old board ddr2 ?

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

I have a fairly fast cpu 2.6 quad 9400 but an old asus board with ddr2 mem and a quad core 9600 chip.. until I upgrade my board and chip sets mem etc, how much throttling for non fps games, like total war or other sims... will I see as I upgrade my graphics to a oc geforce 660 ti? The card is a screamer, and my cpu is decent, but Im worried about the motherboard and the bus speeds

Am I off? I know this is an older chip in the cpu but it still has ok specs.... or is the motherboard and mem not a big deal for gaming performance... computer is not used for multitasking or heavy computing cad etc...
thanks...
Im not sure how to calculate where the speed gets limited and I know it is somewhat dependant on the design of the sofware in wuestion, ie does it use multi cores etc.. any thoughts are welcome and what a great forum!!!

Sasqui · Jul 9, 2013

You won't even see any order of magnitude bandwidth increase by moving to DDR3 board. The big gain would come from moving to a i7 or i5 gen chip with integrated memory controller.

Frick · Jul 9, 2013

For gaming it won't matter. Not noticeably anyway. Is it the computer in system specs? If so, the problem is the amount: 2GB is not enough these days.

And just to be clear, that CPU isn't fast by modern standards.

EDIT for clarification: I mean for that CPU DDR3/DDR2 will not matter. Basicly what Sasqui said.

TheLaughingMan · Jul 9, 2013

Well the card is going to be choked by the bus speed, memory speed, and CPU performance. I can't give you an exact amount, but the rest of your system is definitely a hindrance to it.

Your system is not nearly as fast as you think and Total War will be a worse case than a FPS. FPS get dragged down when the CPU can't keep up with near instant changes in the environment like a shot fired or explosion going off near you. This is why high clock speed and chips with 4 cores or more are helpful but not necessary. Memory speed only really affects load times. Capacity of the memory can be the difference between playing a game or not.

Total War on the other hand will be a near constant calculation as the game is trying to simulate war on a grander scale. Everything from a 1 vs 1 fight victory up to tactical advantage is being calculated and recalculated as the battle changes. The CPU is nearly as important as the GPU. But this is my view and I could be wrong.

Either way, your system is choking that card a lot.

silkstone · Jul 9, 2013

You'll want to look into overclocking for the time being, you can spend $20-30 and get a big boost in speed to tide you over until you get an i5/7. The old Quad 9xxx series are still pretty good chips, even if they are old.

You'll see a boost in most games (especially total war) by upgrading your cpu, but GPU is more important. As others have said though, total war is very CPU dependent, and will be greatly bottlenecked by your cpu.

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

total war now up to shogun runs well... I have 6 gig of memory and a fast older card... BUT the new card is steller and super priced at my local store...
I realize there is a upgrade in the future for cpu, but if you look at the specs o the 9400, its not terrible.... in between a i3 and i5...
Im thinking i7 and fast memory on a decent motherboard... all new build out..
but today... It appears the motherboard is
NOT the lowest weakest link.. and that is great..
and
THANK YOU
Im amazed at the quality of the help found here and that these posts happened almost instantly! WOWO
I am thinking about new cpu, board at a cheapskate price lol
I really do find great deals
the gigabyte factory oc 660 ti is 194.95 marked down from over 300'

so as a follow up ?
Any suggestions for a VALUE upgrade in the under 500% range?

TheLaughingMan · Jul 9, 2013

Well we would love to offer suggestions, but it is clear now your System specs are wrong. You need to post what your current system actually is so we know what you really have going on.

And by the by, most Intel i3 built for desktops will out perform your chip as well like the i3 2100 series or better.

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

ok I have a q9400 2.6 quad core and am upgrading my video card, things run ok now, so I am wondering about the need to change my motherboard, and as noted above it seems the cpu is the weakest link
thanks again
Ill keep looking at building forum for ideas...

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

ok.. I forgot there was system specs my bad.. that system died...
Will update them now

silkstone · Jul 9, 2013

The 660ti for $200 is worth going for now. It will work much much better than your 8800GTS. You definetly need to start budgeting for a new cpu+ram+mobo if you want to see more improvement in the total war games.

