Another Bottleneck Issue with a ASUS Radeon HD5870

[audicted]

There goes my system:

(Windows 7 - 64 Bit OS)

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3 Motherboard (Revision 1.0)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.86Ghz Processor (Overclocked @3.82 Ghz (8.5x447))

SLOT DIMM1: Corsair XMS2 CM2X1024-6400
SLOT DIMM2: Corsair XMS2 CM2X1024-6400
SLOT DIMM3: Corsair XMS2 CM2X2048-6400C5
SLOT DIMM4: Corsair XMS2 CM2X2048-6400C5
Total of 6 GB DDR2 SDRAM-800 (400 Mhz) (overclocked @ 896 Mhz)

ASUS EAH5870 Radeon HD5870 1 GB GDDR5 Graphics Card

WDC WD5001AALS-00L3B2 (465 GB) HDD
Creative SB Audigy Soundcard

OK. I recently burnt my Sapphire HD4890 OC edition and replaced it with a HD5870. With my old system on, i think I'm actually missing some serious potential performance in games. Where do you think my bottleneck is ? OR is this the best i can get out of my system? If i am to upgrade, what would fit the most in to this system?

Every help appreciated. Thanx.

 

[Proximon]

Given your hardware list only, there is no reason to think your GPU would be bottlenecked in games.

Benchmarks?
Temps?
Processor loads?

Temps and processor loads, as well as memory usage, can be tracked and logged you know.

 

[audicted]

My CPU temperature is 50 degree celcius at Idle, i know it's above the standard values since it's overclocked but you don't need any of those info's in order to detect where the bottleneck is am i wrong?

If i am to give you the games that I play, Assasin's Creed II for example. I cannot play it at full specs, since the FPS reduced in ridicolous values sometimes. My brother who has a Radeon HD 4890 with a stock (!) Q9550 CPU (not overclocked) can play it at full specs. His motherboard is a bit newer and his RAM's are all running at 1066 Mhz and stuff but can it make such a difference? That's the kind of information what i'm eager to hear, where to start upgrading...

 

[Proximon]

My CPU temperature is 50 degree celcius at Idle, i know it's above the standard values since it's overclocked but you don't need any of those info's in order to detect where the bottleneck is am i wrong?

If your CPU was throttling back because it was overheating during loads that would cause a big bottleneck

 

[audicted]

I reduced the Vcore to 1.25v which was sufficient for 3.60 Ghz and now my Idle temps are 45 degree celcius, also after a Prime95 Torture test, i saw a maximum temp of 78 degrees. So, I'm certain my CPU is not making any throttling now and it hasn't been doing any @3.82 ghz neither.

Still getting that low FPS at Assasin's Creed II but i guess it's just bad coding eh? I'm far for being surprised, since its just so common nowadays... GTA IV, Fallout New Vegas, Test Drive Unlimited 2 and now this. Typical.