Will my processor bottleneck a 460 GTX?

[Chrisco90]

Hi all,
I just built a system for my college class (which I get to keep). I'm doing some upgrading, and want to know how far I can push it.

Specs (off the top of my head):

Processor: AMD Athlon 7850 Dual-core 2.80 GHz (able to overclock to around 3.6 GHz, just haven't gotten around to it, yet)

PSU: 400W

Integrated Graphics: ATI Radeon 2100


Those are the basics. I just want to know if my CPU will end up bottle-necking the 460GTX if I end up buying it, as compared to a GTS 450. I don't want to spend an extra $120 for the card and a larger PSU if I can't utilize it to the point where it would actually be worth the money.

 

[Dominaz1]

Yes, it would(not much). at What resolution do you play?
I would buy a GTS 450 / ATI 5750.

 

[Chrisco90]

I haven't played anything on this system, yet, since the integrated graphics is so terrible (Starcraft 2 is unplayable on low settings, low resolution).

I am purchasing a 20" LCD monitor as well, though, and would like to play on the highest resolution possible without experiencing any lagging.

 

[Dominaz1]

What´s the brandname of your PSU? Could you take a picture of it?
With your PSU, and CPU, the best thing you can do is to buy a 5750 / GTS450.
You could play any game on medium settings.(but not at high resolutions...)

 

[Chrisco90]

I actually now have a 550W PSU, so power isn't an issue right now.

 

[nforce4max]

I actually now have a 550W PSU, so power isn't an issue right now.

What 550w unit did you buy? If you bought a very high quality unit or something like what I got then power shouldn't be an issue but if a cheap generic then problems.

 

[Chrisco90]

All of the power usage calculators point me at around 420 or so.
Here's the PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

 

[nforce4max]

All of the power usage calculators point me at around 420 or so.
Here's the PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

Never use power calculators as the figures they use are always a subject of debate or question. As for the unit you did rather ok, I would have aimed for a higher efficiency unit but this will run a gtx 460.

 

[Chrisco90]

I'll keep that in mind. The card itself recommends at least a 400W PSU, so I figured I'd be safe. So I won't be able to fully utilize the GTX 460, but I'm much better off getting that instead of the GTS 450. Am I right in that statement?

 

[nforce4max]

I'll keep that in mind. The card itself recommends at least a 400W PSU, so I figured I'd be safe. So I won't be able to fully utilize the GTX 460, but I'm much better off getting that instead of the GTS 450. Am I right in that statement?

The card does not recommend any thing. Stock figures for the gtx 460 768mb is 150 at reference clocks and 160 for the 1gb at the same clocks. Differences from there depend on the quality of the sample so some may actually use less or the same power at higher clocks.