Is my system bottlenecking?

[Gaphiltfish]

Hello, I am wondering if some components of my computer are causing me to bottleneck in games. If you think that is the case, then some advice on what to purchase would be appreciated.

GPU: XFX 4890
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad q8300 2.5 GHz
RAM: 8 GB 666.7 MHz (PC3-10600)
Motherboard: PEGATRON CORPORATION Eureka3 (Intel G43 (Eaglelake-G)
HDDs: WDC WD5000AAKS-65V0A0 Serial ATA 3Gb/s & Seagate ST3500413AS Serial ATA 6Gb/s

I currently do my gaming at a 1280 by 1024 resolution with settings maxed, or very close to max, AA at X4, AF at X16. I swear, the frames per second could be better, and I think the culprit is my CPU. Any ideas?

 

[joshernater9]

I mean, its obviously not new. but gaming hardly needs the cpu. Your GPU is rather old, I suggest upgrading it, and it wouldnt hurt to upgrade your cpu, but its not needed.

 

[capt_taco]

I don't really see much of a bottleneck there, not at that resolution. Unless you have the 512MB version of the 4890, in which case it could be with all the goodies turned up.

What on earth are you doing with DDR3 at 667 MHz? Sounds to me like you have the timings set wrong, or else a mismatched set that the motherboard doesn't know what to do with. I'd try using just the better pair of 4GB and see if you can get it to the rated speed, and see if that helps.

 

[JonnyDough]

Nobody thought to ask what games you're speaking of? Each game may use a different component more. Some games are more CPU heavy, others are more GPU heavy. Some require a CPU with a high ghz, others can make use of more cores.

Most games should run fine on that system. Are you using more than 4x AA?

It almost sounds to me that you need a fresh (and proper) installation of Windows. 9 times out of 10 people just don't have their PC set up right to game. I recommend tweakguides, it walks you through a lot. You can skip some of the more basic stuff if you know it.

 

[hyrule571]

Upgrade your CPU only IF you're not willing to invest in a newer system. If you're going to buy a new CPU look at a Q9550, or a Q9560. You may be lucky and stumble upon a cheap QX9650 or QX9770. Either way, if I were you I'd upgrade that CPU because believe it or not games do require a fast CPU for good framerate. A GPU can push it only so far until it starts getting dragged down by CPU limitations. It can occur vice versa, but in this case I do agree and I tend to side with swapping out that CPU for a better one. Look for those processors above on craigslist or eBay.

 

[Gaphiltfish]

Almost 1 yr. old thread. I got a 3570k, new RAM and Mobo, but I'm still stuck with the 4890 at 1280X1024. Games I enjoy atm are Shogun 2 and Battlefield 3, with a bit of Witcher 2 in there. Anyone selling a 6950 cheap? lol