but I certainly feel like my GTS is bottlenecked by my cpu so odds are you probably will be too. But the 8800 is powerful enough that the bottleneck won't matter. Not yet anyway, by the time the bottleneck will be obvious and holding you back, you'll probably be upgrading your cpu & mobo.

 

[Barney Fife]

Congratulation!!! :cheers: :thumbs:

I don't think system will bottleneck, Chipset might, but I do think you need to get the 640MB GTS cards (If you gonna smack $$ on the table) because of memory limitations on the 320MB cards.

We will talk about CPU upgrade later.

Good Luck.

 

[giant384]

well i currentlly have a 19" widescreen monitor and i dont plan to upgrade it any time soon. so the 320mb wont be to much of a problem. ill make my final decision between the 320 and 640 later this week. thx for the responses.\

edit: also i need a response on the psu issue
like i said earlier i have a Rosewill 450w psu with dual rails and 18A one each of them
do you think this will be enough juice or should i get a better one.

 

[SAJ]

Theres an easy way to see whether or not your cpu will cause a bottleneck ; Run a fairly demanding game at the lowest resolution that you can and with all graphics options turned down.
If your still struggling at the lowest settings, then upgrading your video card will not help you much.
If youre happy with the fps you get at low settings, whack up the res and options to see what effect your current card has (and by extension, what effect a new card would have).


edit : The 8800gts needs 25 amps on the 12v rail, you should make sure before buying one and dont take the word of a random geek on the internet

 

[Barney Fife]

Remember; 450W is the peak performance of the PSU, 80% performance out of that 450W (As promised by lots of Manufacturers) is somewhere around 360W.
The 8800 GTS requires minimum of 400W to power up and remain stable. if you OC-ed this will be an issue as well with the 450W PSU.
I like to get more power than what components require; this will keep PSU from performing at peak level.
When components say they need 400W to operate I get 600W PSU that's just my principle.

Good Luck.

 

[VirusType2]

I think it also depends what operating system you are using.

I have read that with Vista/DX10, that the CPU no longer does any of the graphics computations, so to me, this means the video card will be doing all of the work when it comes to games.

I didn't really understand how this is a good thing, but they say it is, and what do I know?


If you are using XP/DX9, than the CPU has a much greater impact on game performance.

If anyone knows more, please elaborate.

 

[Gunner]

I think it also depends what operating system you are using.

I have read that with Vista/DX10, that the CPU no longer does any of the graphics computations, so to me, this means the video card will be doing all of the work when it comes to games.

I didn't really understand how this is a good thing, but they say it is, and what do I know?


If you are using XP/DX9, than the CPU has a much greater impact on game performance.

If anyone knows more, please elaborate.

Well I haven't heard about this but I can't confirm or deny it since I don't have a DX10 title to try.

 

[giant384]

I think it also depends what operating system you are using.

I have read that with Vista/DX10, that the CPU no longer does any of the graphics computations, so to me, this means the video card will be doing all of the work when it comes to games.

I didn't really understand how this is a good thing, but they say it is, and what do I know?


If you are using XP/DX9, than the CPU has a much greater impact on game performance.

If anyone knows more, please elaborate.

i think it depends more on how the game is programmed. also i dont want vista right now,but i think i will still go with the 8800gts even with my current cpu. it will still give a nice performance boost over my current 7600gt.

 

[giant384]

this psu is sufficient for a 8800gts right? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148025 i know that 12v1 goes the cpu and the 12v2 goes to everything else. so enough?

 

[The Brick]

Should be plenty.

 

[Barney Fife]

Yeah that PSU is more than enough but, I'm not very familiar with the brand and someone has mentioned the short lifespan of the warranty.

Good Luck.

 

[giant384]

so a dual rail with 18a on each should be enough with 600w of power correct? ty very much

 

[Barney Fife]

so a dual rail with 18a on each should be enough with 600w of power correct? ty very much

Yes sir.

 

[Cole]

I have read that with Vista/DX10, that the CPU no longer does any of the graphics computations, so to me, this means the video card will be doing all of the work when it comes to games.

I didn't really understand how this is a good thing, but they say it is, and what do I know?

What it means it this:
In DX9 the GPU and CPU have to talk to eachother, quite a bit. So every few cycles the GPU has to talk to the CPU to get information and etc. This just makes more work for the CPU and the GPU.
In Dx10 the GPU and CPU have to talk to eachother a lot less, freeing up the CPU to do more important calculations, improving overall performance and bottlenecks.

it will still give a nice performance boost over my current 7600gt.

If you have a 7600GT, i'd honestly think you should just wait till you can afford a new CPU too. Plus the 8800 will probably be a lot less $ by then, and there may even be a new kick ass GPU out there.

 

[giant384]

What it means it this:
In DX9 the GPU and CPU have to talk to eachother, quite a bit. So every few cycles the GPU has to talk to the CPU to get information and etc. This just makes more work for the CPU and the GPU.
In Dx10 the GPU and CPU have to talk to eachother a lot less, freeing up the CPU to do more important calculations, improving overall performance and bottlenecks.


If you have a 7600GT, i'd honestly think you should just wait till you can afford a new CPU too. Plus the 8800 will probably be a lot less $ by then, and there may even be a new kick ass GPU out there.

nah
it will provide a huge performance boost regardless of the bottleneck.

 

[Cole]

nah
it will provide a huge performance boost regardless of the bottleneck.

It'll be a performance boost, but not as much as it could be. Simply a 7600GT will be able to run most games at quite good settings for quite a while now. Theres no real reason to upgrade.

 

[giant384]

It'll be a performance boost, but not as much as it could be. Simply a 7600GT will be able to run most games at quite good settings for quite a while now. Theres no real reason to upgrade.

i like my max settings though. sure the 7600gt is great but it cant hold its own in everything. ive had the 7600gt for over a year so im upgrading.