You can buy a nice combo for under $500, easily.

Frick · Jul 9, 2013

silkstone said:
You can buy a nice combo for under $500, easily.

That would get you a stellar combo. Motherboard + i3 + 8GB RAM can be had for a like $250, if not less.

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

yep, just upgraded my specs sorry about that ..
Im running a intel core 2 quad core 9400 setup with old memory at DDR2 ??? speed not sure and 6 gig ram...
thanks again.. its like a super high speed help desk
lol
Im not going to go i 3, probably looking at a 7 on super discount and a board that will handle faster mem... I do get that my cpu is the first and most important component

TheLaughingMan · Jul 9, 2013

This should help you with selecting a CPU. An i3 2120 would be an upgrade, but not by much.
Your Q9400 is on there with a score of 3,414.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

Any idea where the new i 7 4th gen sits?
Im looking at an i 7 4th gen and mobo or 340$

silkstone · Jul 9, 2013

freeboy said:
Any idea where the new i 7 4th gen sits?

Top of the food chain.

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

i 7 4470k 3.5?

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

ok we cross posted ...
So a 350$ price would be a good price... how much memory is over kill? is 8 gig enough?

silkstone · Jul 9, 2013

It's a good chip. Are you thinking of overclocking? I ask because the K denotes an unlocked chip.
8gb is standard. Good enough for everything but the most specialized uses. I'm not sure on prices, shop around you might find deals, I know tigerdirect often run nice cpu+mobo deals.

TheLaughingMan · Jul 9, 2013

And if you are looking for a deal. Several TPU members are moving to Haswell (Intel 4000 series) and selling their older 2500K, 2600K, etc. You may be able to get a deal there.

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

im pricing td vs microcenter

Deleted member 24505 · Jul 9, 2013

Look at my specs, and my machine games ok. Haswell soon though

de.das.dude · Jul 9, 2013

i would never ''upgrade'' to an i3 now, and by gaming standards. Games will be multi threaded and will benifit from more cores.
So atleast an i5, or an amd fx-6300.

If you upgrade one part at a time. Its better to go for amd because of their good compatibility. One of the reasons i stick to amd

freeboy · Jul 9, 2013

im thinking an i 7 4th gen thats on combo super sale at local micro center ...
ok.. thanks

freeboy · Jul 10, 2013

I did not know that my cpu was so slow as I can add a board and fast chips for 100$.. Id love to drop the 340 for the fast i 7 mobo combo, but then its another bit for mem and probalby 100 for windows, any way around having to buy windows? AARRG
thanks guys..
fyi the new card and system runs great, amzing quite card... the bottle neek is the cpu, but
Im maxed out the setting in Total War Shogun 2 and no lag... its just a hot cpu,
and

THANKS AGAIN!!!!

dr emulator (madmax) · Jul 10, 2013

freeboy said:
I did not know that my cpu was so slow as I can add a board and fast chips for 100$.. Id love to drop the 340 for the fast i 7 mobo combo, but then its another bit for mem and probalby 100 for windows, any way around having to buy windows? AARRG
thanks guys..
fyi the new card and system runs great, amzing quite card... the bottle neek is the cpu, but
Im maxed out the setting in Total War Shogun 2 and no lag... its just a hot cpu,
and

THANKS AGAIN!!!!

i found this site interesting

just what the dr prescribes

System Name	beastybuild
Processor	4670k
Motherboard	GigabyteZ87X-UD4H
Cooling	SR-1 360 and GTX 360 custom, Koolance 380Iblock, swiftech355 &xspc"restop"
Memory	2X4gig G Skill Ripjaw 2400
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte gtx660ti(OC) windforce
Storage	western Digi sata
Display(s)	Acer 24 LCD
Case	modmantasticca
Audio Device(s)	basic onboard
Power Supply	Sea Sonic G550m
Software	Win 7 Enterprise 64
Benchmark Scores	4.9 stable with mem at 1333 4.8 stable with mem at 2133

