Will a Radeon HD 7850 bottleneck my CPU?

[Dave178]

So i was thinking of upgrading my GPU to an MSI Radeon 2GB 7850 Power Edition or an MSI Radeon 2GB 7850 Twin Frozr III or even an MSI Radeon 1GB 7850 Overclocked. I will be playing BF3 multiplayer (either 32 or 64 player servers) on medium or low settings and hopefully get around 35 or 45+fps at a 1920x1080 resolution. The CPU I am using is an Intel Core i3 2100. I was going to buy the 7850 Power Edition but I am worried that it will bottleneck my CPU.

Your help is appreciated.

Many thanks.

 

[manofchalk]

If anything, other way around. Your CPU may become the bottleneck in large multiplayer games.

But no, your components are fairly balanced, don't have to worry about one bottlenecking the other.

 

[Jay-Z]

You shouldn't have any major problems. If you are concerned, shut down as many other programs as possible. The i3 2100 was actually pretty good from what I have heard.

Get the Power Edition 2GB model, this will be great for your 2 monitor setup.

 

[refillable]

No. The GPU isn't supposed to bottleneck the CPU. It's the way around. I don't think you are going to run any problem. If you're worried though, you can get a cheaper i5 models, like i5-2300. For the GPU I think you should get the 2GB RAM model, because it'll be more future proof. I'm leaning towards the MSI Power Edition Model.

 

[Dave178]

Thanks for the help, what kind of a performance hit will i suffer if the CPU is bottlenecking the GPU because i was hoping to get around 45+fps, but if it is going to bottleneck in 64 player maps then would i still be able to sustain around 45+fps if i turn the settings down?

 

[refillable]

I think you're going to be fine.

 

[Dave178]

Would my CPU bottleneck the 7850 Power Edition in BF3 multiplayer only in 64 player server?

 

[refillable]

Couldn't be that sure, but I don't think it will.

 

[Jay-Z]

I highly doubt you will face a bottleneck. Your best bet is to get the graphics card suggested and then see what FPS you actually get. If you are only aiming for ~50 then you should be fine. Have Core Temp and CPU-Z running to see how much load is on the CPU and fraps to measure FPS. If they are all good and acceptable then happy days. If not, there is not much you can do other than upgrade.

 

[Dave178]

Thanks for your help

 

[Dave178]

How will i know when a bottleneck is occuring? If the CPU core speed reaches the limit on CPU-Z does that mean that it is bottlenecking?

 

[manofchalk]

No, the CPU frequency hitting its max just means it is being used.
If it is hitting 100% usage and staying there, then a CPU bottleneck may be occurring.

 

[Dave178]

Ok thanks