Is my CPU fast enough for a gtx 580?

[Romp]

Hello! So here's my question. I've always wondered as far as upgrading, when cramming a new card in your rig is a waste of $. I want a GTX 580, but, I'm wondering if the rest of my rig will hold it back. I have a intel quad @ 2.44ghz, 8gb of ddr2, on a ASUS P5NE-SLI board. Currently with two 8800gts 640. Any info would be a big help!

 

[rolli59]

If you can overclock the CPU (3.0+ GHz) and you are using high resolution it should work fine. The GTX580 is though on the verge of being bottlenecked by the PCIe x16 version 1.x slot.

 

[Romp]

Res is 1920x1080... Same advice someone else gave me... this post posted twice for some reason... But, I was planning on building a whole new rig down the road, but I wanted to upgrade the graphics now. So, maybe I should just hold off altogether... Ole Iron Horse just ain't what she used to be...

 

[rolli59]

I do see nothing wrong with buying the card now (regardless of overclock) to move into a new rig in few months, there are upcoming some interesting options for upgrade with Sandy Bridge re-release and Bulldozer.

 

[ko888]

What is the make and model number of your power supply unit? Is it able to run a GTX 580?

 

[Romp]

Yeah I've kind of been waiting on them... For 200 less I may just purchase the 570 though...

 

[rolli59]

I personally would be very happy with GTX570 at your resolution (my son is still using a HD4890 for 1080P and does not complain in FPS)

 

[jitpublisher]

Yes, the rest of your PC is going to bottleneck a GTX580, a LOT.
Unless you do some hefty overclocking and serious upgrading in the near future, you can do with a lot less video card. Even the 570 is more card than you need if are going to run your CPU@ 2.4ghz.

 

[dalauder]

None of the Core 2 Quads run at 2.44 stock (Q6600 is close), which means you've OC'd. What is your CPU?

 

[dalauder]

Based off of what I can find on Q6600 benchmark performance, it can handle a GTX 580 with no performance hits in 3DMark11:
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/354176
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/304887
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/360072

Only look at Graphics score since Physics scales with CPU and I'm comparing an OC'd i7-920, OC'd Q6600, and an underclocked Q6600. It doesn't seem many Q6600 owners overclocked the 580 though. In your case, overclocking it would be useless since the GTX 580 is right at the x8 bandwidth (or x16 on PCI 1.X) limitation.

You can search for your own setups here: http://3dmark.com/search

But can your PSU handle a GTX 580?

In my opinion, if you're gonna upgrade part-by-part, it it wouldn't hurt to start with the case, PSU, and HDD (or SSDs/RAID setup).