Anyone playing games with a high-end video card on a low-end system?

[Ant]

Hello!

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory)
run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is
overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
current/newest games like Crysis (see http://pastebin.ca/884075 for
Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS
average), etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My
detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (primary computer).

Thank you in advance.
--
"Really. And do these lions eat ants?" --John Cleese in Monty Python's
Flying Circus
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[Sir-Les-MP]

Hello!

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory)
run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is
overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
current/newest games like Crysis (see http://pastebin.ca/884075 for
Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS
average), etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My
detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (primary
computer).

Thank you in advance.

You may find your memory is also part of the problem
i looked at your system specs and noticied you are running 2 x 512
sticks and 1 x 1024 stick
Running the memory in this config means you are not making use of the
double data rate you get when running them in pair's
you would get better performance if you were to run 2 x 1024Mb sticks or
even 4 x 512Mb sticks

However changing your card to one of the newer Nvidia 8800 models will
increase your fps by a good bit if your getting extreamly low fps after
that then your CPU will be the main bottleneck

 

[Ant]

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of
memory) run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing
is overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA
(0X), and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X
anisotropic, etc.). It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion,
C&C3, Orange Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so
well with current/newest games like Crysis (see
http://pastebin.ca/884075 for Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks),
World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS average), etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games.
My detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (primary
computer).

Thank you in advance.

You may find your memory is also part of the problem
i looked at your system specs and noticied you are running 2 x 512
sticks and 1 x 1024 stick
Running the memory in this config means you are not making use of the
double data rate you get when running them in pair's
you would get better performance if you were to run 2 x 1024Mb sticks or
even 4 x 512Mb sticks

However changing your card to one of the newer Nvidia 8800 models will
increase your fps by a good bit if your getting extreamly low fps after
that then your CPU will be the main bottleneck

How much FPS am I expecting from a high-end video card like a 8800 GT on
my low-end system? 30 FPS more? I hope it's not a measely 5 FPS. I can't
get both CPU and GPU upgrades at this time. So I am trying to figure out
which upgrade would be the hit for the newer games. I am not planning to
get Vista, so Vista's DirectX 10 is irrevelant to me at this time.
--
"We are anthill men upon an anthill world." --Ray Bradbury
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\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Ant]

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of
memory) run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing
is overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA
(0X), and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X
anisotropic, etc.). It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion,
C&C3, Orange Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so
well with current/newest games like Crysis (see
http://pastebin.ca/884075 for Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks),
World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS average), etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games.
My detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (primary
computer).

You may find your memory is also part of the problem
i looked at your system specs and noticied you are running 2 x 512
sticks and 1 x 1024 stick
Running the memory in this config means you are not making use of the
double data rate you get when running them in pair's
you would get better performance if you were to run 2 x 1024Mb sticks or
even 4 x 512Mb sticks

How much speed loss did I have? 50%? Are you saying my games would be
two times faster than this memory setup? Non-gaming seems OK to me (fast
enough for me).
--
"For me, the smartest animal's a pigeon." "Huh?" "1,000 cars on the
turnpike, they find mine." "My vote goes to the ants." "How do you
figure that?" "Know those farms they build? They build those things
without plans. To ants! For all you do, this one's for you." --Cheers
(unknown episode)
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\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
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Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Ant]

My brain doesn't remember well. I got the FPS wrong for World in
Conlict. I ran the benchmark and got the results:

Resolution: 1280*1024
Detail Level: High
Average fps: 20
Min fps: 8
Max fps: 29
TotalFrames: 1018

Hello!

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory)
run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is
overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
current/newest games like Crysis (see http://pastebin.ca/884075 for
Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS
average), etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My
detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (primary
computer).

Thank you in advance.

--
"I don't know how good ants are at swimmin', but I'd be willing to bet
that a good fire'd get their attention." --MacGyver in Trumbo's World
episode
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Conor]

How much FPS am I expecting from a high-end video card like a 8800 GT on
my low-end system? 30 FPS more? I hope it's not a measely 5 FPS. I can't
get both CPU and GPU upgrades at this time. So I am trying to figure out
which upgrade would be the hit for the newer games. I am not planning to
get Vista, so Vista's DirectX 10 is irrevelant to me at this time.

