Determining PC version bottleneck

[Scream]

Is there a way to determine whether my CPU or my video card is causing the sluggishness I'm experiencing? It seems to speed up quite a bit if I turn the crowd to LOW.

My specs:

WinXP SP2
AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+ (2860 MhZ)
2 Gigs Memory
Nvidia Geforce 8500 GT 512 memory

Thanks for any assistance.

[nccomicfan]

IMHO, it's your 8500 GT...I run a steady and smooth 50-60 fps at all times(sometimes a little higher) with a X2 5000+, 3gb and a 9800 GT(with Vista)

edit: should mention that's with everything high and 4x AA

[serialmike]

Yep video card is weak like there. Nvidia the second number is the big deal.

For instance a 7800 GT will crush an 8500 gt. The 500 series is a weaker line.

[Scream]

Thanks for the info. I've been out of touch for a while. I noticed the 9800's have come down in price. Ranging from $150 down to $99 for "Sparkle" brand. For the price, are 9800's still a good card to get or is there bigger..better...faster..cards in that price range?