Can Current System Run GF4 Ti 4200 or 4600?

[spirittoo]

Can my current system(P4 1.4Ghz PC133 Sdram)get the full benefits the GF4 Ti 4200 or 4600 has to offer? Or will there be a bottleneck? I decided if I go high end on a graphic card I will do it when I can build a new system. For now I would like to find the best card for the system I am running now.

Will this cards work? When I do upgrade the grahic card will I see an improvement in FS 2002?

Thank you for your time. :)

[comphollic]

I think your system can fully benefit a ti4200 or ti4600....
In the FS2002 days, I ran the sim with a GF2MX and a P4 1.7ghz, i upgraded the video card to a ti4200, and saw a nice boost in performacne, the sim ran A LOT smoother, plus I was able to crank up the resolution from 1024*768 to 1280*1024 with little performance hit(i think my FPS was usually in the 20s), though i wasnt able to crank up the AA so much(i set it at 2x), but at that resolution, i really didnt need anymore than that...i was very happy with the results
Hope this helps

[spirittoo]

Thanks for responding. May I ask what kind of memory you had with the system? Was it Sdram or DDR along with the 1.7Ghz?

Thank you for your time.

[comphollic]

when i had my 1.7ghz system, i used 512mb PC133..

[spirittoo]

Fantastic! I was afraid of a bottleneck problem. Thank so much for your time.

[MadMaster]

Bottleneck, bottleneck, bottleneck....

The card that will benifit your eye candy the most is the fastest card you can pay for. If that is a Radeon 9800 XT than that is the card that will make your system the fastest. The Radeon 9800 won't be able to put its full potential out but it be the fastest on your system. Remember, every card is held back ( "bottlenecked" ) by the processor, ram, agp port, etc. Nobody ever sees the full potential out of any card. You will see a difference between a TI-4600 and a Radeon 9800(I don't know how big because I never experimented with this but it will be there).

You seem pretty terrified of bottlenecking! The two main factors deciding what card you are getting is how long your system has to hold you over for and how much money you are willing to spend. Don't worry about bottlenecking. It will just cause you to waste money!

So before you buy take a look at these things and remember these two tips.

1. Look at performance of cards here...

www.tomshardware.com

2. The performance of graphics cards will about double every 1 1/2 to 3 years. Keep this in mind for if you are keeping your card for your next computer.

I hope this helps!!

[comphollic]

He said he will upgrade his whole system later on...but NOW all he wants is a card that would fit pretty well with his system...he chose a ti4200\4600, which I agree is great for THAT system...I know it because i've had experience from it...

Why do you want him to shell out a lot of $$ for an ATI9800XT?! Just so he can have a fastest card on a 3-4 year old system? Please read what the original poster wants...and if you are going to make any suggestions, make them good ones...

As for eye candy usage...on my 1.7ghz system, i've set all my FS2002 settings mostly on high, except for clouds which i set at 40%, but AI traffic was set at 80%...and all this with the ti4200 and my FPS was int he 20s...all that i couldnt do was raise my AA much(only at 2x) and AF at 2x...but i set my resolution at 1280*1024....

If you are going for a decent card that will hold you until you upgrade to a more powerful system, you've made the right choice witht the ti4200 or ti4600...

[MadMaster]

You did not undestand the end of my post. What I said was to look at performance and price to pick a card out. I used the Radeon 9800 as being the fastest card for his computer even though it will be a bran knew card on an old system.

My suggestion is to pick a card out based on performance, and when he is getting a new system . I didn't tell him to factor in how much he is willing to pay because it is obvious to do that.

Also what I was telling hims was to not worry about bottlenecking. Truth is there is really nothing to be worried about with bottlenecking. I told him that, to not factor that in when buying a new card.

So three factors to factor in when buying a new card.

1. Quality (a big portion performance)
2. Cash your willing to spend.
3. How long your going to have this card/when are you going to upgrade.

Oh and btw, I wasn't telling him that the 9800XT was what he needed to get. I was using it as an example that it will be fastest for his computer, that he shouldn't worry about bottlenecking. I wasn't suggesting that he buy a 9800XT.

I agree the TI-4600 is a good card, I have one myself. Just don't worry about bottlenecking, when buying a graphics card!

[BeefHooked]

I used to have a p4 1.8 (256k L2) with my Asus 9560 128MB FX5600, it scored approx 8500 3DMarks, and ran FS2002 at an average 15fps at high settings (1024x768). The same card with my new 800fsb p4c 2.6 scores 12,090! i.e. the FX5600 was'nt being driven to anything like its optimum with the old 1.8p4, ironically, a Geforce3 (non ti) 64mb scored 5890 with the 1.8 yet 6093 with the 2.6 - telling me the GF3 was actually a better match for the 1.8 than the faster FX5600 was. (Confused yet?) :D

I'd go for a ti4200 as a stop gap measure, then, once you've upgraded to a nice new p4 or prescott / AMD 64 etc then, and only then consider a serious i.e. £150+ graphics card, otherwise, your simply wasting your money on hardware your cpu can't fully utilise.

[MadMaster]

A 4000 point difference is expected when upgrading from a p4 1.8 to a p4 2.6. Take a look at this chart that shows 3dmark scores.

