Q9400 and a high end gpu

[lukerbes]

Hello there, my name is Lucas and I am from Argentina and I am going on a trip to Europe in a few days and I wanted to know what to do with my PC. The thing is that I´ve got a gigabyte motherboard (ga-p35-ds3l) with an intel cpu q9400 running at stock speed 2,66 ghz, 4gbs of ddr2 ram and a 4890 (1gb ddr5 of course). What I wanted to do is to buy a new graphics card. But I wanted to know if my cpu will bottleneck it. I kinda have a very limited budget so my options on an excellent card are these: nvidia cards (gtx 590 or 580) ati cards (6990 or 6970). My psu is a corsair with 850w so that is more than enough.

Just let me know what you think about this and if you have other ideas just let me know them.

My screen is a samsung 23" LED backlit xl2370 which shows 1920 by 1080p images.

 

[dogman_1234]

Hello, and welcome to THG.

I would actually say it might bottleneck. My opinion is what you feel comfortable with. What is your primary use? what programs do you run?

 

[venjhammet]

Just grab the GTX560Ti to avoid bottlenecking with your CPU.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

forget the dual gpu cards, they are a waste of money. you should OC your processor to at least 3ghz. At 1080p you dont nee more than a single gpu. Even if you OC the cpu it will bottleneck anything more than a gtx560ti at that resolution, so in other words, you wont notice a difference in performance between gtx560 and gtx570/580 as your CPU is limiting the performance.

 

[simon12]

At 1080 I think a 6950 is as high as you need maybe the 6970 is you want it to last for years.

 

[sepayne21]

people often are worried about cpu bottlenecking with good reason; however, it is not the GPU that bottlenecks the cpu. It is the game that bottlenecks the CPU. for a very graphically intensive game, the gpu will be the bottleneck. for a cpu intensive game, the cpu will be the bottleneck.

here's the test. lower your graphics settings to min and lower your rez to lowest your monitor supports. If the game is smooth enough for your liking and framerates are high enough for your liking, then you're set. This will determine whether or not your CPU is powerful enough for the game. if that is the case, then you can buy whatever gpu you want and the max out the graphics settings.

 

[lukerbes]

Hello, and welcome to THG.

I would actually say it might bottleneck. My opinion is what you feel comfortable with. What is your primary use? what programs do you run?

Well my primary use is for really hardcore graphics. I wanna be able to play games like metro 2033 and the crysis saga and nextgen games with enthusiast graphics so that would be it. Of course that the best thing to do would be to buy a new platform (1366 or 1155 with sandybridge) but you know that the budget is a bit low for something like that.

I have tried to overclock my cpu but the problem is that it has a 1333 mhz of FSB (old stuff ja) and the motherboard supports a maximum of 1333 mhz of FSB so it leaves me with no choice. What I mean is that if I overclock it I am pushing very hard on the capacity of MHZ that the motherboard allows me to (Front side bus). In one case at 2,66 ghz the fsb already is at 1333 mhz so imagine what happens if I push the cpu to 3.0 ghz. It goes to at least 1500 mhz which is more than the supported fsb bandwith.

Do you think that a good cooler or fan would help me with a "heating problem" like this or it is just a waste of time? I have already told you that I wanna play my games with hardcore graphics between 50 and 60 fps.

Thanks man

 

[lukerbes]

Could anyone suggest or say something else please? what do you people think? will it get bottlenecked or not? Will it be really good to buy a gtx 580 or 590 or is it just a lost case? lol

 

[dogman_1234]

Well my primary use is for really hardcore graphics. I wanna be able to play games like metro 2033 and the crysis saga and nextgen games with enthusiast graphics so that would be it. Of course that the best thing to do would be to buy a new platform (1366 or 1155 with sandybridge) but you know that the budget is a bit low for something like that.

I have tried to overclock my cpu but the problem is that it has a 1333 mhz of FSB (old stuff ja) and the motherboard supports a maximum of 1333 mhz of FSB so it leaves me with no choice. What I mean is that if I overclock it I am pushing very hard on the capacity of MHZ that the motherboard allows me to (Front side bus). In one case at 2,66 ghz the fsb already is at 1333 mhz so imagine what happens if I push the cpu to 3.0 ghz. It goes to at least 1500 mhz which is more than the supported fsb bandwith.

Do you think that a good cooler or fan would help me with a "heating problem" like this or it is just a waste of time? I have already told you that I wanna play my games with hardcore graphics between 50 and 60 fps.

Thanks man

Try to raise the FSB. my FSB for my computer is rated at 1333 and I have it set up to more than 1400. Try 1400 with about an extra .5 volts on the vCore. if it is running for about 24 hours with no BSOD, go to 1500 @ an extra .5 volts at the Vcore.

Get a desent cooler when overclocking. Go with the Hyper 212+ cooler.

 

[lukerbes]

Yeah but what about the bottleneck? If I overclock to 3 or 3.2 ghz will I be ok to buy a gtx 580/590? or should I buy a 560/570?

 

[lukerbes]

the bottleneck is what´s bothering me.

 

[dogman_1234]

^ You should be fine. As someone has said;

"It is the program that bottlenecks the CPU/GPU."

you should be fine.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Could anyone suggest or say something else please? what do you people think? will it get bottlenecked or not? Will it be really good to buy a gtx 580 or 590 or is it just a lost case? lol

the bottleneck is what´s bothering me.

Bumping threads is what bothers me, so don't.

Don't...
Bump posts

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/283384-33-read-first

 

[lukerbes]

Bumping threads is what bothers me, so don't.

Don't...
Bump posts

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/283384-33-read-first

I don´t understand what you mean. Don´t what?

 

[Mousemonkey]

I don´t understand what you mean. Don´t what?

Making a post with the sole intention of getting your thread to the top of the list, don't do it.

 

[lukerbes]

Best answer selected by lukerbes.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey