Core 2 Quad Q8400 Bottleneck GTX 460 SLI

[mrwaffles]

Hi guys I recently upgraded into a new case with an h50 water cooler and dropped my GTX 280 for two GTX 460 SE's in SLI. I have a Core 2 Quad Q8400 running at 3.0ghz from 2.66 at a nice 50C under load. I cannot get my Q8400 stable and over 3.0, even though it never heats past 55C. It is an absolute bastard to overclock.

Anyway, is my Quad bottlenecking my 460s? I ran 3D Mark 11 on my room mates PC (i7 930 @ 3.7, single card GTX 470) and it doubled my machines score. Am I correct in assuming my Q8400 needs to be upgraded soon?

 

[freshnbaked]

ave you raised the voltage of your CPU to match the new clocks?

 

[jaguarskx]

Who get's better frame rates when both computers are using the same games, resolution and graphic settings?

 

[mrwaffles]

Yeah I have tinkered with it for a long time. The 8400 I have just hates to go faster than 3.0 regardless of the voltage. Heat has never been a problem.

<edit to answer jag>

I just got this set up and my buddy is out of town. So I don't know yet. His frames in Dirt 2 are insane though. Like 90 at 1920x1080 with like 16AA and everything max.

 

[notty22]

3dmark11 does not take advantage of SLI yet.
Strange and a bummer.
You should get used to running msi afterburner monitoring panel in the background.
It will show gpu usage for both gpu's , temps also if you wish.
It allows knowing when or if both gpu's are worked correctly.
My dirt 2 results, all Ultra, gtx 460@890 SLI
<results samples="8874" min_fps="78.732254" av_fps="95.833099" min_fps_ms="12.701275" av_fps_ms="10.434808" />

 

[iam2thecrowe]

id say not much of a bottleneck, your CPU is capable to run any game out at good FPS. Also, 3d mark score is calculated to include CPU performance , which your friends i7 would be a lot faster than your CPU. Also agree with 3dmark not using SLI.