EggXpert

Quick Question:

 

I have ordered a 3850 512 MB to replace my aging and kinda pathetic 8600GT.  I am very stoked and cannot wait, but I am worried that my 4200+AMD 2.2GHZ is going to bottleneck my computer to hell.

 

So i guess my question is, "Is my CPU going to seriously hinder the performance of my 3850 and render the purchase of my 3850 useless?"

 

To me it seems like the rest of my specs are ready to go, except that my cpu is the weakest link.

and if someone can give me an estimate on how many FPS i would gain on, say, COD4, that would be awesome.

You cpu should be more than enough, im assuimng you mean 4200 x2 as in dual core right? I dont really remeber there being a 4200+ single core.. Even if it is a sungle core your cpu will not be a bottleneck for playing cod4.. Cod4 is high dependant on gpu, and unlike crysis doesnt have a high dependancy on physic calculations... I would say you could problebly run the game at (medium to low) setting and get 125 most of the time, if you set the fps cap using cl_maxfps 125... But I would highly recommend you getting a 4850 or a 3870x2.. I run the game on 1680x1050, with most everything on high and i get 125 with no shutter or drop in fps.. Only time i get a drop in fps is if theres about 5 smokes going off in same area..

It should perform just fine, and you'll see a graphical improvement, but as always, a better CPU will make your 3Dmark scores (and gaming FPS) rise.

As they said, ur CPU can work fine with ur new video card.

 

The first choice is to upgrade the video card when CPU is powerful enough, for it will

 

obviously increase the game effects.

 

For larger scene of games, larger video card memory can better improve the speed,

 

because it can accelerate the speed of reading the scene.

I recently upgraded from a 8800GTS 512 to a new 260 and saw no marked increase in FPS in most games.  Why? because my AMD 6000+ X2 was already underpowered to the GPU power I already had and the GPU is sitting around waiting for my CPU to give it stuff to work on..

Hmmm, good point MeiLing.

 

anyways, I DID have a HUGE boost in FPS, so now i dont have any worries.

 For anyone else with this concern, they should keep in mind that maybe my upgrade compared to Meiling's was more....substantial.

 

Personally i think the performance between a 3850 and a 8600GT is larger than between the 8800GTS512 and the 260.

 

But Meiling does have truth in her observations.

Don't forget to change your SIG, still says 8600

From a 8600 to well just about anything you'll see an improvement.