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Whats the bottleneck Intels Q6600 or Nvidias GeForce 9800 GTX?

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SinisterDeath said:
Whats the bottleneck Intels Q6600 or Nvidias GeForce 9800 GTX?

I'm currently sporting the Q6600, GF9800 GTX, 6GB of memory (I believe 800 mhz run in dual channel), mobo is the 680i.
Nothings O.C'd.

Or am I in one of those situations, upgrading one isn't going to do much good at all?



Depends on you resolution, but in general probably the Q6600, mostly for the fact that its not the fastest cpu/per core, and most games spit on anything above 2 cores. 4 cores are great for productivity software, but for pure gaming, unless u run a lot of background apps, 4 cores is simply wasted.

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Bottlenecks under what circumstances? When you are gaming, using multimedia interfaces like Media center or blu-ray’s, or running multiple apps at once? What resolution and what kind of games are you planning on running with this system?

I would say that your q6600 is a decent CPU and will be for at least two more full years since it is an easy overclocker and was once considered to be the most used and tweaked. It is compared to today’s Core i7 920. Which is an entry level cpu, but such a great overclocker that it can be compared and overclocked to the levels of a more expensive core i7. These CPUs will become harder and harder to find, much like your q6600. I would suggest you try to overclock that CPU and get a new CPU cooler since your motherboard has those capabilities.

To answer your question i do think depending on what you mean by bottlenecking andin what situation, the GPU will most likely bottleneck the CPU in certain games and resolutions on Crysis, STALKER, FSX, GTA4, and World in conflict. Other than that the GPU can handle most applications including Autocad and 3DS Max with no bottlenecking from either CPU or GPU.

I would know as I also have a 9800GTX+ and a e7400 c2d and those apps and games work fine but not great, hence the bottleneck in games but my CPU can still handle the load. I and am planning on changing it for a GTX285 or waiting just a little bit to see what Nvidia is going to release and perhaps wait on the GTX360 if there is one.....

Well I do mostly gaming, but on occasion I do other random things like AutoCAD, 3DS Max, Ect. Hence the reason I got the Quad over the Duo. (Plus I was praying that in a year or two that games/software would actually be built around the idea that people do have QUAD core CPUs..

I generally play in either 1920x1080 in FPS games, but in other games like say, Age of Conan, mmos in general, other games like Total War, I use them in Windowed Mode, so I generally have the resolution a bit smaller around say, 1280x720, or 1024x768. (depends on what hte game supports).

I'm really just wondering if I were to get one of the GTX 2XX cards, if I'd be wasting my money since the Q6600 would bottle neck, the PC. Or I replaced my CPU/Mobo for an i5/i7, if the GPU would be the bottleneck. I know I definately got a PSU that can support a bigger GPU, I'm just hoping for some better FPS in the higher end games like AoC.
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Buy another 9800GTX off eBay for $100, assuming you have a PSU that can support it. Your 680i is an SLI mobo. (2) 9800GTX's will knock the boots off any single GTX2xx card except a 295. Another 9800GTX is a REAL cheap awesome upgrade.

To answer your question, I would have to say your 9800 is what is holding your back. A CPU upgrade will give you minimal performance in games unless it is a game that likes an i7. So my advice is to get a 2nd 9800 for now.

Ehh, the 680i maybe SLI, but I have both a TV tuner card in my PC, and a Wireless Card (Atm) so in all reality, I don't have 'room' in the case to go SLI.

+ Theres that fact that alot of games don't actually support SLI, or have noticable performance increases from running two cards in SLI. (AoC being one of those games)

Now if I ran multiple monitors...

As for my case, I have an Antec Nine Houndred.
Its sufficient cooling for what I got, And my CPU Heatsink is one of these
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalog/product_info.php?...
my CPU is running in the 34c range (not doing anything, just messing around online) and my GPU up in the 60c range. (It doesn't seem to ever go above 65 though)

I could O.C my CPU I just haven't felt the need to, and you could say I don't want to risk screwing it up. ;) 

The GPU would be your theoretical limitation in your system. But at stock clocks, not so much. Without Overclocking I would hazard a guess that they are actually fairly well matched. OC that CPU past 3.2ghz and you could probably make the full use of GPUS up to the 275/4870/5770 point.

Going up to an i7/i5 would definitely push the limitation back onto the GPU.

You will probably see some improvement with a new GPU without OCing the CPU, but maybe more in the area of adding shine through AA/AF, and not so much when it comes to Frames Per Second. You may already see a great improvement to your gaming if you OC your CPU, even without upgrading the GPU. I would suggest giving that a shot before plunking down any cash on a new video card.

The Overclocking section here at Tom's is a great resource for learning how to OC. I suggest, if you go that route, to put some time into educating yourself on the process required to achieve stable Overclocks, as well as the limitations you might face (temps, volts etc). A stable overclock can multiple the performance value you get out of your machine, if done right and responsibly.

Well personally i would say its a pretty good balanced system and as you have yet to OC your CPU then upgrading that is a bit of a waste of time.
What i would do, as you have already raised the question of a whole board and CPU upgrade is just buy the card you want. Try it in your system as is, if you are not happy then OC your CPU, the guys on the OCing forum will help im sure and its not the big dark art it once was.
If you are still not happy or just dont want to OC, (but as the next step is a complete upgrade then does it matter if it goes wrong ?) then well you have the GPU already so you can change the system around it.

Mactronix :) 

No doubt. Wasn't sure which part was draggin my pc down. And a new GPU is definatlely cheaper than mobo+cpu+memory.

Course most of this is just theoretical atm, until I actually get enough income to do anything.

For gaming at 1920x1080 it's definitely the card that will limit things in most games. At low resolutions like 1280x720 or 1024x768 the CPU might be the limiting factor but the performance of that setup at those resolutions should be fantastic in any case(outside of perhaps Crysis with high/maxed settings, maybe GTA IV.)

Until you get the income, you could try OCing to unlock some value. CPU first, then move onto the card, heh. I know that I experienced some great performance increase from OCing my rig (3dmark06 went from 13.5k to 16k+ with just OC on my current components from stock)

SinisterDeath said:
So basically if I upgraded my GPU it wouldn't do much good unless I O.C'd my CPU?

Your CPU is very capitble. If you can't fit another 8800GTX in your system, you would have to sell if off and upgrade. I would say to a 5850 or 5870 if you want to see ALOT of improvement. Are you sure you can't juggle your cards to fit another 8800? what mobo do you have? My buddy had a 680i and ran SLI 8800GTX's and it was an awesome increase over just one.

Yes OCing your CPU will yield benefit, but you get into that whole world of anger and frustration. OCing anything usually gives a benefit. But to be perfectly honest, your best upgrade will be to your GPU if you are looking at better gaming performance.
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