Well I run a X2 4800 with 7800GT but I have 2GB RAM and it flies like a
bastard.

--
Conor

As a Brit I'd like to thank the Americans for their help in the war
against terror because if they'd not funded the IRA for 30 years, we
wouldn't know how to deal with terrorists.

 

[James]

My brain doesn't remember well. I got the FPS wrong for World in
Conlict. I ran the benchmark and got the results:

Resolution: 1280*1024
Detail Level: High
Average fps: 20
Min fps: 8
Max fps: 29
TotalFrames: 1018

Hello!

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory)
run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is
overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
current/newest games like Crysis (seehttp://pastebin.ca/884075for
Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS
average), etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My
detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt(primary
computer).

I'm not running Crysis or World in Conflict, but I am running
Battlefield 2 and Half Life 2 in 1600x1200 mode with not maxed out
settings but 4x aa, and most detail set to high. I run an older CPU
(3.2 Xeon) and an X850XT(256 MB), and 2GB of dual channel RAM. I get
frame rates of between 50 - 70 in BF2, and while I haven't benchmarked
it with Half Life 2, they are more than acceptable in single player
mode. Call of Duty 4 demo also plays well at 1600x1200 with most
detail high.

As another poster said, I'd really look at your RAM. My system is
roughly comparable in processor, older slower video card with less
VRAM, and I still get high frame rates.

James

 

[Ant]

Well I run a X2 4800 with 7800GT but I have 2GB RAM and it flies like a
bastard.

What newest games (not old ones) do you play and what type of settings
(e.g., resolution, everything cranked up?) do you use?
--
"Number fourteen. The naughty bits of an ant." --Monty Python's Flying
Circus
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\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
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Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Ant]

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory)
run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is
overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).
I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
current/newest games like Crysis (seehttp://pastebin.ca/884075for
Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS
average), etc.
Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My
detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt(primary
computer).

I'm not running Crysis or World in Conflict, but I am running
Battlefield 2 and Half Life 2 in 1600x1200 mode with not maxed out
settings but 4x aa, and most detail set to high. I run an older CPU
(3.2 Xeon) and an X850XT(256 MB), and 2GB of dual channel RAM. I get
frame rates of between 50 - 70 in BF2, and while I haven't benchmarked
it with Half Life 2, they are more than acceptable in single player
mode. Call of Duty 4 demo also plays well at 1600x1200 with most
detail high.

As another poster said, I'd really look at your RAM. My system is
roughly comparable in processor, older slower video card with less
VRAM, and I still get high frame rates.

Those games you mentioned run fine on my machine as well. BF2 is very
smooth, but it's an old game.
--
"After World War III, the ants will still be around." --unknown
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\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
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Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Robert McCurdy]

Does anyone here know why Nvidia have removed a much used function for the
secondary display?
Or know of a way around it?

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...std_adp.php?p_faqid=2011&p_created=1169076830


Just bought myself a lovely fully featured custom built computer with most
of the best stuff, included was the Geforce 8800gt and much to my
disappointment it didn't do what my Geforce2 could in the old computer.

I feel like someone who just won a nice summer holiday to Venus!
What were they thinking?
The card is now virtually useless - I don't use it to play games - I wish to
use it to make videos, via archiving my huge VHS tape collection on to DVD.
Something I did mention to the boffins I bought the puter from.


Regards
Robert McCurdy

 

[Ant]

Does anyone here know why Nvidia have removed a much used function for
the secondary display?
Or know of a way around it?

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...std_adp.php?p_faqid=2011&p_created=1169076830

Just bought myself a lovely fully featured custom built computer with
most of the best stuff, included was the Geforce 8800gt and much to my
disappointment it didn't do what my Geforce2 could in the old computer.

