Video card recommendations for an E4300 1.8 ghz Core 2 Duo?

Hi all. Looking to upgrade my Hewlett Packard computer that has 1.8 ghz Core 2 Duo under the hood (as well as 3 gb of DDR2 Ram). Since this is a relatively old processor, my concerns are getting too powerful a card that will bottleneck the CPU, however, I've also read on various forums (overclock.net, etc) that video cards bottlenecking CPUs is uncommon when gaming, since the CPU is resposible for only around 20% of the load.

The kind of games I'm looking to play are Bad Company 2, Crysis, etc, running, at say, medium settings.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

(currently looking at the Radeon 1gb 4850)

Hi all. Looking to upgrade my Hewlett Packard computer that has 1.8 ghz Core 2 Duo under the hood (as well as 3 gb of DDR2 Ram). Since this is a relatively old processor, my concerns are getting too powerful a card that will bottleneck the CPU, however, I've also read on various forums (overclock.net, etc) that video cards bottlenecking CPUs is uncommon when gaming, since the CPU is resposible for only around 20% of the load.

The kind of games I'm looking to play are Bad Company 2, Crysis, etc, running, at say, medium settings.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

(currently looking at the Radeon 1gb 4850)

ipwnzthaish

the 4850 will do what you asjk a gts 250 is also a wise choice but since this is a prebuitl and one with such a poor cpu if i may make a suggestion..

how about you drop the gpu down to an hd 5670 or 6670 and sue the extra money to get your ahnds on a new cpu.. a replacement core 2 duo of a better clock speed can be ahd for a fair price..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115056

BC2 & crysis 1 would run jsut fine at smaller resolutions such as say 1440 x 900 or 1366 x 768 on medium or so.. and with that better cpu on your side you may e able to pull off high

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=666H6ZWy34c

[QUOTE="ipwnzthaish"]

Hi all. Looking to upgrade my Hewlett Packard computer that has 1.8 ghz Core 2 Duo under the hood (as well as 3 gb of DDR2 Ram). Since this is a relatively old processor, my concerns are getting too powerful a card that will bottleneck the CPU, however, I've also read on various forums (overclock.net, etc) that video cards bottlenecking CPUs is uncommon when gaming, since the CPU is resposible for only around 20% of the load.

The kind of games I'm looking to play are Bad Company 2, Crysis, etc, running, at say, medium settings.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

(currently looking at the Radeon 1gb 4850)

ionusX

the 4850 will do what you asjk a gts 250 is also a wise choice but since this is a prebuitl and one with such a poor cpu if i may make a suggestion..

how about you drop the gpu down to an hd 5670 or 6670 and sue the extra money to get your ahnds on a new cpu.. a replacement core 2 duo of a better clock speed can be ahd for a fair price..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115056

BC2 & crysis 1 would run jsut fine at smaller resolutions such as say 1440 x 900 or 1366 x 768 on medium or so.. and with that better cpu on your side you may e able to pull off high

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=666H6ZWy34c

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate it.

True that the CPU really isnt the weakest point in most games, but a 1.8Ghz C2D is too slow, would you be ready to OC the CPU?

Oc'ing the CPU over 2.5Ghz would mean it isn't a bottleneck in most games.

If you dont OC it I wouldn't reccomend you getting a HD4850/gts250/HD5750 but a lower budget card such as HD5670.

[QUOTE="ionusX"]

[QUOTE="ipwnzthaish"]

Hi all. Looking to upgrade my Hewlett Packard computer that has 1.8 ghz Core 2 Duo under the hood (as well as 3 gb of DDR2 Ram). Since this is a relatively old processor, my concerns are getting too powerful a card that will bottleneck the CPU, however, I've also read on various forums (overclock.net, etc) that video cards bottlenecking CPUs is uncommon when gaming, since the CPU is resposible for only around 20% of the load.

The kind of games I'm looking to play are Bad Company 2, Crysis, etc, running, at say, medium settings.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

(currently looking at the Radeon 1gb 4850)

the 4850 will do what you asjk a gts 250 is also a wise choice but since this is a prebuitl and one with such a poor cpu if i may make a suggestion..

how about you drop the gpu down to an hd 5670 or 6670 and sue the extra money to get your ahnds on a new cpu.. a replacement core 2 duo of a better clock speed can be ahd for a fair price..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115056

BC2 & crysis 1 would run jsut fine at smaller resolutions such as say 1440 x 900 or 1366 x 768 on medium or so.. and with that better cpu on your side you may e able to pull off high

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=666H6ZWy34c

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate it.

Just make sure that your BIOS for your computer will support the new processor if you choose to upgrade it. Also, I remember seeing a benchmark showing how CPU speed affects Crysis, I remember it being not very much. They downclocked a Core 2 Duo to about 1.6GHz coupled with a high end graphics card and still got a good framerate. As for BFBC2, that game is most likely more CPU intensive however.Marfoo

CPU does indeed make a significant difference on Crysis performance. I had a Athlon II x2 5600 2.8ghz and I got frequent dips in the 15s, with average frame being about 23fps. Now with a Phenom II X4 3.1 ghz, I only dip into the low 20s with average being about 30fps.

True that the CPU really isnt the weakest point in most games, but a 1.8Ghz C2D is too slow, would you be ready to OC the CPU?

Oc'ing the CPU over 2.5Ghz would mean it isn't a bottleneck in most games.

If you dont OC it I wouldn't reccomend you getting a HD4850/gts250/HD5750 but a lower budget card such as HD5670.

swehunt

I would really like to OC it, since I've read that E4300 is a good overclocker, but since this is a Hewlett Packard, its mobo doesn't support overclocking. Thanks for recommending the HD5670. Looks like a solid performer, and the price is right.