I have a 2.2GHz Pentium 4 (512KB L2 cache) powering my Radeon X1650PRO 256MB (DDR3) in my AGP 2.0* slot. I was wondering if it's bottlenecking me because a couple of months ago, I got the X1650PRO to replace my 9600 so as to reduce lag. It still lags about the same with all of my games.....it just looks better doing it, lol. I was wondering if that could be the processor slowing me down. Can a BIOS update possibly allow you to use faster processor like it says on the ad for the new Award BIOS for my comp? Or is that just some BS they tell you to get you to but it? Cause if it doesn't, then this is the best processor that I can possibly get. My FSB is only 400MHz and according to the BIOS scanner, the fastest processor that my mobo will support is 2.4GHz *AGP 2.0 = AGP slot that only goes up to 4x bus speed
Not that much, not enough to worry about anyway, i think you should "atleast" try to overclock the cpu first.
Eheh, I think not. I don't know anything about overclocking and my BIOS look fairly constrictive for that sort of thing anyway. Not only that but i'm using the same fan i've always been using which isn't that good, perhaps I should get a better fan off Newegg anyway since mine is heavily clogged up with dust.
When you say lag, I assume you mean low framerates... So have you tried turning the gfx options down?
I'd rather I didn't have to seeing as how I payed 120$ to get a new graphics card. That's why i'm looking at other hardware upgrades so it stops lagging, I suspect that I may have accidentally ruined my RAM a little bit by touching the RAM heatsink a couple of months ago while it was on and it restarted my computer (I learned not to do that). Which would suck a lot. Then you all could give me RAM recommendations though, lol.
That CPU would cause some semi-serious bottlenecking if you ask me. To test ram, download memtest86 and let it run for a few cycles. edit: what games are you running on that system?
that cpu sounds about on par with the x1650. maybe a tad slow but nothing to talk about really. now when you say lag , as someone asked here , is it fps or ping/latency? if its a ping problem ,lag in games, a cpu wont help you let us know what your problem is and in which games dude.
Answer these three questions plz... 1. What games are you playing? 2. What resolution and settings are these games at? 3. Why do you have a 2.2ghz pent 4?!?! I will tell you before you answer these that your pent 4 is definitely causing issues. Though some games run fine on slow procs others just choke.
You're just gonna have to cut down resolution and eye candy until you get to an acceptable framerate.
1. I played BF2 but it got unplayable and it seems I would never get beyond a .62 K/D ratio. I play CS:S on rather high quality settings and it doesn't lag too much. Lately i've been playing Half-Life 1 and other games like that because I never beat it and it is impossible to lag in that game. I want to play Half-Life 2 and Deathmatch Source but they lag a lot even with the same settings as CS:S 2. BF2 is played on medium settings except for textures on high, 100% view distance, no AA, 1024x768 @ 85Hz (I play on a 15.7" CRT monitor) Half-Life is everything high with color correction enabled and Bloom Lighting played at 1024x768 @ 85Hz 3. I don't know why playing with a 2.2GHz P4 is so radical to you. Before I upgraded it to this, it was a 1.6GHz P4.
A harsh statement, yet arrogant at once. I don't think that was your origional intent, however. No matter what computer build you have, there will be some sort of proverbial bottle-neck. Yet in most cases it is impossibly minor. If you're going to call people misinformed, at least give statement to your assault rather than simple assault alone. To place a statement on the ability of his CPU to GPU performance without knowing the games he intends to play or is attempting to play, is ill advised at best. As Uncle Pappi stated: Some games favour the CPU more than others. Yet in the point I believe Aircool was trying to make, no matter what game you play, the deciding factor in the end is the GPU. That Pentium 4 of yours may be causing serious problems in newer games. A upgrade to a DDR/AGP mobo supporting the Core Duo's would make a cost effective and massive difference. Yet as I stated earlier, it all depends on what games you intend to play.
No offense to anyone who does, but buying a crappy graphics card and trying to play new games at max settings, is going to give you low framerates. I wish, more than anyone, that cheap components would let me play brand new games at 1920x1200 with 16xAA, BUT THEY DON'T. Welcome to PC gaming, and turn your gfx settings down.
