great CPU vs GPU performance review

cleeve · May 13, 2004

This is one of the best reviews I've seen. Shows different games being run on different CPU's with 9800XT's and X800 PROs.

Amazing, how in most games the X800 PRO doesn't give much of a benefit over the 9800XT on CPUs below 3200+! Only in the Athlon 64s does it seem to make a huge difference.

The only time the X800 PRO walks away on 3200+ or less CPUs is when the game is very shader limited and easy on the AI (like Tomb Raider 2), or when heavy AA and AF are used.

Surprisingly though, lots of shader heavy games are still CPU limited (Like Far Cry)

At Firingsquad:

<A HREF="http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/x800_pro_athlon_xp/default.asp" target="_new">http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/x800_pro_athlon_xp/default.asp</A>

________________
Radeon 9500 PRO (hardmodded 9500, o/c 340/310)
AthlonXP ~2750+ (2400+ @2.2Ghz)
3dMark03: 4,055

scottchen · May 13, 2004

I'm not really surprised at the results, what pisses me off is even with the 3400+ some tests that's still the problem.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

Mind_Rebuilding · May 13, 2004

So, should we just buy mid-range cards (under $200) unless we have A64 or P4EE?

scottchen · May 13, 2004

You should buy the 9800XT unless you got the Athlon64 FX or the P4EE.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

lik · May 13, 2004

lol who's gona play FarCry at 2048 with 4xAA?? lol That would be really nice...

P4-2800->FSB800, Asus P4P800, 512DDR-400, Radeon 9800 Pro - 128Mb

TheRod · May 13, 2004

Now I know it's worthless for me to buy a X800 PRO. My Athlon XP 1800+ @ 2.0GHz will not be enough to feed the GPU!

And I'm really surprised to see that X800 PRO are still CPU limited even with Athlon 64 3400+. This means that when CPU power will go up X800 will have more to show in many games. It's probably the same with GeForce 6800. This looks good for long-term investors.

--
Lookin' to fill that GOD shape hole!

scottchen · May 13, 2004

I think you should buy the X800XT as soon as it comes out.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

TheGreatGrapeApe · May 14, 2004

Just some more info along those lines.

<A HREF="http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=40&type=expert" target="_new">http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=40&type=expert</A>

Not as well layed-out as Firing Squad, but good to know none the less, and a few IQ screenies.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) ! - RED GREEN GA to SK :evil:

rx7000 · May 14, 2004

Is a non extreme p4 enough to gain a advantage with a 800 platinum over the xt9800?

Asus p4c800 Deluxe,1 Gig Mushkin PC3200 400 Mhz(222),Pentium 4 3.0 512k 800Fsb HT, Thermaltake Xaser III, Thermaltake Spark 7+,WD 80 Gig 7200,GeForce 4 MX440,Nec Multi-Sync LCD 1830,EG465P-VE

cleeve · May 14, 2004

Shader heavy games are CPU limited because these are new engines with more complex AI.

AI is just about the most calculation-intensive thing you can program, and a graphics card can't help with AI at all.

________________
Radeon 9500 PRO (hardmodded 9500, o/c 340/310)
AthlonXP ~2600+ (2400+ @ 2145 Mhz)
3dMark03: 4,055

cleeve · May 14, 2004

Any computer will show big gains with an X800 PRO over a 9800 XT, if you're running at ungodly high resolutions with lots of AA enabled.

If you're running 1024x768 with 2x AA though, yes, you'd probably need an Athlon 64 or P4 EE to see a difference.

________________
Radeon 9500 PRO (hardmodded 9500, o/c 340/310)
AthlonXP ~2600+ (2400+ @ 2145 Mhz)
3dMark03: 4,055

ChipDeath · May 14, 2004

I've never understood why anyone wants to use AA at really high res. I don't notice jaggies @ 16x12 on my 19" monitor, so unless you're playing on something really stupid like a 40" screen, I can't see why anyone would want AA @2048xwhatever.

AF is useful, but unless you're playing on a monitor limited to 1024x768 AA seems pretty pointless if you ask me, except for showing the power of these new cards of course.

These benchmarks make me feel a whole lot better about 'only' having a 9800Pro.

---
Epox 8RDA+ rev1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @205x11 (~2.26Ghz), 1.575Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL 2-2-2-4
Sapphire 9800Pro 420/744

chadwickvm · May 14, 2004

Would this give a good indication of scaling for upcoming DX9 games such as Doom 3, Half Life 2, and Everquest 2 or do you think that these new games will be more exclusively off of graphics card power? (Thinking of 3Dc for ATi and PIXELSHADER 3.0 for NVidia)

cleeve · May 14, 2004

New games will be demanding *BOTH* shader power and CPU power.

The Doom3 alpha, for example, doesn't run speedily with a CPU slower than 2800+ or a video card slower than a 9700 PRO. (not to mention new games really like a gig of RAM)

So buying a super video card with your old rig won't be enough, and vice versa, IMHO.

________________
Radeon 9500 PRO (hardmodded 9500, o/c 340/310)
AthlonXP ~2600+ (2400+ @ 2145 Mhz)
3dMark03: 4,055

scottchen · May 14, 2004

Well the Doom3 Beta release it had like 16 maps is running very smooth on my comp. I do have a GeforceFX vid card, so I guess that's probably the reason why.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

dhlucke · May 14, 2004

Possible push for faster CPUs?

_______________________________________________
Nov. 6, 1971: "I gave back, I can't remember, six, seven, eight, nine medals"

- John Kerry, a Presidential Candidate

scottchen · May 14, 2004

I think AMD's probably gonna slack off, until Intel gets their act together. I'm just hoping Intel's socket 775 performs well, that'll force AMD to push out their 4000+(90nm Winchester) chip sooner. And if AMD screws up their transition to 90nm, then Intel will slack off, come on AMD don't let us down!

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

cleeve · May 14, 2004

Scottchen, don't you have an Athlon64 and a GeforceFX 5950?

That's damn near the top-of-the-line as far as CPUs go, and that video card is at least as good as a 9700 PRO as far as raw framerates are concerned... better than the 9700 in Opengl, Nvidia's strength. (Not in the image quality dept, but that's neither here nor there)

That pretty much supports what I've said, methinks.

________________
Radeon 9500 PRO (hardmodded 9500, o/c 340/310)
AthlonXP ~2600+ (2400+ @ 2145 Mhz)
3dMark03: 4,055

scottchen · May 14, 2004

Yeah, my card rapes even the 9800XT in OpenGL, I have a cheated 5950U, it's a 5900 with flashed bios. But it's performing well at 530/975 24/7, this way i can keep fan at 7V.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

scamtrOn · May 14, 2004

hmmm thats kind of cool. but i don't have the x800, so no diff

my sys:
mobo: Abit AN7 @ 442 FSB
CPU: AXPm 2600+ @ 4100+
ram: corsair xms @ 1:1 running 2.5-3-3-6
HDD: two raptors on raid 0
vid: 9800pro @ 467mhz GPU and 834mhz ram

chadwickvm · May 17, 2004

You're insane scottchen. Every time I come here you've changed components to your comp and cheated in some way to get em overclocked nicely and/or flashing a bious to trick the card into thinking something its not.
Kudos to you, now I have to figure out all this junk.

Willamette_sucks · May 18, 2004

Scammy your sig is interesting. What multi you running that cpu at?

I also find your 9800 Pro's ram speed to be very hard to believe. All 9800 Pro's have 2.86ns samsung or 2.8ns hynix, neither of which can do those speeds (maybe at sub-freezing temps). Some cards might have infineon but that's even crappier.

Have u flashed to XT? 01/03 3dmarks?

Me: are you saying I can't provide?
Me: cause I know I can provide.
Me: oh and I can provide money too😉
Rachel

: why do we need money when we can just stay in our room and have sex all day?

Willamette_sucks · May 18, 2004

Scammy your sig is interesting. What multi you running that cpu at? Stepping?

I also find your 9800 Pro's ram speed to be very hard to believe. All 9800 Pro's have 2.86ns samsung or 2.8ns hynix, neither of which can do those speeds (maybe at sub-freezing temps). Some cards might have infineon but that's even crappier.

Volt mod? Have u flashed to XT? 01/03 3dmarks? Cooling?

Me: are you saying I can't provide?
Me: cause I know I can provide.
Me: oh and I can provide money too😉
Rachel

: why do we need money when we can just stay in our room and have sex all day?

scamtrOn · May 18, 2004

i posted some of the pics in the other forum, but you don't go down there. i do have good cooling... real good cooling. its still not a perminent solution, however. i'm posting pics of the system and the benchmarks on my site once its all done. i use peltiers and while they aren't perminent right now (i can't fit the second PSU inthe case before i cut it up) they soon will be. my cpu speed is and always has been without the peltiers so far. once the peltiers are in for the cpu, it should hit 28xx Mhz. its flashed to xt, not volt moded and yes, the ram will hit about 417 with only 4 peltiers! but thats also why you have to have the second psu. the peltiers have to be turned on before the comp is and mounting them is a bitch.

anyway, the only pic i have (not deleted) right now is this one: http://www.lochel.com/other/speedz.JPG. there is a lot more coming. this is a big project which will end when i'm in colorado.

my sys:
mobo: Abit AN7 @ 442 FSB
CPU: AXPm 2600+ @ 4100+
ram: corsair xms @ 1:1 running 2.5-3-3-6
HDD: two raptors on raid 0
vid: 9800pro @ 467mhz GPU and 417mhz ram

baldurga · May 18, 2004

I am really shocked! I would never imagine those results!

I was thinking about getting a X800Pro instead of 9800Pro after a couple of months (once the prices decrease) but now ... and my system is worst than those. I am still on KT266A mobo, limited to 150FSB and no dual memory.

I don't know if I should be happy or sad. Happy because is better to know it and I will spend a lot of less money; sad because my system is showing it age; puzzled! 😱

Thanks a lot for the information!

Still looking for a good online retailer in Spain :frown:

*great* CPU vs GPU performance review

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great CPU vs GPU performance review