5850 underperforming or CPU is bottlenecking?

[SomeoneMustGetHurt]

Hello all, I have recently bought an ATI 5850 to replace a 3450 on my previous build.
As for a processor, I have a Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz (pre-built, no way of overclocking). In most games I play, such as: Crysis on Ultra High Settings, Stalker, etc., I get a constant 30-40 fps but it goes down to 20-30 whenever things get heavy.
Now based on online statistics, I should be getting 60 fps average on Stalker.
I know my CPU is outdated but I can't tell for sure if my CPU is bottlenecking it or if my video card is underperforming since I won't get a new CPU in a while.

 

[paperfox]

For games that only take advantage of dual cores you will be bottlenecked, but not with games that can take advantage of quads. Crysis i can understand your low fps, eveyone gets low fps. Stalker only uses one or two cores I think.

 

[anonymousdude]

You would benefit by overclocking your CPU, but you will have to use software to overclock instead of doing it in the BIOS.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Yeh, 2.4GHz on a 65nm CPU will be a bottleneck for games that use 2 cores (which is the majority of games out there)

Overclock your CPU. THe Q6600 is very overclockable and can easily reach 3.6GHz.

Try a 600MHz overclock to 3.0GHz first

 

[dkapke]

A Q6600, even at 3.0Ghz, will bottleneck an HD4870 (that was my old build so I know). When I went to a Q9650 and OC'd it to 3.6GHz, the HD4870 gained another 10-15% in benchmarks (like 3dMark06/Vantage and Crysis). When I upgraded to an HD5850, I barely saw much of an increase at all (maybe 5%). It took going to an i7 and OC'ing that to 3.6GHz until I saw the 5850 open up (a full 25% bump).

I just don't think anything you do that Q6600 is going to put much of a strain on an HD5850. You're especially getting hit if you can't get it above 2.4GHz. What you're seeing in online stats are people with the 5850 and, if they have a Q6600, it's heavily overclocked to 3.6GHz by bumping the FSB to 200 (from 133) with the 9 multiplier. If you can find some software to do an OC, try Bluescreen's recommendation and get the FSB to 166 - that's a piece of cake and you'll notice quite an improvement.

 

[AsAnAtheist]

(pre-built, no way of overclocking)

He can't overclock.. Software overclocks are usually useless if the BIOS it self is locked. Then again I have only tried with 7-10 prebuilt systems (HP/Dell/Compaq/Sony/Emachines)

@OP yes your HD 5850 will be bottlenecked, as mentioned above the bottleneck is dependent on whether 1- 2 or 4 cores are used.

I would recommend purchasing a decent 775 motherboard, and transferring all the hardware to that motherboard.

The new motherboard will allow for overclocking, as well as probably provide you with better features such as more SATA connections, reliable CPU voltage regulation, and MAYBE more ram slots. (or at least more support ram speeds).

Now before you get started you have homework to do.

1. The case the prebuilt system came in. Does it allow for Standard Micro ATX or ATX motherboards?

2. Do the case cables from the Power on and Off/HDD LED and USB, etc are they all individual single cables? or do all the cables end up in a plastic bundle? The cables come from the case and usually connect at the bottom right of the motherboard. Are they individual cables or bundled?
If the cables come individually you need to find out what each cable is (there should be a letter saying what the cable is for. Do some research on plugging in USB/Power on/off cables to get a better idea.)
IF the cables come bundled, then your out of luck. It uses a proprietary cable setup. You can pull each wire out and rearrange but that requires a bit of work/knowledge.

3. Make sure the PSU can handle the HD 5850/overclocked CPU. Id recommend 650w with 80 plus bronze certification since the HD 5850 is a pretty expensive card, you don't want to skimp on this.

4. Make sure all other connections will fit. That is any system fans (3 pin connection or a 4 pin molex), USB, 4 or 8 pin CPU connection, IDE connection if needed, Sata connections, etc. Do your research on how to build a custom computer since that i technically what you are going to do.

5. Do your homework, make sure you research vastly before ordering the motherboard then dismantling your system.


This is all the help you will need apart from sticking with your current system or buying a new system.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

If you have an ATX case, buy yourself a cheap 775 motherboard and transfer all your parts to it.

 

[BroHamBone]

My experience i had was with an AMD Phenom I x4 9500 2.2ghz. I was running it with a GTX 280, actually SLI'd <9500 GTS>'s superclocked till i switched. I had no clue why I was getting low FPS. Then I decided to upgrade to a Phenom II 955, and it fixed my issue right away. Even on my other system, it has a phenom II X3 w/ a gtx 280 and it ran better than the Phenom I. So it took me to purchasing a new video card and then a new chip. Stupid phenom I's..

 

[jitpublisher]

One other thing to check on if you do start changing motherboard etc. If your prebuild has the OEM version of Windows that came with it, you cannot install or use it on another build. You will need a new retail version of Windows as well.

 

[BroHamBone]

One other thing to check on if you do start changing motherboard etc. If your prebuild has the OEM version of Windows that came with it, you cannot install or use it on another build. You will need a new retail version of Windows as well.

couldnt he just swap hard drives? On the other hand high capacity hard drives to run inexpensive nowadays.... the cheapest win 7 is 32 bit for 100 bucks i believe i seen.

 

[anonymousdude]

couldnt he just swap hard drives? On the other hand high capacity hard drives to run inexpensive nowadays.... the cheapest win 7 is 32 bit for 100 bucks i believe i seen.

I don't think you can do that if it is the OEM version of windows that comes with prebuilt computers because it is registered to something that I can't remember right now.

 

[jitpublisher]

couldnt he just swap hard drives? On the other hand high capacity hard drives to run inexpensive nowadays.... the cheapest win 7 is 32 bit for 100 bucks i believe i seen.

No.