I feel like someone who just won a nice summer holiday to Venus!
What were they thinking?
The card is now virtually useless - I don't use it to play games - I
wish to use it to make videos, via archiving my huge VHS tape collection
on to DVD. Something I did mention to the boffins I bought the puter from.

Return the card, get a lower end video card like a GeForce 6800 since
you don't play games. 7xxx has its, but its aspect ratio is all wrong!
You can see all the complaints in NVIDIA's forum like
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=49636&st=0 ...

BTW, shouldn't this be a new newsgroup thread, not a reply to my thread?
--
"News Headline: Ants Take A Long Time To Cook In Microwave" --unknown
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[Robert McCurdy]

BTW, shouldn't this be a new newsgroup thread, not a reply to my thread?

It is a new thread! (I'm not sure what a 'new newsgroup thread is - do I
need to create one?)

Thanks thou for the reply - I did write there as well


Regards
Robert McCurdy

 

[Paul]

It is a new thread! (I'm not sure what a 'new newsgroup thread is - do
I need to create one?)

Thanks thou for the reply - I did write there as well


Regards
Robert McCurdy

Examine the header of the message you sent. Yours has a "References" section,
something that gets included when you hit the "Reply" button in your
news reader.

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia/msg/b79f759fe2e252a4?dmode=source

Notice how the original posting in the thread, has no references. And
thus, has started a "new thread".

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia/msg/49113592bd4de593?dmode=source

What you did, might be referred to as "hijacking".

To prepare a new message, don't use the "Reply" button.

You can view the full thread here, complete with subject change part way down.
Click "Options" (upper right hand corner) and select "View as Tree" for a more
dramatic effect.

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.c..._frm/thread/9b18d743b4c42b4f/49113592bd4de593

Paul

 

[Conor]

What newest games (not old ones) do you play and what type of settings
(e.g., resolution, everything cranked up?) do you use?

Quake Wars Enemy Territory and Unreal Tournament 3. All on 1360x768
(Widescreen LCD TV) and all on High. Not benchmarked them but there's
no lag.

--
Conor

As a Brit I'd like to thank the Americans for their help in the war
against terror because if they'd not funded the IRA for 30 years, we
wouldn't know how to deal with terrorists.

 

[Rene]

Hello!

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how high-end
video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory) run on
low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is overclocked)
with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
current/newest games like Crysis (see http://pastebin.ca/884075 for Crysis
v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS average),
etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI or
NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the bottleneck
is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My detailed
computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (primary
computer).

Thank you in advance.

Fwiw, I have an Athlon 3000 (32-bit) and used to have an 6800GT. In Stalker
this gave me a slide show, it was completely unplayable, maybe 2 or 3 fps.
Then I bought the fastest AGP card available, the 7950GT with 512 MB and I
could put many options to the highest setting, iirc the "dynamic lightning"
was the killer for the 6800, on the 7950 it was no problem at all, I don't
know how many fps I got then but it was enough, I saw no flickering
whatsoever.
I think this card is as much overkill for my cpu as the one You would like
to buy is to Your cpu.
But again, I don't have any numbers, so take the "fwiw" very literally.
Perhaps You can buy the card in a store that will refund Your money if it is
not enough improvement?

Good luck and please report back Your plans/outcomes, I am curious.

Yours sincerely,
Rene

 

[Mr.E Solved!]

Hello!

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory)
run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is
overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
current/newest games like Crysis (see http://pastebin.ca/884075 for
Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS
average), etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My
detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (primary
computer).

Thank you in advance.

This is what review sites are for: testing various hardware combinations
with various games to get FPS results. All you will get here is anecdote
and singular opinion and only if you are lucky, links to various CPU
scaling articles.

And as luck has it:

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=672

^ CPU Scaling with an 8800

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/246891-33-scaling-question-3870-8800gt-purchase-decision

^ Single core CPU user thinking about an 8800 upgrade

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/77909774/m/196007148831

^ More CPU scaling discussion, but with Intel dual core cpus.


The point is, which you already know, the fastest cards can't handle the
most demanding gaming tasks today, and yesterday's cards are more than
adequate for all the other titles. Why give any attention to Crysis,
when it can't be run as intended with any combination of available
hardware? Wait.

