No performance upgrade from 9800 gtx to gtx 470?

[skayel]

I have just upgraded my 512mb Geforce 9800 GTX to a 1280mb Geforce GTX 470, and I am seeing no noticeable increase in performance. I've tested it in a few graphic intensive games such as Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Everquest 2, and I haven't seen any increase in FPS.

My other system specs are: 3.0ghz dual core processor, 4 gigs of ram, and Windows 7 Ultimate

I don't think my system's specs are holding the card back at all, so I'm at a loss as to why I'm not seeing a performance boost. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[jitpublisher]

Welcome to the forums.

Well, since you didn't state what you have tried to do to fix this seemingly perplexing situation, we are gonna have to cover the basics first. The first thing that comes to mind is drivers, you did update those? The second thing is do you have vertical sync enabled, and the third, what are the frame rates, before and after? The fourth thing, what resolution are you using, and detail settings?

 

[skayel]

Thanks for the welcome!

Sorry about not filling in the details. My drivers are up to date (and are the correct ones for my system), I have tried with vsync both enabled and disabled. In all games I use 1680x1050 resolution (my monitor's native reso). In BC2 the graphics are on the max settings with a couple of things turned down a bit (like AA and shadows) and FPS is goes from a low of 15 to a high of 30ish depending on the situation ingame. I would estimate that the frame rate was about the same before the upgrade as after the upgrade.

I figure that there should be a significant jump in graphics power from this upgrade, but I'm not seeing it at all. I'm stumped since I can see no reason for this lack of performance boost and I'm wondering if other people have any suggestions as to what the problem might be.

 

[r-sky]

3.0 ghz dual core... model?

If you are not talking about a current cpu then that is your problem.

 

[skayel]

It's an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0ghz processor. So, it's a couple of years old, but would that really be the issue?

 

[Doom3klr]

When you crank the resolution and details up on the games and go to a larger monitor thats when you should really see the difference.

 

[pauldh]

Sure could be the CPU. Keep details the same but drop the resolution. Does performance increase?

GeForce cards/drivers have higher CPU / thread dependency. Look Here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-balanced-platform,2469-14.html

Bad Company is well threaded, quads are better:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/battlefield_bad_company_2_tuning_guide,7.html

Combine them and likely the CPU scaling would be far more pronounced had they used a GTX 470 instead of 5870.

edit: notice the GTX260 paired with dual and quad CPU:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/battlefield_bad_company_2_tuning_guide,3.html

 

[skayel]

That's some great info there. It's looking increasingly like I'm going to have to buy a new processor!

 

[Tamz_msc]

Yup, that processor is going to bottleneck a GTX 470.

 

[skayel]

My motherboard has a 775 CPU slot, so the best processor I can get looks like the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650. Would that work to boost my FPS in BC2 and other games?

 

[roush2fast]

I had the same problem but I was running BC2 on an E8400 @ 4.0. It was not cutting the mustard. I also thought about getting the Q9650 but opted to not vest any additional money into a dying socket system. I went with the I5-750 and the performance increase was phenomenal.

To specifically answer your question , yes the Q9650 will net you a significant performance increase in BC2 and other games that are multi-threaded.

 

[Petey1013]

I had the same problem but I was running BC2 on an E8400 @ 4.0. It was not cutting the mustard. I also thought about getting the Q9650 but opted to not vest any additional money into a dying socket system. I went with the I5-750 and the performance increase was phenomenal.

To specifically answer your question , yes the Q9650 will net you a significant performance increase in BC2 and other games that are multi-threaded.

100% I was in the same boat, E8500 at 3.8 and not much of a noticeable upgrade from an 8800 GTX.

Total CPU bottleneck, jumped to a i7 930 and frames pretty much doubled. You could spend a couple hundred on a Qxxxx quad, but I'd save up the bit extra and sell your old cpu/mobo/ram and get an i5/i7 if you can. You'll see a HUGE jump.