Graphic Cards Upgrade for SH3 + GWX3.0

[Victor Schutze]

I noticed that I have 12-14 fps in Kiel or when I zoom down on my u-boot in the map, I am left with 8 fps. I am looking for a solution to this problem.

My rig specs are:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (2.6 Ghz overclocked through mobo BIOS)
Mobo: Asus A8N-SLI SE Motherboard Socket 939, Nvidia NFORCE4 SLI
Graphic cards : 2 of EVGA 01G-P3-N959TR GeForce 9500 GT 1GB DDR2 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card in SLI.
RAM: 4 GB (3GB used by windows 7?)
OS: Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Sound card: Diamond XtremeSound 7.1/24 bit Sound Card ( XS71 )
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5
I exclusively play SH3 GWX3.0 with a long ( :roll: ) list of mods.
I would like to be able to enable heavier mods such as "fm interiors" as well.

So, I am contemplating to replace my 2 graphic cards with this choice:

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Mini-HDMI-Graphics-02G-P3-1559-KR/dp/B004XUCCS6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=IC1F1HOMNCFH7&colid=30ZGK8T9NSVEA

My question to you people is: Does it make good sense? Does it worth it?
What will be the gain in terms of fps? Maybe I should consider changing the whole mobo/processor/RAM combination? Not the same price though.... :hmmm:

Any thoughts? :D

[PeriscopeDepth]

Putting a ~$170 vid card in that machine, while it may help, is not a cost effective solution IMO. I would save up for a cheapo ~$600 gaming desktop (prebuilt that is, if you can build your own that would probably be far better), I think it would be a far better long term investment. It's not cheap by any means, but PC gaming tends to be that way. :/

Your processor (and thus your mobo, probably) and vidcard definitely need to be replaced for what I would consider mid range gaming (SH3 with a ton of higher end mods).

Processor tech has come a ways in the past ~6 years. As a comparison, my 1.5 year old phone has a processor with the same size L2 cache as your desktop, and is built on a 45nm chip (vs 90 for your current processor, smaller is better) :).

[kiwi_2005]

I would think those pc specs should be able to run SH3 / GWX without a hitch, unless I missed something, I use to run the game on a far lower spec than what's here and it ran fine. Try taking the cpu clock back to default. Sometimes an overclocked cpu can cause problems in old games & have you tried running the game on one graphics card?

[Victor Schutze]

Thank you for your thoughts PericopeDepth and kiwi_2005! ;)

Ok guys, you know what I'll do?:
I'll go for one GPU at first, then go for a second one (SLI) in a second phase, then for a processor/mobo/RAM change as my last move. :cool:

It should allow me to improve the overall performance of my rig gradually without being broke. :O:

Whot ya think? :shucks:

[CCIP]

The low FPS is not caused by video card in that case, I can tell you that for certain - it's a CPU limitation. There are simply a lot of ships and other stuff in Kiel, and the issue is not graphics but physics processing etc. No video card upgrade here will help you, in fact I suspect you won't even get 1 extra FPS out of that upgrade. And to get a new processor, you'll need a new motherboard. And at that stage, you might as well get a new system. Your current one is more or less at the limit.

12-14fps - if only in Kiel - is not bad though. It improves elsewhere in the game, anyway, and I played like that for years.

[Arclight]

If you exclusively play SH3, then forget about SLI altogether. Doesn't really work.


A single GTX550 will work just fine, it's (probably) quite a bit of overkill for something like SH3.

Though I agree that that CPU could do with a replacement, note that a 9500GT is a joke of a graphics card.

