A few questions....

Artanis · Post by **Artanis** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:04 pm

From what I understand, and correct me if I am wrong. At 1280x1024 and up you use the GPU (becomes more intensive) while lower rez it relies more on the CPU. Maybe I have it reversed but I think thats the way it goes.

JesterOI · Post by **JesterOI** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:42 pm

Depends on the videocard and cpu being used.
If you're using a 1400 athlon tbird (ancient) and a radeon 9800xt, any res you play at will most likely be fps capped by the cpu.
Now if you're using a barton 3200+ and a geforce2 gts, any res you play at will most likely be capped by the video card.
It's good to read up on your equipment.
Try these pages:
http://www.hardocp.com
http://www.firingsquad.com
http://www.theinquirer.net (more news based)
http://www.theregister.com (more news based)
http://www.tomshardware.com
http://www.anandtech.com
http://www.sharkyextreme.com

Try looking for cpu scaling articles like these:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjMyLDE=

But reading the cpu reviews and videocard reviews when they are posted each time will also help you figure out what kind of cpu is needed to get the most out of your videocard, or whether it's worth upgrading your videocard while keeping your current cpu.

Post by **TGPO** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:45 pm

At lower resolutions the GPU handles it, at higher resolutions the harder the GPU has to push the more operations get pushed off onto the CPU. If you find that at your current resolution you start to choke more you can reduce it one step or start turning down the bells and whistles.

Personally I am going to wait on the second gen of PCI express vid cards cause here in the near future AGP is going the way of the dodo. The first gen arent slated for any real changes except in how they plug into your mobo. Oh and for those who want the expandability but dont have the money to shell out for new mobo and vidcard, VIA is the only chip manufacturer who is currently planning on being able to run both AGP and PCI express on the same board, all the others are dropping the AGP.

JesterOI · Post by **JesterOI** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:53 pm

Or get a mobo with a few extra pcix slots and get yourself some nvidia sli action going

up to 90% more fps than with a single card!!!

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_sli/
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjMzLDI=