How badly is CPU holding back video card?

[kenw1986]

I recently purchased a Radeon 9800 Pro to replace the GF2 MX in my Dell system. It currently has a P4 1.7 100FSB Willamette and 512MB RAM, and I was wondering how badly the CPU is holding the card back. And then what mobo + CPU should I upgrade to to get the most out of my card, and when would be a good time to make a purchase?

I ask this because when playing Halo at 800x600 my framerates still drop to below playable levels from time to time 🙁

 

[halem111]

id say that it is holding you back quite abit in halo. Although ur cpu is still alright for most games tday halo is a crappy port that takes like 3.2 ghz pentium to even run half decent. I would'nt woryy too much about it at the moment and personally woudl wait until the new pentiums come out and the new 939 amd boards. This making the rest of cpu prices drop will enable you to have a cheap upgrade to maybe a 2.4 or 2.6 pentium which at the mo are probably the best bang for buck, or the the 2600 barton or 2800 barton amd cpu.

 

[Civilized]

its holding you back alot....the best time always to upgrade is now because no matter how long you wait there will always be something better coming out.....
go with an amd 64 setup ....i prefer the a64 3000+, via mobo, etc

<A HREF="http://dnadesignz.kicks-ass.net" target="_new"><b><font color=green>MY SYSTEM</b></font color=green></A>

 

[Ion]

You may also need to check if your PSU can handle the new card...

Asus A7N8X Deluxe, Xp 2500+(3200+), 512MB RAM, HIS Radeon 9500Pro

 

[Wolfy]

i have an xp2600 with a 9800XT on a A7N8X board. Before I had a ti4600 which meant i could play halo at 800*600 and even then the frames dropped like stink. The point being I now have the 9800XT and while the game is a million times more playable on halo it STILL drops frames on occasion. Halo is a shitty port so dont judge your system on it. still an upgrade to something that bit better shouldnt set u back all that much and it should allow yur gfx card to breath that bit better (i have no trouble playing any game except halo using an xp2600 on a A7N8X mobo with 512pc2700 ram altho i do plan to upgrade the cpu soon).

"Its only when you look at ants closely with a magnifying glass on a sunny day that you realise how often they burst into flames"

 

[cleeve]

Totally depends on the game.

Halo will run like crap. Simple shooters with less CPU calculations in the background will probably run real nice (I.E. Unreal Tournament 2003)

But if you're looking to play the next generation of games, upgrade your CPU for sure. ALl those physics calculations are pretty taxing.

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<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>2600+</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 2400+ w/143Mhz fsb)</i>
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