eVGA 8800GTS and Bottlenecking

[TWiTCHY]

Hi, guys! I'm fairly new to these forums!

By reading through the forums, I can tell the majority of you guys are experts at all-things computers - so I'll ask my question here

I've recently purchased an eVGA 8800GTS for my Dell XPS Gen 4 (ugh, Dell manufactured computers...) and I've been pretty bummed out. After upgrading to this card from an x850xt pe, I expected optimal performance at any game I threw at it. I did see better quality in games like FEAR and Oblivion, but it's now what I expected.

The PSU I currently have is a Dell XPS Power Supply, running at 460 watts with an unknown amperage on the 12v rails. But I did find a particular piece of information on the PSU's label. All it said after the wattage was "OUTPUT: 36 amps." I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with the 12v rails, but I may be wrong - leave it to the experts

After searching on Google, another person did the exact same thing as I did - purchase an 8800GTS and stick it in his stock Dell XPS Gen X. In his 3D Mark '06 benchmarks, he was getting lower results than other users with better components - mainly the CPU. Members of the forum replied saying that his Intel P4 Prescot 3.2GHz was bottlenecking the GPU from delivering optimal performance. I have an Intel P4 3.6GHz CPU running at stock speeds. (Link to the thread: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread184121.html)

I want to confirm with you guys if the CPU or PSU (or even both) is causing me to get near-terrible performance on the 8800GTS than it should be.

I'm going to make some purchases soon - if you guys say the bottleneck is coming from the CPU, I'll get ready for the purchase of an E6600.

If it's the power supply, I'll have to totally revamp my enclosure and power supply, as ATX power supplies aren't compatible with the XPS Gen case. Based off of consumer reviews, I'll be going with the Antec Nine Hundred - I've yet to choose a single rail PSU at a suitable price for it's performance.

Well, who is it? Kill the CPU or PSU?

Thanks!

Additional Specs:
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.60GHz w/ HTT enabled
Memory: 2GB DDR2 RAM (533MHz)
Hard Drive: 79 GB / 7,200 RPM + 70 GB / 10,000 RPM
Video Card: EVGA 8800GTS 640MB (stock speeds)
Monitor: Westinghouse 22" LCM-22w2 (1680x1050)
Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2

 

[UAL3312]

to be honest, im not really 2 sure............. im thinking your PSU is a little low on power and your Processor is a little elderly. you may want to think of dumping the system and grabbing a new one, or if you can live with the one you have, wait for the next line of processors from AMD/Intel they should be off the line in 6-8 months give or take.

 

[UAL3312]

btw twitch, do you live in colorado? i know someone that i nicknamed Twitch and my friend calls him Twitchy. and he also has a Dell XPS.

 

[Mr_Bluntman]

Scrap the NetBust. See if your setup is compatible with core number numeral processors and drop in at least an E6400 to see some benefit from your pricey kit, and while you are at it contact Dell for an appropriate upgrade for your PSU AND mention you're using an 8800 GTS with your machine since they use proprietary designs.

It's always best to create a balanced system so you have the least problems and are getting the most out of your hardware.

 

[TWiTCHY]

So to summarize that up, you're saying to get rid of the new case idea if Dell has a better power supply made for my model, and buy at least an E6400 or anything higher than that to "rid" the bottlenecking?

(Nope, I live in Washington )

 

[UAL3312]

dang

 

[locky28]

You need a new CPU, that P4 is what's holding you back so ring dell and find out of your model is compatible with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and if it is buy one.

 

[TWiTCHY]

Nah, I'm pretty sure it will work. I opened up my computer several times to see that the thermal paste on the heatsink and processor were horribly applied. Next to the processor's socket I saw LGA 775, so yeah, I'm pretty sure it'll work

 

[sirheck]

its not your psu.

must be your cpu.

 

[p8ntslinger676]

Nah, I'm pretty sure it will work. I opened up my computer several times to see that the thermal paste on the heatsink and processor were horribly applied. Next to the processor's socket I saw LGA 775, so yeah, I'm pretty sure it'll work

just because it is an LGA 775 socketed mobo does not mean that it is Core 2 compatible, check and see if you can flash your bios up to date so as you might be able to use a core 2 processor, and just a little piece of advise, that ram is complete trash.

 

[sirheck]

Nah, I'm pretty sure it will work. I opened up my computer several times to see that the thermal paste on the heatsink and processor were horribly applied. Next to the processor's socket I saw LGA 775, so yeah, I'm pretty sure it'll work

just because it is an LGA 775 socketed mobo does not mean that it is Core 2 compatible, check and see if you can flash your bios up to date so as you might be able to use a core 2 processor, and just a little piece of advise, that ram is complete trash.

i agree. it may not even be able to recognize a dual core cpu.

 

[Mr_Bluntman]

Or flog your Dell to unwitting n00bs and buy a new rig. p8ntslinger676 had it right though, and my bad for overlooking that you may have an older chipset that doesn't support the newer Conroe chips. And some DDR2-800 certainly won't hurt either.

 

[sirheck]

Or flog your Dell to unwitting n00bs and buy a new rig. p8ntslinger676 had it right though, and my bad for overlooking that you may have an older chipset that doesn't support the newer Conroe chips. And some DDR2-800 certainly won't hurt either.

hell no my dells are the most reliable computers i have.
for over 6 years now.

as far as the upgradebilty to a dual core. well maybe.
the op could spend 200$ or less for a c2d and try it.

at the worst he would have a c2d cpu.

 

[TWiTCHY]

I was afraid of that. Well, this means bad news for me...I need more money to spend within time of my eVGA Step-Up program! 50 days left!

I think I have the latest BIOS update, AO7. I'm not sure if this is the same as flashing, but that's all what Dell had on their site.