GeForce 8800 Needs The Fastest CPU

Percentage Change

Synthetics - 3DMark05

We decided to put the numbers in a simplified format to make clear what effects a faster CPU has on performance. Since we use games and synthetic benchmarks, each has a different impact on performance. Given that "real world" performance is what most users will experience on their systems, rather than an implied performance score, we weigh games more than a synthetic such as 3DMark.

3DMark sees a direct benefit from a more powerful processor. There is a clear, straight line reduction in the benefit of the new platform as the graphics card becomes the bottleneck for extra graphics performance. This can be seen in the difference between the Low Quality and High Quality charts. In the low quality tests, the graphics card was starved for information, which is indicated by a steep degradation in the line. As the graphics card becomes the limiting factor, the slope of the line becomes less steep, meaning that the new system setup has less of an impact on performance gains.