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GTX 580 & I7 920 3.35ghz Will this bottleneck?

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Hey all,
I am shortly receiving a gtx 580 and I want to make sure my CPU is set up in a way to not limit this GPU. I currently have my bios set to enable "OC Dummy" and have turned on Turbo mode. In my bios it says I'm around 3.35, however, windows 7 says I'm at 3.19 (what the bios says before I turn on turbo mode. I guess my first question is should I believe the number listed in the bios or the number listed under "properties" of the computer. And my 2nd question would be if I'm OK with my current overclock or if I should try and push it further. I'm basically a complete newbie to overclocking and not very comfortable with it. I've followed some guides and every time I tried to test the overclock with Prime it's gone to that blue screen. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

More about : gtx 580 920 35ghz bottleneck

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Hey there and welcome to the forums!

The difference in GHz displayed in BIOS and in "Windows" is a result of the "Turbo Mode" u have enabled. Turbo Mode means u've activated (more like enabled) the x21 multiplier. Windows displays the frequencies without the x21 multiplier (it only displays frequencies using up to x20 multiplier).

A fairly simple way to test this is to divide 3.35GHz by x21, then 3.19 GHz by x20 and compare the results (which should be your current BCLK - 160 BCLK).

U dont really need to OC your CPU for a single GTX 580 but if u really want to have nothing to worry about, then raise the frequency to ~3.3GHz.

Also, please provide us with your current specs in order to get a better understanding of your machine.

sharr said:
Hey there and welcome to the forums!

The difference in GHz displayed in BIOS and in "Windows" is a result of the "Turbo Mode" u have enabled. Turbo Mode means u've activated (more like enabled) the x21 multiplier. Windows displays the frequencies without the x21 multiplier (it only displays frequencies using up to x20 multiplier).

A fairly simple way to test this is to divide 3.35GHz by x21, then 3.19 GHz by x20 and compare the results (which should be your current BCLK - 160 BCLK).

U dont really need to OC your CPU for a single GTX 580 but if u really want to have nothing to worry about, then raise the frequency to ~3.3GHz.

Also, please provide us with your current specs in order to get a better understanding of your machine.


Thanks a bunch for your response. It makes me feel better about my situation. My issue with raising the frequency to 3.3 ghz is that I'm using the OC Dummy to get to 3.19 and I don't know all the exact settings it's using to get there so I'd basically have to start from scratch and every time I've tried doing it myself it seems to fail in Prime. I don't know all of my components off the top of my head, but I do know that I have a 750 W corsair PSU. I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't push the OC to much since it's not a huge PSU (especially since I plan on using my current gtx 260 for a Physx card). Again, thanks for your previous response and other advice or tips would be appreciated.
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KBentley57 said:
I don't believe that even at stock settings your cpu would bottleneck a gtx580. the i7 920 is still one of the faster cpu's even at stock settings.


Thanks for the response. That's good to hear.

Yeah I see no way that an i7 920 could bottleneck a single card, let alone two or even three. That is one powerful chip.

I know... I have one. :p 

You really don't wind up seeing bottlenecks until you get down to the low-end C2Q or high end C2D procs.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm definitely feeling better about everything now. Does anyone think I'll have a problem with my 750 corsair PSU powering the I7, gtx 580, and a gtx 260 (216) as a physx card? Also, does anyone have an opinion whether I'd be better off with Hyperthreading left on or off with concerns to gaming. Also, with Windows 7, how careful do you need to be about deleting old drivers when installing a new GPU or should it do everything pretty much automatically.
CPUs Expert

Nope, It should be fine. As for the hyperthreading, there is only one way to tell. Play a few of your games with it on, then go to the BIOS and turn it off. Play your games again and mentally compare them - frame rate, smoothness, ect.. Then you can choose whichever.

Psychoteddy said:
Yeah I see no way that an i7 920 could bottleneck a single card, let alone two or even three. That is one powerful chip.

I know... I have one. :p 

You really don't wind up seeing bottlenecks until you get down to the low-end C2Q or high end C2D procs.


As a matter of fact, you still won't see bottlenecks on those cards with one high-end gpu (58xx, GTX4xx series). When you get a second one, that's when you see bottlenecks with those. I actually read somewhere (I don't remember where I'm trying to find it again) that any dual-core that's >3.0GHz will not bottleneck 2 VERY POWERFUL graphics cards (i'm talking gtx580 sli here lol).

Also, JUST ABOUT EVERY I7 (QUAD-CORE) WILL NOT BOTTLENECK 4 WAY SLI/QUADFIRE, EVEN AT STOCK. They're just that powerful (AND AWESOME). I would know, I have an i7-930 with crossfire 5770's. I swear they beat the 6950 because of the processor :D 
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