Will a Quad Core 2.4 Q6600 bottleneck an ATI 6850?

[cheezo99]

unfortuntatly it came prebuilt so i CAN NOT overclock it ):
and i can not afford a new mobo either ):

id like to play games like GTA4 and Metro 2033 on my 1920x1200 24inch monitor, medium-high settings would be okay for me

so anyways, is it worth getting a graphics card?

or shud i just go into a corner and cry?

 

[cheezo99]

i read on another board that a 6770 would be a safer bet. What does he mean by this? that a 6770 will not bottleneck me thus i may get less bottleneck hiccup/lags?

 

[Overclocked Toaster]

bottlenecking simply means you are not using your video card to its full potential, and will be held back by other components like cpu. to simplify things a bit, your system is only as good as the weakest component in it. the relaitve importance of a graphics card or CPU will depend greatly on the game. In your case, a 6850 may be your bottleneck in some cases, while the q6600 will bottleneck you in other cases. I dont know what your current graphcis card is, but getting a 6850 is not at all a bad idea, and I would encourage you to do it if you have a sufficiently powerful PSU. the q6600 is still a decent processor, and most games are GPU dependent at your resolution anyway.

As for getting a 6770, what he simply meant was that you would be saving money by getting a 6770 since you may not benefit from a 6850 due to it bottlenecking you. Having a CPU bottleneck will not give you hiccup or lags. I would disregard his advice. A 6850 would make a decent match with your processor, and you would definitely get an improvement over a 6770.

what is your current graphics card?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

im using a 6850 with a core 2 duo e6600 (overclocked to 3.2ghz). Honestly at 1920x1200 resolution i would even get a 6870 or 6950 to get good fps regardless of what cpu you have

 

[simon12]

+1 at your resolution the CPU should not be a big if any bottleneck, make sure your power supply can handle it or you could kill your whole system.

 

[mactronix]

Stick with the 6850, its actually quite a good balance for your resolution and the majority of todays games. Yes its a pain in the butt that you cant Over clock it but to be honest its not going to be any kind of issue that you will actually notice.

Mactronix

 

[Tamz_msc]

There will be no bottlenecks at that resolution. Just make sure that the power supply is good enough.

 

[cheezo99]

Thanks guys for all your help

Hey Overclocked Toaster, i have a GeForce 9300 GE. The resolution it allows me to play L4D2 makes me feel like i am playing a game from the 80's. xD

 

[cheezo99]

Best answer selected by cheezo99.