Bottleneck Concerns for my 2x570 SC's

[wickedsnow]

Hey gang, I have a quick 2-part question.

1. I'm concerned that my CPU might be bottlenecking my videocards running at stock. I'm only running 1920 x 1080 on a 25.5 inch samsung touch of color monitor.
Any thoughts or suggestion?

2. I really want an (as perfect as possible balanced PC) Thus no bottlenecks anywhere in the system if possible. Am I missing anything? Would you change anything? Is my system pretty dialed right out of the gate?

Posted below is my computer build. CPU temps never go past 45C with OCCT @100% load.
Also, this is a gaming only PC. (All games, FPS, RPG, Online etc etc.)



Thank you for any advise or suggestions in advance!



i7-950 @ Stock 3.07 GHZ
Noctura dh-n14 Cpu Cooler
Asus Sabertooth X58 motherboard
12 gigs of corsair XMS3 7-8-7-20 ram @1600mhz
Samsung 24X dvd-burner
X2 EVGA 570 SCs with Hi-flow brackets
Creative Fatality pro titanium sound card (PCI express)
OS drive is a 300GB Velociraptor
Data drive is a 2TB WD Black (Sata3 model)
Corsair HX1000W PSU
HAF-X case / with megaflow fans.

 

[Rustyy117]

In modern games that use more than 2 cores I doubt there would be any CPU bottleneck at all, in older games where perhaps only 1 core is used then there could be a CPU bottleneck, but chances are that your frame rates would be ridiculously high, it wouldn't even matter.

If your still worried then play your favorite games and record the FPS with FRAPS, then overclock your CPU, say to 3.6Ghz and play and record again, then compare the results. If your 3.6Ghz frame rates are significantly higher than your stock frame rates then you had a bottleneck.

 

[geekapproved]

Exactly what he said. Run your benchmarks, then overclock the cpu a few hundred megahertz and if your score is a lot higher, then you know you have a cpu bottleneck.

I have a feeling you definitely will see a difference. That baby should be running at least 3.5ghz and it won't even break a sweat.

 

[wickedsnow]

Thanks guys for the suggestion. One of my major concerns on OCing my CPU is my ram.

Damn near every forum or website that I have researched has mentioned how filling all your ram slots really taxes your mobo. And that most people must run higher voltage, looser timings, or slower speeds to stay stable.

Now i'm not sure If i'm just really lucky or that my mobo is awesome, but I'm running 6x2GB sticks at the rated 1600MHZ at 7-8-7-20 at 1.5V via X.M.P. profile. Something all my research has told me NOT to do. I'm almost certian that I'm just lucky and don't wish to mess with it. I fear that OCing my cpu might throw off my perfect ram balance.

Is there any truth to my fear? Any thoughts?

Also, any thoughts to my second question?

 

[Rustyy117]

I'd change that 300GB raptor for a small SSD to be used as a boot drive, apart from that everything look fine.

Overclocking your CPU will effect your memory

The BLCK value is used in both your memory and your CPU

I'll use my PC as an example:

21 (CPU Multi) x 205 (BLCK) = 4.3Ghz for my CPU

Now the memory Speed = the BLCK Value x the memory multiplier

I've got the following options for memory multi's: x6 x8 x10 x12 (Might be more)

So my RAM is rated at 1333Mhz, I have a BLCK of 205 so 205 x 6 = 1230Mhz which is fine, I can't go higher because 205 x 8 = 1640Mhz, and I know my RAM can't do that speed.

I hope that example helped

Having all the memory slots occupied will put more stress on the IMC (Intergrated memory controller) which is on the CPU, so it may well effect how easily you'll be able to overclock (you may need more QPI/VTT voltage).

 

[wickedsnow]

I'm sorry, I meant taxies, you know, putting strain on your memory controller and motherboard. Or so I have read.

 

[wickedsnow]

Best answer selected by Wickedsnow.