Will a Q8400 bottleneck a GTX 780?

Lolpingu

Honorable
Jul 23, 2014
36
0
10,530
i finally have the budget to buy a more up to date card, to replace my HD 6850. The GTX 780 seems like an excellent card for the ~400 euros that I'm willing to spend on it... except there's a problem - I'm limited by an old Q8400, and I'm afraid that it will bottleneck a GTX 780 which would mean that installing it would be a huge waste of money.
Will the GTX 780 get bottlenecked by the Q8400? if so, what card would be substantially better than my HD 6850 WITHOUT bottlenecking the Q8400, and manage to handle a game like Watch Dogs on higher settings? That's basically what I'm shooting for. Also, I game at 1024x1280, if that helps somehow.
 
Solution

Xtinction

Reputable
Mar 21, 2014
59
0
4,660
Yes, my ati 7870XT was bottlenecked by my q9550, so your's will be too. This is very game-dependent though. Neverwinter nights is severely CPU limited, while Tomb Raider is not (from my own experience at least). Sorry for the bad news :p Unfortunately, you gaming at lower resolution doesn't help, your framerate will be limited by your processor, regardless of the resolution or detail settings.

What you should do is get a second hand 2500k or 3570k and motherboard and get a weaker card, like a 760.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
Most games are heavily dependent on single-threaded performance and at 3GHz, the Core2 has just enough processing power to give a HD5750-5770 somewhat of a workout in relatively lightweight games.

If you want to drive a GTX780 for what it is worth, you will need an i5-4xxx, FX-8320 or better.
 
Yes. I don't see how a Q8400 keeps up with a gtx 780. Anything less than the a fx 6300 will probably seriously bottleneck the card. With that being said, gtx 780 would still perform better than 6850 would being bottleneck to about half usage. The best card I can recommend for your processor is gtx 750ti/ r7 260x. At 1280x1024, there is simply no need for a card like the gtx 780 anyways. A gtx 750 ti will max everything at that resolution.
 

Lolpingu

Honorable
Jul 23, 2014
36
0
10,530


Just my luck.. an i5 + a 760 doesn't seem like a terrible option, though. Both together are actually cheaper than a single 780 and likely provide a higher boost to overall performance. Or at least it wouldn't be if it weren't for the fact that, to install an i5, I'll need to throw out my old motherboard, and with it, the 8 gigs of DDR3 ram that it holds. Count out a case, a PSU and maybe a cooling unit, and that's basically buying an entirely new CPU. I guess a gaming rig is only as strong as it's weakest link, sadly enough.

What's the cheapest motherboard that will hold a 3570k?



That.. changes things! If I'm gunning for a 750 ti, I might actually be able to get the 750 ti, a 3570k, a new motherboard and 8 gigs of ram without straying too far off the original 400 or so euro mark. The question is, that's the cheapest motherboard that will support an i5?
 

oxiide

Distinguished


The same Neverwinter Nights that was released in 2002? I'm thinking that might not be the best game to hold up as an example.
 


Probably the MSI Z77A-G41of the top of my head.
 
Solution

oxiide

Distinguished


If you mean 1280x1024, skip the GTX 780. Your HD 6850 is already capable of framerates far in excess of your monitor's refresh rate in most games. You don't even need a 780 at a mainstream 1920x1080 resolution; that's a card best-suited to 1440p. Why not spend about the same to pick up a cheap 1080p monitor and a Radeon R9 280 or 280X?

More to the point, if you're spending so much on a video card capable of 300 FPS at your resolution, yeah, you're definitely going to hit a CPU limitation.
 

Lolpingu

Honorable
Jul 23, 2014
36
0
10,530
Thanks for the help, everyone.
It seems that I'm getting a GTX 750 TI, an i5 3570k, a Z77A-G1 and 8 gigs of DDR3 ram in the end, which is much better than the one 780 that I originally intended to buy. The i5 should set me up for future GPU replacements, and the 750 should be sufficient for gaming with my tiny screen.
 

Xtinction

Reputable
Mar 21, 2014
59
0
4,660
My mistake, I meant the MMO, I accidentally typed "nights" :p It's just Neverwinter, I remember that game destroying my q9550 :p

BTW If you're buying new, you might as well invest in a haswell (4670k). The price difference between 3570 new and 4670 new is barely noticable. So either go for second hand 3570k or new 4670k.

And you're right, this is a "weakest link" case. I had to do the same upgrade a while ago, ended up with a 2500K + ram + mobo for about 200 euros. Overclocked the hell out of it and now its all running smoothly.
 

oxiide

Distinguished


I'd actually go with the even newer Core i5-4690K. Only $5 more than the -4670K on Newegg, easily worth it for superior thermal performance.

Agreed on the i5-3570K… no need to buy older hardware unless you're getting a really good deal on it. Newegg still lists the -3570K for $229, which is wayyy too close to the newer stuff.