N2k2 with Athlon 1.33 and an ATI 9700????

I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have an ATI 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3 Ultra motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should I get the 9700! I'm curious if anyone has a 1.33 system with the 9700 and what FPS they get? Vintook

"Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]... > I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have an ATI > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3 Ultra > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should I get > the 9700! Mainboard and CPU IMO. The upgrade to DDR alone should improve system performance quite a bit, let alone the faster mobo and CPU. iksteh

The guys at [H]ardOCP did a review of the 9700 pro including benchmarks on an xp1800+ (1.533 G). Depending on the game the performance was fairly close to the fast P4 2.5G and AMD systems (new xp overclocked @ 2.5G!), even passing the GF4 4600 in the P4 box in some cases. Have a look for yourself. http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzQw Ken iksteh wrote:

Quoted text (14 lines)

> "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]... > > I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have an ATI > > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3 Ultra > > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should I get > > the 9700! > > Mainboard and CPU IMO. > > The upgrade to DDR alone should improve system > performance quite a bit, let alone the faster mobo > and CPU. > > iksteh

"iksteh" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<3d6db7e7$0$26221$[email hidden]>...

Quoted text (14 lines)

> "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]... > > I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have an ATI > > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3 Ultra > > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should I get > > the 9700! > > Mainboard and CPU IMO. > > The upgrade to DDR alone should improve system > performance quite a bit, let alone the faster mobo > and CPU. > > iksteh

Agree. NR2002 seems to need all the CPU cycles it can get once the basic eye candy and resolution needs are met. I'm not very familiar with the 8500 but it should be able to do the job as far as NR2002 is concerned. Good luck and let us know how much of an improvement you see whenever/whatever you decide! Gerald

Im my experience nothing beats more CPU cycles.. "iksteh" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:3d6db7e7$0$26221$[email hidden]... > "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]... > > I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have anATI > > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3Ultra > > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should Iget

Quoted text (11 lines)

> > the 9700! > > Mainboard and CPU IMO. > > The upgrade to DDR alone should improve system > performance quite a bit, let alone the faster mobo > and CPU. > > iksteh > >

Except more CPU cycles AND a better video card......;) -- Biz "Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand alloys and compositions and,......things with molecular structures,....and the....." - Ash Mitch_A <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ofsb9.16$[email hidden]... > Im my experience nothing beats more CPU cycles.. > > > "iksteh" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:3d6db7e7$0$26221$[email hidden]... > > "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > news:aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]... > > > I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have an > ATI > > > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3 > Ultra > > > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should I > get > > > the 9700! > > > > Mainboard and CPU IMO. > > > > The upgrade to DDR alone should improve system > > performance quite a bit, let alone the faster mobo > > and CPU. > > > > iksteh > > > > > >

Read that one already. That's what got me thinking that just the 9700 alone might boost my performance in N2k2. But then again, my cpu is only 1.33 as opposed to an XP 1800+ Vintook "Ken MacKay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > The guys at [H]ardOCP did a review of the 9700 pro including benchmarks onan > xp1800+ (1.533 G). Depending on the game the performance was fairly closeto the > fast P4 2.5G and AMD systems (new xp overclocked @ 2.5G!), even passingthe GF4

Quoted text (10 lines)

> 4600 in the P4 box in some cases. Have a look for yourself. > http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzQw > > Ken > > iksteh wrote: > > > "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > news:aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]... > > > I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have

an ATI > > > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3Ultra > > > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should Iget

Quoted text (11 lines)

> > > the 9700! > > > > Mainboard and CPU IMO. > > > > The upgrade to DDR alone should improve system > > performance quite a bit, let alone the faster mobo > > and CPU. > > > > iksteh > >

Hehe, correct you are Biz :-) "Biz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:0Jub9.41656$[email hidden]...

Quoted text (19 lines)

> Except more CPU cycles AND a better video card......;) > -- > Biz > > "Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand > alloys and compositions and,......things with molecular structures,....and > the....." - Ash > > > Mitch_A <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:ofsb9.16$[email hidden]... > > Im my experience nothing beats more CPU cycles.. > > > > > > "iksteh" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > news:3d6db7e7$0$26221$[email hidden]... > > > "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > > news:aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]... > > > > I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have

an > > ATI > > > > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3 > > Ultra > > > > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or shouldI

Quoted text (16 lines)

> > get > > > > the 9700! > > > > > > Mainboard and CPU IMO. > > > > > > The upgrade to DDR alone should improve system > > > performance quite a bit, let alone the faster mobo > > > and CPU. > > > > > > iksteh > > > > > > > > > > > >

Don't run N2k2 but from what others are saying it is cpu intensive, so it more likely that the Commanche benchmarks (also cpu driven) would offer a better guess as to performance. If you want to find out if the vid card will make a big difference, then try overclocking (or even underclocking) the 8500. Boost the gpu and memory speeds in small steps and just run N2k2 long enough to check fps. If you get a small increase in fps with each step then the video card is the bottle neck. If it makes no difference then go for the CPU/mobo (you could also try upping the fsb on the cpu to see it that helps) The other thing to ask is: What are the people with an 8500 and an XP1800+ or higher cpu getting for frame rates in N2k2? Might find a few more people running that combo. HTH Ken Vintook wrote:

Quoted text (40 lines)

> Read that one already. That's what got me thinking that just the 9700 alone > might boost my performance in N2k2. But then again, my cpu is only 1.33 as > opposed to an XP 1800+ > > Vintook > > "Ken MacKay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > The guys at [H]ardOCP did a review of the 9700 pro including benchmarks on > an > > xp1800+ (1.533 G). Depending on the game the performance was fairly close > to the > > fast P4 2.5G and AMD systems (new xp overclocked @ 2.5G!), even passing > the GF4 > > 4600 in the P4 box in some cases. Have a look for yourself. > > http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzQw > > > > Ken > > > > iksteh wrote: > > > > > "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > > news:aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]... > > > > I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have > an ATI > > > > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3 > Ultra > > > > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should I > get > > > > the 9700! > > > > > > Mainboard and CPU IMO. > > > > > > The upgrade to DDR alone should improve system > > > performance quite a bit, let alone the faster mobo > > > and CPU. > > > > > > iksteh > > > >

An XP2000 and the 8500 should give you much better frame rates in most games than a 1.33 with a 9700. The 9700 is probably held up even by the latest CPUs so your current CPU will be a real bottleneck. I've always thought it much better to skip every other generation of video card, so you might as well get the new Motherboard, CPU & RAM and wait to see what the NVidia NV30 or the next gen of ATI cards offer. Lets face it - There are currently very few games that take real advantage of the DX8 features on the 8500, so it will be quite some time before DX9 games start to appear that will use the 9700 to it's capacity, especially as DX9 is not supposed to even be released until around November now. Regards Andrew "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<aneb9.6088$N%[email hidden]>...

Quoted text (8 lines)

> I have an athlon 1.33ghz CPU (nonXP) with 256mb of pc133 ram. I have an ATI > 8500 card right now and have $500 to spend. Should I get an MSI KT3 Ultra > motherboard with an XP 2200+ and 512mb of PC2700 ram? ....or should I get > the 9700! > > I'm curious if anyone has a 1.33 system with the 9700 and what FPS they get? > > Vintook