Will a Athlon II x3 445 Bottleneck a 5850

[gidgiddonihah]

I have been getting mixed opinions. This article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-x3-440-gaming-performance,2619.html shows with a 5850 you get pretty close to the performance of a I7 in gaming. BUT I want to OC everything (Including the GPU-as far as it will go).

1.) So if i am lucky enough to get a CPU that can unlock, and i can OC it by about 20% which is 3.71 Ghz (Or somewhere in the ballpark). Could i get all the GPU's juice?

2.) If im not lucky and end up with three cores and OC to the same will i get the full 5850?

3.) Would i see any difference in OCing the 5850? (If i had OC'ed the CPU)

4.) How far would you say i can OC this?

5.) Are there any good 3rd Party Heatsinks for around 20$? :lol:

Note: I am getting the Athlon II x3 and the 5850, have already ordered them. I was just curious if i can squeeze the 5850 dry :lol:.

:lol: Haha lots of questions .

Thanks Ahead!

 

[o1die]

Overclocking depends on your board adjustments and ram. Unlocking the fourth core may work, but may not overclock as well. Try both locked and unlocked and see which runs faster. Look for a 92 or 120mm heatsink on sale. Make sure it has 4 pins on the fan connector. Frys had one two days ago for only $9 after rebate, but it was one day only.