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Started by ls1 | | 23 answers
I have a Q6600 OC'd @ 3.0ghz and I'm looking to upgrade my video card. I'm stuck between a GTX 750 ti and a GTX 660. I've been told my CPU will "bottleneck" these cards, but that either should still be an improvement over my current GTX 285. I can get both at the same price, so I'm trying to squeeze out the best possible performance out of my machine (this is the last upgrade I'll do before I rebuild a new PC in the future).
My question is, do bottleneck actually negatively affect my performance i.e. make it worse than it is? Or does it just LIMIT my performance to a certain point. Will the 750 ti and the 660 both performance exactly the same on my system, or will the 660 actually make my computer perform WORSE because there is "more of a bottleneck" as its a more powerful card?
My question is, do bottleneck actually negatively affect my performance i.e. make it worse than it is? Or does it just LIMIT my performance to a certain point. Will the 750 ti and the 660 both performance exactly the same on my system, or will the 660 actually make my computer perform WORSE because there is "more of a bottleneck" as its a more powerful card?
MeteorsRaining
October 17, 2014 8:57:42 PM
ls1
October 17, 2014 3:53:01 PM
Thanks man, but I ended up ordering the EVGA 750 Ti FTW version. Size shouldn't be an issue either way, I have a full-tower NZXT. Card should be here in a few days, pretty excited to run some of my games above very low settings for once and finally actually play Alien: Isolation
.
Thanks again for the help everyone!
.Thanks again for the help everyone!
Joseph DeGarmo
October 17, 2014 11:31:45 AM
This GTX 750 Ti is cheaper and a lot more compact, but still packs a punch.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Novuake
October 17, 2014 11:23:20 AM
Joseph DeGarmo said:
http://www.hwcompare.com/17385/geforce-gtx-285-1gb-vs-g...Ad this is why HWCompare and GPUBoss is to be avoided. LOL
MeteorsRaining
October 17, 2014 11:20:55 AM
huilun02
October 17, 2014 11:19:22 AM
ls1
October 17, 2014 11:18:09 AM
Ordering it right now Meteors
Gracodona: I definitely plan on rebuilding, but it won't be for about a year. Even then, I'm going to give this current PC to my girlfriend and I want it to at least be able to handle modern gaming.
With the 285 I can't get DayZ SA above 15 FPS on lowest settings and my computer won't even boot Alien Isolation because the card isn't DX11 capable. I've seen some videos of OC'd q6600 and 750 ti rigs running both those games on ULTRA with smooth frames, so I'm hoping it improves my gaming experience significantly.
Gracodona: I definitely plan on rebuilding, but it won't be for about a year. Even then, I'm going to give this current PC to my girlfriend and I want it to at least be able to handle modern gaming.
With the 285 I can't get DayZ SA above 15 FPS on lowest settings and my computer won't even boot Alien Isolation because the card isn't DX11 capable. I've seen some videos of OC'd q6600 and 750 ti rigs running both those games on ULTRA with smooth frames, so I'm hoping it improves my gaming experience significantly.
FashionablyLate
October 17, 2014 11:17:21 AM
What you could experience is low(er) frames per second and/or high frame time (ghosting) if either your CPU or GPU is the cause of the problem. Either way, you're going to get a LIMIT, rather than a performance loss.
Bottlenecking is not really the best term for what you're wanting to know, but people use it anyway. I would use the term "choke point" before 'bottleneck'. A 'choke point' happens when either the CPU or GPU has to wait for the other to finish its work before continuing. Think of sitting in your car at a toll booth that only has 2 lanes and 20 cars are waiting. The tellers can only handle 1 car at a time and only 2 cars total. Either lane you're in, you still have to wait until 9 cars are through before you get to the booth. Now think of a toll booth with 10 lanes and 20 cars. Now you only have to wait for 1 other car, so the process is faster.
When a game sends information about a frame to the CPU, the CPU processes it and sends it to the GPU to render it. If your CPU is 'faster' than the GPU, it will still process the next frame, but has to wait for the GPU to finish and accept more information before it can continue onto the next one. On the flip side, if your GPU can render and output the frame faster than the CPU can process it, it has to sit and wait for the CPU to finish and hand it off to be rendered.
Keep in mind that certain types of games use different resources. An MMO, for example is going to naturally be more CPU 'heavy' because there is more going on, on screen. Whereas a single player, non-online game, is going to be more GPU 'heavy'. So it really depends on what you're going to do more.
I know I'm late to answer, but hope this helps.
*Other hardware and software can cause this as well, not just CPU's and GPU's, since there is always (however minor) a choke point to consider. System RAM, GPU memory bandwidth and amount, and PCI bandwidth are all things to consider.
Bottlenecking is not really the best term for what you're wanting to know, but people use it anyway. I would use the term "choke point" before 'bottleneck'. A 'choke point' happens when either the CPU or GPU has to wait for the other to finish its work before continuing. Think of sitting in your car at a toll booth that only has 2 lanes and 20 cars are waiting. The tellers can only handle 1 car at a time and only 2 cars total. Either lane you're in, you still have to wait until 9 cars are through before you get to the booth. Now think of a toll booth with 10 lanes and 20 cars. Now you only have to wait for 1 other car, so the process is faster.
When a game sends information about a frame to the CPU, the CPU processes it and sends it to the GPU to render it. If your CPU is 'faster' than the GPU, it will still process the next frame, but has to wait for the GPU to finish and accept more information before it can continue onto the next one. On the flip side, if your GPU can render and output the frame faster than the CPU can process it, it has to sit and wait for the CPU to finish and hand it off to be rendered.
Keep in mind that certain types of games use different resources. An MMO, for example is going to naturally be more CPU 'heavy' because there is more going on, on screen. Whereas a single player, non-online game, is going to be more GPU 'heavy'. So it really depends on what you're going to do more.
I know I'm late to answer, but hope this helps.
*Other hardware and software can cause this as well, not just CPU's and GPU's, since there is always (however minor) a choke point to consider. System RAM, GPU memory bandwidth and amount, and PCI bandwidth are all things to consider.
MeteorsRaining
October 17, 2014 11:11:37 AM
ls1
October 17, 2014 11:10:12 AM
Just so you guys know the exact cards I'm comparing, here are the links:
750 ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
660: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
And here's the 285 I'm currently using: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
750 ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
660: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
And here's the 285 I'm currently using: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
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