What's the best GPU I can get on an AMD 3500+ 64bit cpu?

[shaunm138]

I recently upgraded to Windows 7 and am running 64bit with 2gb dual channel ram and an antec truepower 600w psu, geforce 7950gt, and an AMD 3500+ 64bit cpu. I think its an MS-7093 motherboard.
I wanted to get a directx10 or 11 card and was looking at the ATI 4850 but will it just bottleneck?? If so, whats the best ATI GPU that I can run??

 

[shadow187]

AMD 3500+ is a 2.2ghz single-core, right?

I wouldn't run more than an HD5570 on that. My HD4650 is bottlenecked by my E1400 (2x2ghz Celeron).

 

[shaunm138]

yea its a 2.2ghz single core.
so youre saying an hd4850 will run fine on my old processor?
isnt an e1400 a dual core and therefore faster processor?

 

[jyjjy]

Have you considered replacing the processor/motherboard/ram? For $200 you can get a Athlon II x2, a motherboard to go with it, 2 gigs of DDR2 800 and an HD4670. That processor would be 4ish times faster than your current processor and paired with the HD4670 it will give you much, much, better results in terms of gaming performance. Something like this perhaps;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.334552
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141114
For $100 more you could make it quadcore, 4gigs of ram, HD4850 instead.

 

[jyjjy]

so youre saying an hd4850 will run fine on my old processor?

That is the opposite of what he is saying. The card he recommended about half as powerful as an HD4850 and will still be limited by your processor in almost all games.

 

[shaunm138]

Best answer selected by shaunm138.

 

[shaunm138]

thank you very much jyjjy, you were very helpful. so since i'll be getting a new mobo, cpu, ram, and gpu, i won't have any conflict with any other hardware will i? will the socket matter? None of that stuff matters too much does it...

 

[jyjjy]

Nah, the only conflicts would be if the cpu and ram fit on the motherboard and you would be replacing all the components that might be incompatible with each other.
Other than that the only concern I can think of would be that the motherboard in that combo only has one IDE port so you will only be able to use two IDE devices(old hard/dvd/cd drives.) I believe there are IDE to SATA adapters if necessary though.

 

[shaunm138]

thanks for the advice bro. moneys tight but 4 times faster for $200 is hard to pass up...at least i'll be a little more future proof too

 

[jyjjy]

Yeah, with that setup you will be able to play any game smoothly at reasonably high settings on a monitor with a resolution of 1280x1024 and below.
A nice part is that processor is basically the lowest end AM3 cpu so it is highly upgradeable. When you have more money you can put a Phenom II x4 in there for another large upgrade.

 

[shaunm138]

so i noticed the chipset on the mobo is nvidia...someone told me that its better to run nvidia gpus on nvidia chipsets and not ati...any truth to that?

 

[jyjjy]

Nah, it doesn't matter. The only issue would be if it was an SLI board then you couldn't use 2 ATI cards in crossfire but it only has one PCIe x16 slot so that is irrelevant.
What resolution is your monitor BTW?

 

[shaunm138]

Ok cool...this is just a quick fix anyway so i can play some games in between finding a job and such...dont see when i'll be using 2 cards anytime soon, maybe when i have the money i'll make a nice rig..
Unfortunately my monitor resolution is 1680x1050 native im on an LG Flatron 1400:1 contrast 20" lcd not sure the ms time...

 

[jyjjy]

Well for that resolution it would be a good call to spend $30 more for an HD4850;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125238

 

[shaunm138]

cool
whats wrong with this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150369
other than it has 640 instead of 800 stream processors

 

[jyjjy]

Well that card is weaker(8ish% I believe) and more expensive.
It is significantly more power efficient and should still be pretty good 1680x1050 however. But I would recommend the $100 one instead;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127452
If you can afford it this would be optimal;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161317
That's a very nice deal for that card. It is DX11 compatible, extremely power efficient and good even for 1920x1080 if you ever upgrade you monitor or want to game on a 1080p HDTV.