Ati 6870

[melwynne]

Hello, I am about to upgrade my video card from 9600 gt to Ati 6870.

My current specs are:

q8300 Intel quad 2.50ghz
2 GB ram
Motherboard: Asrock 4core 1333glan

... am i going to bottleneck my pc?

 

[melwynne]

Anyone?

 

[Supernova1138]

You will hit a bit of a bottleneck with your CPU unless you overclock it to 3 GHz. That said, you would still get a large performance boost with a 6870 over the 9600 GT without overclocking your CPU, unless you are running at a lower resolution eg. 1280x1024 or lower. You may want to upgrade to 4GB of RAM in the near future. You didn't state your OS but trying to game on 2GB on Vista/7 is going to cause performance issues, RAM would also be a bit tight under XP on some titles.

 

[melwynne]

I might upgrade my RAM soon to 4GB. Also I am running my PC on Windows XP.

 

[melwynne]

Also, can anyone give me any advice on how i might be able to overclock my CPU. I am rather new to overclocking and i am willing to try it out.

 

[ammu_10]

Overclocking a CPU is easy.Just go to the BIOS.Then in the 'advanced' tab,increase the FSB value by 10.Then save the settings and if the computer works fine,then repeat this step.When your computer does not boot,go to the bios and change the FSB to the last value at which it was stable.Thus the frequency of your CPU increases.It is a safe method to overclock which will not damage your components.I think you will be able to overclock it to 3ghz.My 2.93 ghz Cpu overclocked till3.42ghz.
Happy overclocking.

 

[HostileDonut]

Well, put a few bucks into RAM, and if your computer is OEM, then no OC. If it is OEM, grab a hd 5830. When OCing, grab a decent cooler like a Corsair A70.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447&cm_re=hd_5770-_-14-150-447-_-Product

OCing is potentially dangerous, but if you do it right, then you will be golden. By raising your FSB or BCLK (Front Side Bus and Base Clock) you can overclock. When you raise your FSB, you can fry your RAM, so the first step is to put your RAM down a step. e.g. 800Mhz RAM to 667Mhz, 667Mhz RAM to 533Mhz. Then when you OC, it will bring your RAM near the stock performance. Raise your FSB a few mhz at a time, and then your multiplier will bring your CPU clock up. Your multiplier just multipliers your FSB. So 200Mhz FSB x 15 multiplier = 3Ghz. So, you might need to raise your voltage. Here is the safe voltage: 0.8500V-1.3625V By raising your voltages, you can achieve a more stable overclock. So, after you turn down your RAM and turn up the FSB, you will also want to put up your northbridge a bit. Now you have put your RAM speeds down, FSB up a little, and southbridge up a bit, you run a stress test.

My favorite: http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download

Run that for four hours with Large Data Test and Priority Normal. If it passes, your clear. Keep adding your CPU FSB Mhz little by little until you start getting crashes when booting. If you can get 3Ghz, your golden. Remember, it can be dangerous, so don't go all crazy. Also download CPU-Z to monitor your CPU settings.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Don't run a stress test every time you boot. I would say if you can achieve 2.8Ghz, run a test and then keep going. Watch some youtube videos too. I hope this helped!

 

[HostileDonut]

Overclocking a CPU is easy.Just go to the BIOS.Then in the 'advanced' tab,increase the FSB value by 10.Then save the settings and if the computer works fine,then repeat this step.When your computer does not boot,go to the bios and change the FSB to the last value at which it was stable.Thus the frequency of your CPU increases.It is a safe method to overclock which will not damage your components.I think you will be able to overclock it to 3ghz.My 2.93 ghz Cpu overclocked till3.42ghz.
Happy overclocking.

There are a lot more things, such as RAM and voltages to worry about. Also, your northbridge will give you more bandwidth and a big performance increase.

 

[HostileDonut]

BY THE WAY, THE CORSAIR A70 IS A HUGE COOLER! MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SPACE!!!!!!!! If not, get a CM 212+.

 

[melwynne]

I'm about to try OC'ing my CPU. Although the cooler i have is Ice edge 400 xt. Is that good enough? Also i have a Raptor HEC 500w PSU. Just wanna know if those parts are good enough. Thanks again.

 

[HostileDonut]

I'm about to try OC'ing my CPU. Although the cooler i have is Ice edge 400 xt. Is that good enough? Also i have a Raptor HEC 500w PSU. Just wanna know if those parts are good enough. Thanks again.

HEC doesn't make great PSUs, but I would try it. I don't know about that cooler, but try it and see. you Only need .5Ghz more before you stop the bottleneck.