Will a GTX 550 Ti bottleneck my current CPU?

[Pepto]

I currently have a AMD Athlon 64 x2 5200+ Brisbane (OC to 3Ghz) and a GT 430 and I am able to play all my games at max settings with tessellation off, but I want a little more power. I know this is a Old CPU, but I have heard that the amount of cores on a CPU doesn't matter to most games because most only use 2 cores anyways, so the Ghz is what really matters.

So I was wondering if a GTX 550 Ti (Specifically this one http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=41125&RSort=4&csid=ITD&body=#ReviewStart) would bottleneck my current CPU. I can overclock my CPU to 3.3Ghz before I run into problems if I must.

 

[shadow187]

The problem is that, it's not the cycles, it's the overall processing power. No matter how fast you get that Athlon 64, a GTX550 won't submit to it.

It's time for an upgrade.

 

[esrever]

you won't run into too much problems but the 550 tis are extremely over priced. you can get a 6770 for more performance and less money.

 

[megamanx00]

A 550Ti is a little faster than a cheaper 6770 in general, but it's slower than the 6790 or GTX 460 which cost the same. So yeah, a 550ti isn't the best buy. Anyway, with few exceptions many modern games show a benefit with at least a third core. I clocked my old Brisbane at about 3.2Ghz and even then it was a little limiting for two 3850s at 1680x1050. It just depends on the games and settings, but yes I would say that in general your CPU would limit a 6770 or better card (and in general the 550ti is slightly better).

 

[esrever]

A 550Ti is a little faster than a cheaper 6770 in general, but it's slower than the 6790 or GTX 460 which cost the same. So yeah, a 550ti isn't the best buy. Anyway, with few exceptions many modern games show a benefit with at least a third core. I clocked my old Brisbane at about 3.2Ghz and even then it was a little limiting for two 3850s at 1680x1050. It just depends on the games and settings, but yes I would say that in general your CPU would limit a 6770 or better card (and in general the 550ti is slightly better).

the 6770 is the same as a 5770 and performs better than the 550 ti generally

 

[FunSurfer]

the 6770 is the same as a 5770 and performs better than the 550 ti generallyhttp://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image//skymtl/GPU/GTX-550/GTX-550-64.jpg

The table you posted shows that the 550Ti generally performs better than the 5770

 

[4745454b]

Doh!

The 550TI and 5770 are right at the edge of what I'd pair with a Athlonx2. As mentioned however there are better buys for the $$$. Also as mentioned it's time for an upgrade.

 

[vitornob]

the 6770 is the same as a 5770 and performs better than the 550 ti generallyhttp://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image//skymtl/GPU/GTX-550/GTX-550-64.jpg

This graphic shows that the 550 Ti is better than 5770, the percentage is how much better the 550 Ti is. (Take as example the negative percentage comparing to 6850)

 

[vitornob]

Even my 9600GT got a major bottleneck when I paired it with a Athlonx X2 4400+

 

[Pepto]

What do you all suggest the best graphics card to be pared with my current CPU? Or is a 430GT perfect for the CPU?

 

[jitpublisher]

What you have now is fine for your CPU. Before you put anymore money into your current build, you need to think about a CPU upgrade. The old Athlon X2's are simply past their prime, and they are pretty slow compared to modern CPUs. I have had 3 X2's in the past, starting back in about 2006? I think? and I upgraded from the last one nearly 2 years ago to a Phenom x4 (I have since even upgraded from that)

 

[4745454b]

You could do better then the GT430. An old 9800GT or GTS250 might be a good idea. The problem is throwing $$$ at that old machine. Things faster then a GTS250, GTS450, or 4850/5750 simply won't act like you'd think. They need faster CPUs.

 

[Pepto]

Best answer selected by Pepto.

 

[need4speeds]

I had a 6000+/4870 system, but my msi am2 board died when some caps burnt.
I sold the 6000+/mem instead of buying a new board to repair it. Someone with a am2 sempron system was pretty happy to find the top model am2 cpu.
I had a 939-x2-4400+@2.65ghz/crossfire board/mem left over from my living room pc that was upgraded to a A6-3650/crossfire 4870's.
I used the x2-4400+ with my hd-4870.

Some newer games need a quad core and the a6 proved to be about 3x faster than the x2.

-Before spending money on a card i would at least check the board and see how the caps look first. It's pretty old and if you see bulged caps its time is almost done anyway just like my 6000+.

-You might want to consider the future upgrade path before buying a card.
Because you already have a gt430, later on you could get a sli board/i5-2500k.
A 560ti now would be nice to reuse with a future quad core.
On a sli board you can reuse your gt430 as a dedicated physx card.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey