GTS 250 + e5400 bottleneck?

[abdulrehmansuleman]

Hey guys I was just wondering what the limit of my e5400 processor is. Does it bottleneck GTS 250 or 4870 level card? What if I overclock it?

 

[4745454b]

Thats about as fast as I'd go with that CPU. You'll probably see some "bottlenecking" but it shouldn't be to bad. OCing the CPU is a good idea, obviously no on the GPU.

 

[wielander]

You should take a look at this article:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-balanced-platform,2469.html

Your cpu is comparable to the E6300 that they use, and the GTS 250 is comparable to the Radeon HD4850.


The answer is that it will depend on the game, and the resolution you use. Some games are more CPU intensive, and some are more GPU intensive. If you run games at higher resolutions (1920x1080 and up), your performance probably won't be limited by your processor. At lower resolutions it will depend upon the game, but in most cases your system shouldn't be CPU limited.


It obviously wouldn't hurt to overclock your processor. This follow up article covered the same processors while overclocked:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/balanced-gaming-pc-overclock,2625.html

While overclocked the E6300 was the only processor that caused any bottlenecking and only in GTA4 and only at resolutions of 1680x1050 and 1280x1024.

 

[jsc]

Hey guys I was just wondering what the limit of my e5400 processor is. ... What if I overclock it?

In a good motherboard, in a case with good airflow, with a good CPU cooler, about 3.5 - 4.0 GHz depending on the CPU chip. I got 3.78 GHz (24 hour Prime95 stable) out of an E5200 with a medium high VID.
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GA-EP35-DS3P | E5200 OC'd to 3.78 GHz (315 MHz X 12)

 

[abdulrehmansuleman]

Ok, guys. By the way I have always been wondering what is the extent of effect of bottlenecking on gaming? For example, if I couple a GTS 250 with a normal e5400(without OC), then how much FPS will I get less as compared to i7 + GTS 250? I would appreciate any benchmark result you can give me.

 

[4745454b]

Did you read the article? Compare the Pentium 6300 + 4850 with the i7 920 + 4850. Look at whatever games you play (or similar type) at whatever resolution you play at. That will tell you.

 

[abdulrehmansuleman]

Best answer selected by abdulrehmansuleman.