[danasan]

Maybe you can get one Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ or higher for a couple of bucks through Ebay, if your Motherboard can handle that dual cores, and yes it can. The performance is significantly better :yep:

Like these (http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-ATHLON-64-X2-3800-939-PIN-ADA3800DAA5CD-Dual-Core-/140524761092)

[Victor Schutze]

Maybe you can get one Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ or higher for a couple of bucks through Ebay, if your Motherboard can handle that dual cores, and yes it can. The performance is significantly better :yep:

Like these (http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-ATHLON-64-X2-3800-939-PIN-ADA3800DAA5CD-Dual-Core-/140524761092)


This is a good idea danasan! :yeah:

I've never tried ebay though... these are second hand CPUs, right? :hmmm:

My mobo (Asus A8N-SLI SE Motherboard Socket 939, Nvidia NFORCE4 SLI) can handle one Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2! :up:

What I actually don't know is the maximum frequency of the processor I can install: The AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ seems to be the most powerful I can install on this mobo or not?! :hmmm:

My mobo user guide says that it is best to use a 500 watt PSU for an Athlon 64 FX-55.

Does this mean the Athlon 64 FX-55 processor is the most powerful CPU I can buy and install? I don't know.

The mobo's user guide does not say anywhere about what maximum specs CPU I can install. :down:

I have to research this on the web I guess. Any ideas?

[danasan]

Here you are... (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_Socket_939/A8NSLI_SE/#CPUS) :yep:


The best value for your money ( most bang for bucks ) is the AMD Athlon 64 3800 X2 IMHO, it is the cheapest. Look for the Toledo cores

Sorry for German writing, but you should get an impression here (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=16do320icgpwe7o)

[Victor Schutze]

Here you are... (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_Socket_939/A8NSLI_SE/#CPUS) :yep:


The best value for your money ( most bang for bucks ) is the AMD Athlon 64 3800 X2 IMHO, it is the cheapest. Look for the Toledo cores

Sorry for German writing, but you should get an impression here (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=16do320icgpwe7o)

Fantastic! Thank you again, danasan! :up:

I'll buy this AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Processor Socket 939! :yeah:

edit: I found this: http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-4800-Processor-Socket/dp/B0009RKLQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1327080678&sr=1-1

Check the price! :nope:

Why does an old CPU is so expensive? :-?

[danasan]

You'd better buy two 3800s second hand for 50 $ both together, overclock one, wait until it burns and then use the second one :D

My 3800 X2 @ 2000 MHz gives me with an AMD HD 5570, 4 GB RAM and WIN 7 64bit around 25 FPS in Kiel

[Victor Schutze]

You'd better buy two 3800s second hand for 50 $ both together, overclock one, wait until it burns and then use the second one :D

My 3800 X2 @ 2000 MHz gives me with an AMD HD 5570, 4 GB RAM and WIN 7 64bit around 25 FPS in Kiel

Well, I guess this is another option. I hope overclocking the 3800 won't fry anything else though... :dead:

[danasan]

There is no need for overclocking. 2000 MHz is the standard setting. It should satisfy as it is. :DL

[Victor Schutze]

Guess what danasan!

I found one AMD-Athlon64-X2-4800-2-4GHz-Dual-Core-ADA4800DAA6CD-CPU-w-copper-heatpipe-fan on e-bay: :DL

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Athlon64-X2-4800-2-4GHz-Dual-Core-ADA4800DAA6CD-CPU-w-copper-heatpipe-fan-/110811415206?pt=CPUs&hash=item19cce002a6#ht_3331wt_956

This should make my day! :D

Thank you for your advice danasan!

[danasan]

It's already sold. Did you get it? Price isn't too bad. Imagine buying a new Motherboard, CPU, RAM, Cooler....

If it is yours now, I am a bit envy... :D

[Victor Schutze]

It's already sold. Did you get it? Price isn't too bad. Imagine buying a new Motherboard, CPU, RAM, Cooler....

If it is yours now, I am a bit envy... :D

:yep: it's mine! It's not new though... I hope I am lucky with this one. The seller seems to have a good reputation.

This should make me save a number of "benjamins" :D

[danasan]

Congrats on this. Make sure you get the maybe necessary BIOS update before installing the CPU. Probably you can do it in Windows environment, that's a bit easier. :yep:

[Victor Schutze]

Will do :salute:

[danasan]

Hi Victor,

so, what's going on with your new CPU? Got it? Up and running? Running into problems? I hope not...