Possible bottleneck 5850..?

[simpsonj09]

Hey guys, first post :]

I'm looking to upgrade my dell unit with a superior graphics card. Currently im using a 8800GT. Would my standard clocked E6400 ( 2.1ghz ) be a bottleneck if i purchased a ATi HD5850 as a replacement for my 8800GT...? I currently am using a 650w Coolermaster power supply.

If it is.. i think my main other option would be to buy a new mobo and overclock my e6400 to atleast 3.0ghz because i currently am using the standard dell pc mobo it came with, which doesn't support OC at all. Any advice? Trying to get the best possible system for the lowest cash investment..

I could invest in a mobo for i5 and ddr3 but i think thats maybe not worth the price for the increase?

Current system:

W7 64bit
Nvidia 1GB 8800GT
4GB Kingston DDR2 Ram
E6400 Core2duo 2.1ghz stock
650w coolermaster power supply.

 

[darkguset]

In most cases it would be a bottleneck. If you could overclock it beyond 3.8GHz it should be much better.

 

[Mulder19]

Well a mobo replacement is a bit of a chore, but pretty manageable if you are willing reformat and start from scratch. However, I wouldn't do this unless you are very comfortable poking around inside a computer. Also, make sure you have a real boot disc with that dell to reload windows! If you want to do that, I think most of the Pentium Dual Core E-series procs are very good oc'ers and you could see a significant performance increase. I would imagine you could push that proc to at least 3.5 on air cooling, but results do vary. On the other hand, your Dell warranty would be completely toast.

Installing a new g-card would boost performance and most likely preserve the warranty. I think a 5850 would put you into bottleneck territory on CPU dependent games, although you would still see a significant boost in all games. In other words, you might not get all of the 5850's power, but it would be more than you have now. However, the 5800's are too expensive now, hold out for a big price drop before upgrading. As far as I know, the 8800 gt will still run nearly all games on med-high @ respectable resolutions.

 

[jay2tall]

PC's are full of bottlenecks all OVER the place. You can't escape them. Your CPU has to wait on the L1 cache, then L2 Cache, L3 cache, RAM, and then HD. That is just one example. If you upgrade to a faster hard drive, sure it will make things better, but you still can't alleviate the bottleneck entirely. Likewise the whole debate with "will my CPU bottleneck my video card". Of course it will, even an OCed i7 will bottleneck a video card, and everything in between that it uses to communicate to it with.

So in regards to your question, YES your CPU will bottleneck your video card. Will overclocking your CPU make it better? Of course it will. Will replacing the mobo, ram, and CPU for an i5 setup, you bet. Bur honestly the performance gains will be minimal for the money you invest. Will a 5850 be a HUGE upgrade to your current 8800GT on your current setup? ABSOLUTELY.

 

[simpsonj09]

Ok guys, thank you's for the quick response. So basicly it appears im best to get the graphics card and do a straight swap and oc the cpu to get the most from my card.

Il most likly purchase a new mobo, as im confident with myself poking around inside the pc. is there any which is highly recommended?

 

[jay2tall]

what motherboard do you have now? Can you not use what you have to OC a bit? I honestly wouldn't invest much, if anything, into an e6400 CPU. I'd save my pennies to get a new mobo, cpu, ram. Just upgrade your video and stick with the current system until you can do a core system upgrade. I had a e6400 and with a $20 cooler was about to easily get it to 3GHz on a x975 board. An OC will help you out, but I won't put much into it to do so.

 

[simpsonj09]

I would overclock if i could but i currently use a dell system, which allows no overclocking vai the bios :{

I think il have to go the whole distance and get a new mobo, cpu i5 and ddr3 ram.
Can anyone recommend any prebuilt systems with the mentioned items so i can just put a graphics card into it?

 

[jerreece]

Huge bottleneck. Of course Mactronix would like you to think different. lol

Yeah, I'm going to agree here. I think the E6400 is going to limit the performance of the ATI 5850. That's not to say it's worth upgrading from your 8800GT, but realize ahead of time you won't see the full potential of the 5850. I'd be pressed to imagine you'd see a true 100% capability even if you did OC to 3.5Ghz as suggested above. However, OCing would allow you to get more performance from the 5850 than running stock.

 

[Ares_]

I dont know what dell you have, but you could upgrade the CPU on the cheap and wait a few months on the graphics card- assuming NVDA becomes competitive. At that point you might be able to buy the 5850 and the CPU for the same price that you were eying right now.

My advice would be too look for a Q6600 that someone is selling. I recommend this because it is one of the only CPUs that you can overclock without software that will also work with most (if not all) quad-core ready dells. With the BSEL mod you can get it to 3ghrz and the 5850 should not be severely bottle-necked. Moreover, the Q6600 is so ubiquitous that you might be able to pick one up for $100-150. Just check to see if you dell was ever sold with it.

 

[jerreece]

I would overclock if i could but i currently use a dell system, which allows no overclocking vai the bios :{

I think il have to go the whole distance and get a new mobo, cpu i5 and ddr3 ram.
Can anyone recommend any prebuilt systems with the mentioned items so i can just put a graphics card into it?

If you're comfortable putting a new GPU in your existing system, you're half the way to building your own system. Everything in it is about as simple as installing the GPU. Worst part is putting the CPU in and putting thermal compound on it, then mounting the heat sink.

If you're willing to try, I'd suggest ordering the parts and building your own system. Sometimes you can do it cheaper, and you leave yourself more room for upgrading and OC'ing later on.

As far as pre-builts, I have no idea to be honest. I haven't purchased a boxed computer in years...

 

[jerreece]

I dont know what dell you have, but you could upgrade the CPU on the cheap and wait a few months on the graphics card- assuming NVDA becomes competitive. At that point you might be able to buy the 5850 and the CPU for the same price that you were eying right now.

My advice would be too look for a Q6600 that someone is selling. I recommend this because it is one of the only CPUs that you can overclock without software that will also work with most (if not all) quad-core ready dells. With the BSEL mod you can get it to 3ghrz and the 5850 should not be severely bottle-necked. Moreover, the Q6600 is so ubiquitous that you might be able to pick one up for $100-150. Just check to see if you dell was ever sold with it.

Not a great option. Considering he can't OC due to Bios restrictions as it is, the 2.4Ghz of a Q6600 isn't going to help much. Even still, even up to 3.2Ghz I dont' think he's see the full glory of the 5850.

 

[Guest]

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=869&p=23

I have successfully overclocked my HP Q9550 from 2.833 to 3.55Ghz with setfsb, you have to read the PLL numbers on the motherboard and set them in setfsb, then set it on startup with autoconfig and it will oc to 3.55Ghz at boot. It will oc the RAM:FSB:CPU all same time so your ram will probably be the bottlneck to go higher, for me I cant get the memory stable past 1000Mhz( From 800). I can upload the required tools if you want you will need setfsb and AutoToolInstaller
Google is the best human invention lol Thats where I found it. If you can get it to 3.0~3.2Ghz that would be great and wont bottlneck, keep in mind that I am talking about quad cores , for a dual core you need 3.6Ghz+. Why not pickup a Q9xxx, really worth it over the dual core if you find a good deal. i7 isnt really faster than Q9xxx and not worth the whole upgrade.

 

[MARSOC_Operator]

Get an used Core 2 Quad CPU for cheap and you'll be fine.

 

[MARSOC_Operator]

Not a great option. Considering he can't OC due to Bios restrictions as it is, the 2.4Ghz of a Q6600 isn't going to help much. Even still, even up to 3.2Ghz I dont' think he's see the full glory of the 5850.

A stock Core 2 Quad is still much better than an OC'ed Core 2 Duo. I highly doubt a 2.4 C2Q will bottleneck a 5850.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

A fast dual core should handle a 5850 easily (it's slightly better than a GTX285). A fast dual core can handle to up a 5870 without much trouble.

(ie. An overclocked E8400 will be enough for a 5870 or GTX925 to not experience any significant bottlenecks)

A Core2Quad @ ~2.6GHz should be able to handle 2x 5850s, and only begins to see slight bottlenecks with 2x 5870s.