Keep in mind the p4 800FSB 2.6 performes about the same as a 3.06 ghz 533FSB. Also remember 3dmark01 is more processor dependant than graphics card dependant.

http://www20.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030217/cpu_charts-23.html

So your graphics card wasn't held back and neither was the Radeon 9700 pro used in the test.

Look at beef's example of the gf3 and the GF FX, the FX performed way better on both machines. Even though it might have been a 'better match' for his p4 1.8. Thats what I'm trying to say. Even though it might be a 'better match' a faster card will perform faster and give you more. Just don't pay too much for a card expecting it to fix all your computer troubles, and that is where the 3 factors that I stated in my previous post come in.

Does this make more sense?

[spirittoo]

It is a bit confusing. And it is she not he, fyi. :) So much to consider.

Some said my mobo wasn't that great. What's the difference with mobo, and how do they play in this? The AGP slot? Whether or not it's DDR?

I am glad I decide to investigate this matter before I got to the buying stage.

Thank you for your time. :)

[MadMaster]

Ahh...some more females!

Motherboards come to play a big role in performance and so called 'bottlenecking.' Bassically it is the connection between all your components in your computer such as the processor, ram, graphics card, etc. If you have a cheapo mobo it can screw everything up. The mobo is also important for compatability . If you get an intel motherboard your not going to be able to put an AMD chip into it. Before you upgrade anything make sure your motherboard is compatable with the component that you will be upgrading to. As for yours you might want to buy a new computer soon. That all depends on how much money you want to throw around...

As for the AGP slot that is the slot that hooks your mobo to your graphics card. There are 2 main kinds, 4X and 8X AGP. Every graphics card up to a TI-4600 and a few later ones are 4X agp. The new ones like most of the Nvidia GF FX series is 8X and most of the Radeon cards in the 9XXX series. You don't really need to be worried about it because 8X is backward compatable and 4X is forward compatable.

Just follow the tips I gave for the graphics card to get. And don't be afraid to ask questions....

I hope this helps!

[luketheduke]

Lately, I have been getting artifacts on the aircrafts when running FS9. Would you say if it is worth the upgrade to ATI 9800 Pro for additional FPS?

[MadMaster]

I think it would be worth it. Unless the artifacts doesn't bug you that much and you can wait around till you completely upgrade your system. The reason being is that you could get a better card for cheaper when you upgrade. Otherwise you will carry your 9800 pro over to your new system.

Don't worry about the 4x, 8x bottlenecking, it isn't a problem. Look at this benchmark, there is only about a 1 fps difference ,or less, on most cards.

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040310/pcie-02.html

[zoynyne]

With those cards your system would be the bottleneck - they're both capable of more than that system can throw at them.

This is NOT A BAD THING.

It's better to shoot a garden hose into a firehose than the other way around...

[gregorach]

Something that should be remembered is that unless you're buying a new system in the next 6 months or so, then by the time you do the best boards and video cards will be using PCI-X instead of AGP. Because of this, I wouldn't really advise getting a current high-end card with the plan of carrying it over into a new system somewhere down the line. In my own humble opinion, you'd be better off getting a cheap stopgap card like the Ti4200 or 4600, and then waiting for the new architectures to settle down before upgrading the rest of the system and getting a new PCI-X video card. Otherwise you run the risk of finding youself with a top-end video card that is wasted in your current system and won't fit in your new one.

With the changes in basic PC architecture coming down in the next 6 months to a year, now isn't really the best time to be buying high-end parts as they'll have a much shorter upgrade path. It's probablty better to wait 6 months and get kit with a future.

One thing I can say for definite: the MX200 is a very, very limited card. You will see a significant improvement from a Ti4200.

[zoynyne]

There will be no difference in the hardware with first and second generating PCI-X cards.

They are to be identical boards and chipsets to their AGP counterparts, only the slot specification will be different.

There is no reason to put off buying AGP hardware at this point unless someone is going to be buying a BTX form factor motherboard in the near future.

AGP cards will continue for several more years.

[gregorach]

Well, that applies equally to Socket 939 boards. However, if you're considering a major upgrade then I think you'd be well advised to wait for either BTX or Socket 939 - that was the crux of my point. If you buy yourself any ATX Intel board, or any Socket A / 754 / 940 AMD board, then you've got very little future for it as all of these platforms are either at the end of their life or are short-term stop-gaps with limited forward compatibility.

Interestingly, ATi are going to be making native PCI-X boards and shipping them with AGP to PCI-X, while nVidia will be making native AGP boards and shipping them with PCI-X to AGP. You're right that either way, you will be able to get more-or-less equivalent kit at least in the first generation. My objection to upgrading now isn't about the video cards themselves or AGP vs PCI-X, it's about the motherboards.

Anyway, we're getting a bit OT from the original query, and probably scaring people into the bargain... ;)

[MadMaster]

You have to remember that EVERY motherboard that you buy won't have troumendous upgrading options. You don't want to wait around for new stuff all the time, otherwise you will never get anything. Truth is it is better to pay the $200 - $300 for a motherboard and ram instead of waiting around forever for a few more upgrading options.

Also take a look at this article about PCI express...

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040310/index.html

After reading that it shows that you will probably not need anything from PCI Express for a long time after it shows up.