Bottleneck isssues

[kaustabh93]

Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 @ 2.66GHz
Graphics Card : nVidia GeForce 9400GT
Motherboard : Intel DG41RQ
Ram : 2Gb

If I upgrade my Graphics card to Radeon HD5870 and my RAM to 4 Gb, how much of a bottleneck will I be facing from the Processor?

Should I go for the upgrade?

P.S. My budget isn't high enough for a full revamp.

 

[alvine]

decent amount of bottleneck, make sure your psu can handle the card before purchase. you can limit the bottlenect by maxing out the graphics settings meaning if you play a game x on default medium settings and then you set the settings to high and see a small fps decrease or no change then thats ur bottleneck

 

[Sunius]

Is there a reason you're upgrading to an ancient card like HD 5870? Are you getting it cheap?

 

[kaustabh93]

Is there a reason you're upgrading to an ancient card like HD 5870? Are you getting it cheap?

Yes I'm getting it pretty cheap. and since my 9400GT is even more ancient so I'm missing out on the new games. SO I am looking for a configuration which allows me to upgrade to a system which would allow me to play games at least for the next 3years. And my budget is not very high so please do suggest some low budget upgrades.

 

[Sunius]

If you're getting it cheaper than $150, it's probably the best deal you can get. Make sure to check whether your power supply will be able to power it up, though.

 

[mactronix]

You want to be looking at a card in the performance bracket around the HD 7750 or the GTX 550Ti as a maximum to reduce any restrictions your CPU will cause. Of course you should really Over clock the CPU if possible. That would be roughly a 5770 in the 5 series line up.

What resolution are you gaming at ? A higher resolution tends to take the focus from the CPU and even things up across lower and higher performing CPU's. 1920 x 1080 would be good.

Mactronix

 

[Lord Captivus]

What resolution are you gaming at ? A higher resolution tends to take the focus from the CPU and even things up across lower and higher performing CPU's. 1920 x 1080 would be good.

Mactronix

Im no expert...but i didnt know that...mmm...

On-Topic: Like everybody is saying, check the PSU and try to get the best GPU you can afford. Eventually you should change the CPU.

 

[mactronix]

Im no expert...but i didnt know that...mmm...

On-Topic: Like everybody is saying, check the PSU and try to get the best GPU you can afford. Eventually you should change the CPU.

The Crysis performance charts in this link show it up really well.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-balanced-platform,2469-8.html

Its not that the weaker CPU is performing any better at a higher resolution, although in certain circumstances that can happen, its more the fact that things are much more demanding GPU wise and the CPU is not required to run as many calculations as the FPS has been dragged down due to the GPU struggling which means that a weaker CPU is often just as good FPS wise as a much better more expensive one.

Many people don't understand this properly and go on about "Bottlenecks" which are more correctly called restrictions, when in truth your probably talking about the difference between 50 and 60 FPS on two CPU's that are about £100/$100 difference price wise.


Mactronix

 

[Lord Captivus]

The Crysis performance charts in this link show it up really well.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-balanced-platform,2469-8.html

Its not that the weaker CPU is performing any better at a higher resolution, although in certain circumstances that can happen, its more the fact that things are much more demanding GPU wise and the CPU is not required to run as many calculations as the FPS has been dragged down due to the GPU struggling which means that a weaker CPU is often just as good FPS wise as a much better more expensive one.

Many people don't understand this properly and go on about "Bottlenecks" which are more correctly called restrictions, when in truth your probably talking about the difference between 50 and 60 FPS on two CPU's that are about £100/$100 difference price wise.


Mactronix

Thanks, i guess i theres a big differences between the GPU and the CPU, increasing the resolution wont decrease FPS so much, assuming the GPU is better than the CPU.