Bottlenecking?

[DivineIncarnated]

I am planning on buying a 660ti, but I heard my computer might bottleneck that graphics card. I would love to hear a second opinion and maybe some other advice. I am really interested in playing The Witcher 2 on high settings 1080. My computer currently cant even play it with the lowest spec with low FPS.

Current PC Specs
Windows 7

AMD Radeon HD 6670 3/4 a GB (i believe)

AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.40 GHz Processor

6GB RAM

430W PSU ( I plan on upgrading this with my graphics card)

Within a year i plan on upgrading my CPU and motherboard to get in par with my graphics card, I am just very inexperienced and don't want to cause any problems. So some more advice would be really nice.

 

[dudewitbow]

if you overclock the 965BE a comfortable margin, I think you should be able to get away with a 660ti

 

[DivineIncarnated]

if you overclock the 965BE a comfortable margin, I think you should be able to get away with a 660ti

How dangerous is it for me to overclock it? I can def look into overclocking so I can give it a try. Just being so new to PCs I wouldnt want to make a mistake and ruin my system >_<

 

[dudewitbow]

dangerous is really dependent on chip and how careful the user is. some people dont like pushing their chips hard. others push them too fast.

 

[DivineIncarnated]

dangerous is really dependent on chip and how careful the user is. some people dont like pushing their chips hard. others push them too fast.

Lol im too inexperienced and poor to push it very hard. One more question for ya. Looking around I am seeing a lot of people saying AMD 7950 Sapphire boost is a better fit. Would the same bottlenecking question still apply to this card? I can figure out the overclocking once i decide on the card :3

 

[ipwn3r456]

Lol im too inexperienced and poor to push it very hard. One more question for ya. Looking around I am seeing a lot of people saying AMD 7950 Sapphire boost is a better fit. Would the same bottlenecking question still apply to this card? I can figure out the overclocking once i decide on the card :3

The HD 7950 would be a better choice, if you can spend a little more.

 

[DivineIncarnated]

Good good. Thanks both of you for the help. Think I am going to do the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202007

 

[DivineIncarnated]

Best answer selected by DivineIncarnated.

 

[geofelt]

I think your plan is reasonable.
But, to satisfy yourself, run this test:

Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely cpu limited.

 

[DivineIncarnated]

I think your plan is reasonable.
But, to satisfy yourself, run this test:

Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely cpu limited.

Thanks for that little test. Very easy way to check my cpu! And my FPS do go up a lot. Not so much on The Witcher 2 tho, I put it on rec settings (medium) and I get really low FPS, around 15. But When I put it on the lowest possible I only get around 20 FPS. But all my other games when lowered settings the FPS go up.