Frame rates and tweaking

[Tharn]

You don't quite understand. The only ADVANTAGE a 5200 has over the old generation 4200 (even the 64MB, 4x AGP version, like I had!) is DirectX 9 handling. Outside of that, it will perform WORSE in EVERY game compared to a 4x AGP 64MB Ti4200.

Oh, I do. I posted it to help him identify the real cause, although I agree it's most probably the graphics card. That's because:
- he's getting 8 fps in raids (with 512 MB this IS most likely limited by RAM)
- his framerate didn't improve much when he went down to 800x600 (but no numbers, so hard to judge)
Which would indicate it's not the fillrate, but CPU/vertex shader or Darkcrown is oversensitive to low framerates (no pun intended, just your eyes demand it and health goes first).

I only didn't realize 5200 was SUCH a crap (the Ti series was OTOH very good for it's time). What I recall, FX series have awful pixel shader, but I didn't hear any complaints on vertex shader. I unfortunately don't know any benchmarks for this.

If that's the case, his FX5200 is crap of the craps and he could do well buying second-hand Ti4x00 for a few bucks. Of the above benchmarks you listed is one of the most representative UT2K4 which has scores:
FX5200 46.8
FX5200U 61.4
Ti4200 85.9
Ti4600 99.5
I'm not sure what the U there means (higher clock of core and memory, but no idea if it's really overclocked or not), but the 4600 could be budget savior. Of course with more cash at hand, 6600 or 6800 is much better (depending on resolution and AA/AF you want to have).

Likewise, a 128MB card versus a 256MB card that costs $100 more, with both having a 256-bit bus, may just be worth the extra money or it may not be. This is where viewing the benchmarks come into play. On the other hand, a 256MB card costing $100 more than a 128MB card, when both share a 128-bit bus, is almost certainly NOT worth any extra money, simply because the added RAM, while costing a bundle more, will offer virtually no performance gains because it will be bottlenecked in the bus.

RAM and bus speed are two different things. While I agree that instead of buying 256 MB 6600 it's better to buy 128 MB 6800 at the same price point, higher texture memory allows you to play games two years later with larger and more detailed textures without computer having to load it via AGP/PCIe. However, it's only worth it when the price difference is not too high (which it usually is as at the high end) and/or you think you'll stick with your card longer.