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Am I bottlenecking my GPU ?

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  • GPUs
  • Bottleneck
  • CPUs
Last response: in CPUs
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March 10, 2014 11:59:23 AM

Hello everybody !

At first i know my PC is kinda old but I can`t spend money on a new one right now so I wanna ask you guys a question. My PC specifications are:
- MB: Asus P5KPL
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 - 2.5Ghz ( Not overclocked ) with after market cooler.
- GPU: Palit GTX550Ti - 1GB DDR5; 192bit.
- RAM: 4GB DDR2 800 Mhz
- PSU: Antec EA-500D GREEN
And I wanna ask you guys, is my CPU bottlenecking my GPU ? I`m having like 30-40 FPS in games like GTA IV, Assassin`s creed: Revelations, Saints row: The third. I checked how my components are working and usually when I`ve got low fps my GPU is sticking at around 50-60% usage and my CPU is usually around 60-70% usage. When I`ve got higher FPS my GPU is working at higher usage like 80-98 and sometimes 99%. Oh and by the way I tried lowering the graphics settings in these games, but no matter if they`re maxed out or not, highest or lowest resolution, i`m getting all the same FPS.

More about : bottlenecking gpu

a b à CPUs
March 10, 2014 12:03:21 PM

Your CPU should be fine for current gen games. The GPU just doesn't give you that much power.
That CPU usage is typical, your GPU usage should usually be 99% in game.

Even upgrading to a current card your CPU/GPU usage should stay about the same, with an increase in FPS. The 750ti would be a good upgrade for you.
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March 10, 2014 12:49:29 PM

mf Red said:
Your CPU should be fine for current gen games. The GPU just doesn't give you that much power.
That CPU usage is typical, your GPU usage should usually be 99% in game.

Even upgrading to a current card your CPU/GPU usage should stay about the same, with an increase in FPS. The 750ti would be a good upgrade for you.


So, is there any way i can make my GPU give more power and increase my FPS ? Cause it`s really annoyoing playing with that low fps, I don`t think this GPU is that bad and I think i should be getting more FPS.
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a b à CPUs
March 10, 2014 1:27:39 PM

try another version driver? try with old driver, or the new one. any different? or maybe you can put your VGA to your friend system that have a better system than Core 2 Quad. if the card get better FPS from your friend system, maybe the CPU holding back the GPU.
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March 10, 2014 1:33:17 PM

Erman Yudhistira said:
try another version driver? try with old driver, or the new one. any different? or maybe you can put your VGA to your friend system that have a better system than Core 2 Quad. if the card get better FPS from your friend system, maybe the CPU holding back the GPU.


I tried putting the GPU into an i5 2500k system and it was doing good, that`s why i`m asking if i`m bottlenecking, cause my CPU is actually not even going to the 80%, so i don`t think it`s a bottneck but it looks like it is. I`m very confused and i`m not sure what to do.
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a b à CPUs
March 10, 2014 1:35:15 PM

The 550ti is pretty dated by now. GPUs have come a long way since that generation card. CPUs have not come as far, and will be a more expensive upgrade because you'll need a new motherboard/RAM to go with a new CPU. That CPU can run a new card pretty well. So the cheapest upgrade option would be a new video card. Like I mentioned the 750ti will be a big improvement.
Some benchmarks for you to check out that will reiterate my point:
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1133?vs=1130
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March 10, 2014 1:38:45 PM

mf Red said:
The 550ti is pretty dated by now. GPUs have come a long way since that generation card. CPUs have not come as far, and will be a more expensive upgrade because you'll need a new motherboard/RAM to go with a new CPU. That CPU can run a new card pretty well. So the cheapest upgrade option would be a new video card. Like I mentioned the 750ti will be a big improvement.
Some benchmarks for you to check out that will reiterate my point:
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1133?vs=1130


Alright. Except the upgrade of the GPU there`s something strange as I mentioned earlier and that`s the a lot better FPS on my friend`s PC which has i5 2500k, if i`m not bottlenecking why`s the better FPS on his PC ?
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a b à CPUs
March 10, 2014 1:45:35 PM

i5 is a better processor. Games are not CPU dependent the majority of use cases. It may have given you better FPS, but replacing your CPU/MOBO/RAM is going to be a 350-500$ upgrade, which won't give you very big frame increases(maybe 5-25% better) if you keep using the 550ti. If you get a 750ti you'll see a 50-100% frame increase with the same CPU for about 160$.

Just trying to save you money here dude. If you want and can afford you might upgrade to Haswell, but its not going to give you big gains unless you upgrade your aging GPU as well.
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a b à CPUs
March 10, 2014 3:21:51 PM

what if changing the GPU to GTX 750Ti and still remain the same problem? 550Ti should get 50-60 FPS for GTA IV. my friend have the same issued with GTX 260. the problem is from the driver and the bios. before upgrade the bios, the PCI-E only run at 8x, not 16X.
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a b à CPUs
March 10, 2014 3:39:52 PM

PCIe x8 vs 16 shouldn't make much of a difference for a lower tier card like that.

If that's the case though you might check your bios settings Chris.
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March 11, 2014 4:08:51 AM

mf Red said:
PCIe x8 vs 16 shouldn't make much of a difference for a lower tier card like that.

If that's the case though you might check your bios settings Chris.


My old CPU was Intel Core 2Duo E7200 and I upgraded it to Q9300 like a month ago. With the upgrade i downloaded and updated with the newest bios there is for my motherboard.
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a b à CPUs
March 11, 2014 10:29:15 AM

That's good, but what Erman is suggesting is that you've got your PCIe lanes set to x8 and not x16. If that's the case you'd be running at half the bandwidth of what is possible. Does the 550ti push that bandwidth? I doubt it, but it may help and is worth looking into.

And again, if you just upgraded to a quad core proc you won't be gaining much by moving to the i5 or i7. They are faster, but not by much... and they aren't the most important factor when it comes to gaming. Put a 750ti in there it will be a worthwhile upgrade.
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March 11, 2014 10:38:45 AM

mf Red said:
That's good, but what Erman is suggesting is that you've got your PCIe lanes set to x8 and not x16. If that's the case you'd be running at half the bandwidth of what is possible. Does the 550ti push that bandwidth? I doubt it, but it may help and is worth looking into.

And again, if you just upgraded to a quad core proc you won't be gaining much by moving to the i5 or i7. They are faster, but not by much... and they aren't the most important factor when it comes to gaming. Put a 750ti in there it will be a worthwhile upgrade.


Here`s what it looks like. I don`t think it`s half the bandwidth.
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a b à CPUs
March 11, 2014 11:15:38 AM

you have 7,2GPixel/s of pixel fillrate. the other Palit GTX550Ti are 21-24 GPixel/s (average). does PCI-E 2.0 are much greater than 1.1?
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March 11, 2014 11:22:00 AM

Erman Yudhistira said:
you have 7,2GPixel/s of pixel fillrate. the other Palit GTX550Ti are 21-24 GPixel/s (average). does PCI-E 2.0 are much greater than 1.1?


It`s actually GPU-Z version bug. Here`s my specs with other version.
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