Over-clocking graphics cards

[TC_at_the_pc]

Does a program like Powerstrip (Entech Taiwan), work with emulators? In other words, will it reduce slowdown for graphics-intensive games running in an emulator, or does over-clocking only work on games like Half-Life2 and Doom?
I'm assuming that emualtors that rely on software coding to emulate graphics aren't taking advantage of a graphic card's chipset and therefore, overclocking the card might not have any effect.
I'd like to know before I make an investment.
Or perhaps I should just ditch the GeForce4 and get a better card?
P.S. Why do so many retail games say "GeForce4 not supported" on the box? Why not? I guess this is what happens when I purchase a low-end computer (emachine) in order to save money.

[t0rek]

Your specs shows that you have a Geforce 4. But is a MXxxx or a TIxxxx ?
Overclocking will work in all graphic aplications, that include emulators. If your card doesn't support pixel shaders, I recommend you to get a new one, a good Geforce 6600 GT will be fine.

[revl8er]

Basically most games now adays need a decent gfx card to run. Most Geforce4 gfx cards are not up to the standards of these new games. Like Torek says, a 6600GT would be just fine.

[ScottJC]

Depends on which emulator you speak of, if its an N64 emulator, well I don't think it would make much difference since that is mostly CPU usage... maybe it might help in an insignificant way with some effects like motion blur; (jabos plugin and MM).

Remember, your computer is only as slow as your slowest component, it might improve Half life 2, but then again it might not. Personally I think you might be better buying yourself a christmas pressie of a decent $100 (or £) graphics card... that will improve your graphics capability much more than anything you could do to your Geforce 4 no matter what type.

[TerraPhantm]

He says his computer is low-end, so I'm going to assume its an MX something. I would think PJ64 is more cpu limited then gpu limited, but I might be mistaken. Overclocking helps in all 3dapps that aren't being bottlenecked by the CPU.

[TC_at_the_pc]

My computer is equipped with an AMD Sempron (I was told it was really last year's Duron only that the Ghz was increased a bit). The graphics card has an MX designation, so Geforce4MX. Doom 3 can run on it, but nothing new, like the FPS Fear(?) from Sony. I guess I should jus' bite the bullet and get a better card (Merry Christmas to me ).

The higher-end machines in the store (especially the AlienWare ones), were running Athlon CPUs (Today, I just saw a TV ad for Dual Intel Processors - "Dual?" - Terminator 2 anyone?) and had the better graphics cards, but since I haven't won the lottery yet, I had to settle for a lower-priced, bargain-kinda rig. I figured I could always add to it later.

Thanks again for all your help and responses.

I would really love one of those AlienWare setups tho'. The sheer power. I bet the lights dim when you turn it on. Anyone have one of those comps? What are you using (What work's best for you, especially for emulation)? Appreciate any help.

[t0rek]

Alienware setups are always excellent but they are ver very expensive. You can always build a PC and be equal or just faster than an Alienware, and it will be a lot cheaper. But since you seem to know just a little about tech stuff, I recommend everybody to have am Athlon 64 based PC, with a PCI-E graphic card, like the mentioned Geforce 6600GT and 1Gb of PC3200 RAM. Add a HDD as big as you need, and DVD-RW drive, and the keyboard, mouse, speakers and stuff you prefer. With a PC like that yo won't have problems with emulation...

[ShizZy]

No need for PCI-E, but everything else t0rek said was fine. You can even step down to 512mb of ram, that's plenty for most games on the market.

[ScottJC]

No need for PCI-E, but everything else t0rek said was fine. You can even step down to 512mb of ram, that's plenty for most games on the market.

Actually, no it isn't anymore, 1gb is the absolute minimum if you want to play most games. Sure you could do with 512mb but your hard drive would be going constantly loading game data in between memory and the cpu, real pain in the arse. You need the memory to load the game textures and 3d models.

Plus with 512mb you have no hope in hell of being able to play Battlefield 2 /Far Cry on the high settings and its only going to get worse, i've future-proofed myself by going to 2gb. Your OS will also run much faster with more ram. I couldn't even run BF2 smoothly on high with 1gb of memory! with 2gb it is smooth as silk, badly coded games says I.

[t0rek]

No need for PCI-E, but everything else t0rek said was fine. You can even step down to 512mb of ram, that's plenty for most games on the market.

1 Gb is recommended. You can play with 512 Mb, however there's some loading times around, it's not a pain in the ass, but I'll be be better with 1 Gb. PCI-E is better, not because the performance, it is because is more easier to get a PCI-E based card and motherboards supporting them have better chipsets.