System Name	Senile
Processor	I7-4790K@4.8 GHz 24/7
Motherboard	MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
Cooling	Be Quiet Pure Rock Air
Memory	16GB 4x4 G.Skill CAS9 2133 Sniper
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE Vega 64
Storage	Samsung EVO 500GB / 8 Different WDs / QNAP TS-253 8GB NAS with 2x10Tb WD Blue
Display(s)	34" LG 34CB88-P 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD (34401440) FREE_SYNC*
Case	Rosewill
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + HD HDMI
Power Supply	Corsair HX750
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB & G610 Orion Red
Software	Win 10

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD	Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	ODIN
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2
Cooling	Dark Rock 4
Memory	G Skill RipjawsV F4 3600 Mhz C16
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ventus 3X OC LHR
Storage	Crucial 2 TB M.2 SSD :: WD Blue M.2 1TB SSD :: 1 TB WD Black VelociRaptor
Display(s)	Dell S2716DG 27" 144 Hz G-SYNC
Case	Fractal Meshify C
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Audio
Power Supply	Antec HCP 850 80+ Gold
Mouse	Corsair M65
Keyboard	Corsair K70 RGB Lux
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	I don't benchmark.

System Name	Gaming System / HTPC-Server
Processor	i7 8700K (@4.8 Ghz All-Core) / R7 5900X
Motherboard	Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming / MSI B450 Mortar Max
Cooling	CM ML360 / CM ML240L
Memory	16Gb Hynix @3200 MHz / 16Gb Hynix @3000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Zotac 3080 / Colorful 1060
Storage	750G MX300 + 2x500G NVMe / 40Tb Reds + 1Tb WD Blue NVMe
Display(s)	LG 27GN800-B 27'' 2K 144Hz / Sony TV
Case	Xigmatek Aquarius Plus / Corsair Air 240
Audio Device(s)	On Board Realtek
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III Gold 750W / Andyson TX-700 Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G502 Hero / K400+
Keyboard	Wooting Two / K400+
Software	Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R15 = 1542 3D Mark Timespy = 9758

old board ddr2 ?

freeboy

Sasqui

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

TheLaughingMan

silkstone

freeboy

TheLaughingMan

freeboy

freeboy

silkstone

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

freeboy

TheLaughingMan

freeboy

silkstone

freeboy

freeboy

silkstone

TheLaughingMan

freeboy

Deleted member 24505

Guest

de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder

freeboy

freeboy

dr emulator (madmax)

System Name	Monke \| Work Thinkpad\| Old Monke
Processor	Ryzen 5600X \| Ryzen 5500U \| FX8320
Motherboard	ASRock B550 Extreme4 \| ? \| Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling	240mm Rad \| Not needed \| hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB \| 16 GB DDR4 3600 \| 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB \| Vega 8 \| Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage	Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) \| some samsung SSD
Display(s)	Dell 2723DS \| Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS \| Dell 2240L
Case	Ant Esports Tempered case \| Thinkpad \| Antec
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z333 \| Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e \| not needed \| Corsair GS 600
Mouse	Logitech G400 \| nipple
Keyboard	Logitech G213 \| stock kb is awesome \| Logitech K230
VR HMD	;_;
Software	Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores	There are no marks on my bench

System Name	not very good (wants throwing out window most of time)
Processor	xp3000@ 2.17ghz pile of sh** /i7 920 DO on air for now
Motherboard	msi kt6 delta oap /gigabyte x58 ud7 (rev1.0)
Cooling	1 green akasa 8cm(rear) 1 multicoloured akasa(hd) 1 12 cm (intake) 1 9cm with circuit from old psu
Memory	1.25 gb kingston hyperx @333mhz/ 3gb corsair dominator xmp 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	(agp) hd3850 not bad not really suitable for mobo n processor/ gb hd5870
Storage	wd 320gb + samsung 320 gig + wd 1tb 6gb/s
Display(s)	compaq mv720
Case	thermaltake XaserIII skull / coolermaster cm 690II
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	corsair hx 650 w which solved many problems (blew up) /850w corsair
Software	xp pro sp3/ ? win 7 ultimate (32 bit)
Benchmark Scores	6543 3d mark05 ye ye not good but look at the processor /uknown as still not benched