 

[Ant]

How much FPS am I expecting from a high-end video card like a 8800 GT on

Quake Wars Enemy Territory and Unreal Tournament 3. All on 1360x768
(Widescreen LCD TV) and all on High. Not benchmarked them but there's
no lag.

Yeah, I had no problems with those games too. Smooth enough for me at
1280x1024 with everything cranked up except FSAA. Now, try Crysis and
World in Conflict games. Demos exist so...
--
"I used to own an ant farm but had to give it up. I couldn't find
tractors small enough to fit it." --Steven Wright
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| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
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( )

 

[James]

Yeah, I had no problems with those games too. Smooth enough for me at
1280x1024 with everything cranked up except FSAA. Now, try Crysis and
World in Conflict games. Demos exist so...

I will try CRYSIS and run FRAPs to give me a speed. Doubt it will be
fast, given my X850 XT. But it is better than minimum spec.

James

 

[Ant]

Hello!

I cannot seem to find benchmarks, articles, stories, etc. on how
high-end video cards (e.g., NVIDIA 8800 GT with 512 or so MB of memory)
run on low-end systems like an Athlon 4600+ X2 system (nothing is
overclocked) with Windows XP Pro. SP2 (IE6.0 SP2 and all updates).

I am currently using a EVGA eForce 7950 GT KO (512 MB; PCIe) with
1280x1024 native resolution (hate going lower due to stretching option
that look like crap on LCD monitors via VGA connections), no FSAA (0X),
and eveything at the maximum (details, features, 16X anisotropic, etc.).
It does almost fine for older games like Oblivion, C&C3, Orange
Box/Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, etc. However, not so well with
current/newest games like Crysis (see http://pastebin.ca/884075 for
Crysis v1.1's island GPU benchmarks), World in Conflict (I think 11 FPS
average), etc.

Is it still OK for me to get a faster video card (one of the newer ATI
or NVIDIA cards [8800 GT?]) on my old system? I don't know if the
bottleneck is my CPU, video card (GPU), or both for the newer games. My
detailed computer specifications can be found here:
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (primary
computer).

Thank you in advance.

This is what review sites are for: testing various hardware combinations
with various games to get FPS results. All you will get here is anecdote
and singular opinion and only if you are lucky, links to various CPU
scaling articles.

Well, I couldn't find any with an old Athlon 64 X2 systems.

And as luck has it:

^ CPU Scaling with an 8800

Old games though. All of those worked fine on my current system.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/246891-33-scaling-question-3870-8800gt-purchase-decision

^ Single core CPU user thinking about an 8800 upgrade

Yeah, but I have a X2 (dual core). I didn't see anything interesting in
that thread and FiringSquad article.

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/77909774/m/196007148831

^ More CPU scaling discussion, but with Intel dual core cpus.

Interesting. I always thought lower resolutions were supposed to help
FPS, not make it worse. Hence, why I am using a 19" LCD monitor due to
lack of space and to keep my FPS higher than say 1600x1200 resolution.
If this is the case, then my CPU is a bottleneck on my current system.

The point is, which you already know, the fastest cards can't handle the
most demanding gaming tasks today, and yesterday's cards are more than
adequate for all the other titles. Why give any attention to Crysis,
when it can't be run as intended with any combination of available
hardware? Wait.

There were other games too like Tabula Rasa MMOG (late beta days). I
had to crank their details down.
--
"I used to own an ant farm but had to give it up. I couldn't find
tractors small enough to fit it." --Steven Wright
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[Ant]

How much FPS am I expecting from a high-end video card like a 8800 GT on

I will try CRYSIS and run FRAPs to give me a speed. Doubt it will be
fast, given my X850 XT. But it is better than minimum spec.

You don't need FRAPS. Crysis has its own benchmarks. Look for gpu.bat or
something in Crysis' bin32 folder/directory.
--
"I used to own an ant farm but had to give it up. I couldn't find
tractors small enough to fit it." --Steven Wright
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail.
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