bottleneck, help me choose!

Ok. Here is my sys spec.

Athlon 64 x2 4000+
Biostar Nf61s micro AM2 SE
2 GB 667 RAM
2 x 80 GB harddisks

Samsung 15" CRT monitor max res 1024*768 / 1152*864

Its time to buy a graphics card. and a SMPS to go by it.

keeping all these configurations intact, what would you guys suggest the best graphics card for me to play games with atleast some eye-candy.

The options i considered before were 4670 - 9600GT. I can also afford a 4850.

i read somewhere that @ lower resolutions its the CPU that does the job and only @ higher resolutions that GPU takes over.

The question is, is my CPU going to be a bottleneck for 4850 at this resolution?

IF so, then what would be the ideal card that would go by this CPU without bottlenecking each other!

Your biggest bottleneck is your monitor Can you fit in a monitor, gpu and a smps in your budget?

+1

Monitor is very small.

Lol but you have just 160 gb of space, have you even seen the installation size of today's games !!!

I can list the hardware as per priority:

1. SMPS
2. Monitor
3. HDD
4. GFX

lol, i knew this was coming.
But honestly i dont want to spend a lot just to play 2 hours of game every night.

I would make that -

1. Monitor
2. HDD (these two before the others so that he could at least enjoy movies better. Though I know its not what he asked for).
3. SMPS
4. GPU

Messa was in a same dilemma like you, infact I have just the weekends to game, watch movies etc. I had a 120gig hdd, so got a 400g hdd, and before I know i am outta space !!

I just got SMPS and a case, am on a borrowed gfx card atm, but next on my shopping list is a monitor and gfx card etc... But trust me a good smps goes a long way in a stable pc...

If you're going to be playing in 1024x768, I'd suggest you take 9600GT. But if you're going to upgrade your monitor(either 19"/22" WS LCD) in near future, take 4850 but your processor will bottleneck its performance.

you play 2 hrs on a 15inch ....better get a palit 8600GT for rs3500, CM/powersafe/VIP smps for Rs2000.....rest of the money......BUY GTA4

CM 460 W + 9600 GT would be enough for u

+1

repped coz i guess hes the only one giving a straight answer (to the question asked)



@others (above d quoted post)
guys, plz keep it simple n cheap..evry1 dsnt have the amount u have to burn on a pc..
And casual Gamers, movie viewers dnt need huge screens / big HDDs / big GFX cards(which keep overheating without expensive cooling)
Plz dnt keep telling ppl, "Extend ur budget by xxx n u will get a xxx which is wayy better"
Sometimes its Obvious, like in case of a monitor! Obviously the Guy knws he'l get a bigger monitor after spending more money. its better, nt to disturb the contentment of the person with the current Features... more features do cost more money which may be more useful to sm1 in other things, so y brainwash with repeated attempts? zzzz

^^ Have you ever heard the term called budgeting ? he clearly wants to buy a card, which does not make sense at all in his current setup...

For a 15 inch, I suppose 8600GT should be good enough, and trust me when you dont have loads of time, you do want to keep installing/uninstalling games etc...

People have the mentality that buying a good gfx card will solve the gaming issue, its not the case.. And many newcomers seriously underplay the imp. of a good powersupply..

option 1: palit 8600gt 512mb gddr3 fr 3.5k if u intend to play with current monitor and 2hrs of gaming. get a cm460w fr 2.4k total damage 6k

option 2: 9600gt/4670 + 19"LCD + cm460 . if u willing to spend on them. Any GPU above this would be bottlenecked by the cpu imo..

option 3: complete upgrade

must : sell of the 2 x 80gb and get a new 500gb hdd for 3k odd. Your 2 old hdd's should fetch u atleast 1.25k.

HDD space is not an issue. I have two more portables.

Considered 4850 because reviews state that its a good card.
But it would be a overkill for my system, and the problem of bottlenecking too, it dosen't make sence with my present monitor.

So i think its time to choose b/w 4670 / 9600GT

I guess this is as good a place as any to discuss this newfangled concept of bottlenecking. I can't seem to understand its significance. If the 4850 is sure to perform considerably better than say a 9600 in a given config, and if the guy asking about it can afford it, then why should he bother if his cpu is bottlenecking his gpu or not?

Shouldn't we worry about the person paying for the card rather than the card itself?

Edit: In this case, we should just check the diff in performance between the 9600gt and the 4850 @ 1024x768. If this diff is marginal, then the OP is better off with a 9600gt. But if the diff is substantial, he can consider spending more for the 4850. I don't go through all the reviews so I'm not sure about this myself.