What would be the minimum CPU speed that would not be a
serious bottleneck when paired with a 7600 GT for gaming ?
Depends on the game, the amount of eyecandy you "need", the
resolution of the monitor, etc. Too many variable to give
any kind of line-in-the-sand sort of answer.
If you just want a generic answer that isn't entirely
applicable to all situations then maybe any Athlon 64 @ 2GHz
or P4 @ 2.8GHz, or lesser CPU if monitor resolution is
higher than 1280x1024, as that will make the card more of a
bottleneck, but frankly if gaming at higher resolution than
that, it isn't the right card for modern games.
I expect that there's really no such thing as an exact match,
but an exaggerated example may better illustrate what I'd
like to know :
E.g., the power of an FX-60 would be largely wasted for
gaming with an FX5200 card, while an 800MHz CPU wouldn't
be able to push a 6600GT to its limits. Between these
extremes, there would be a range of CPU/GPU combos where
neither would seriously hamper the other's capabilities.
Ok, but let's be serious, nobody buys a 7600GT for an 800MHz
CPU. There is no certain point really, even if the CPU is a
bit of a bottleneck there is always going to be something
that is a bottleneck, there is never a perfect match of all
parts that reach their individual peak performance at the
same time.
I would generalize that a 7600GT, AGP version, would be
overkill for an Athlon XP 2200 or slower, but any system
that slow or slower has no purpose with a slower card
either, you need more to play modern games and if the game
isnt modern, even with a faster CPU you don't need the
7600GT.
For a price-conscious gamer with a limited budget, what
range of CPUs would be a reasonable match for a 7600 GT ?
TIA.
So you want to buy a CPU today, right? What support parts
do you have, like a motherboard or memory? The best choice
for a budget which would seem about right while keeping in
mind the relative value of the 7600GT would be an Athlon 64,
4000+, as they're available at Newegg.com for about $83
right now and usually overclock to about 3GHz on air without
excessive voltage if any vcore change is needed at all.
If you can budget a bit more, and don't have the board or
memory yet, get a Core2Duo like a 6400. It's about double
the price but will have more longer term benefits for
non-gaming. If this box is only for gaming not general use,
forget the Core2Duo and get the Athlon 64 but a faster video
card like a Geforce 7900 or ATI X1950. It may depend a bit
on sales and rebates too if you like to take advantage of
those, as the CPUs aren't discounted much but the video
cards can sometimes be up to 40-50% off.
