9800 GX2 find my Bottlekneck

[chevmaro]

So I currently have a C2D 6550 Asus 680i mobo 2GB Reaper Ram, 535 watt Enermax PSU, and an 8800 GTX.

I just got some new upgrades. I changed out the PSU for a PC Power and Cooling 750 and a EVGA 9800 GX2 video card. Everything else stayed the same.

After installing the new parts and formatting the hard drive I am very dissapointed to say that my Benchmarks as well as game performance seems the same. I was under the impression that a GX2 would be a substantial upgrade for my system.

What is wrong? Do I have a bottlekneck somewhere else in my system that is holding me back? C2D 6550 should be more then enough CPU wouldnt you think?

I am also running windows Vista and nothing is overclocked. Suggestions please.

 

[happy medium]

A9800gx2 is made for urber high resolutions. The bottleneck is probrobly your monitor. You should have a core 2 clocked at at least 3.2 also.

 

[JPB]

I'm guessing the cpu is the bottleneck. Is it stock or overclocked ? And what resolution do you game at ?

 

[error8]

No, C2D 6550 is not more then enough. But, the question is, what are the benchmarks that you're talking about? Do you refer at gaming, 3dmark , be more specific.

 

[chevmaro]

The 8800 on 3d Mark 05 was like 13,700 and GX2 was like 15,000. The 3d mark 06 on the 8800 was 10,076 and the GX2 was like 10,800. And the resolution is like 1900 x1080 (not sure exactly on the 1900) but its just the trial version so I think it benchmarks like at 1280x1024 by default and I cannot change it. I also notice lower frame rates in some games. World of Warcraft which I play alot. My monitor is a 52 inch 1080p.

 

[Cuular]

Yeah, you need a good 3.0Ghz or higher to push that card. So unless you are overclocked to 3.0 or above, that's your bottle neck.

 

[error8]

In 3d mark, the cpu is pretty clear a bottleneck. By increasing its frequency, you'll surely see quite a big improvement in scores . 3.2 ghz like others suggested, should be the sweet spot, but with wow might be another reason, maybe something related to drivers or the game doesn't like the double GPU card.

 

[Munky]

Forget about 3dmark. Run some modern games like Crysis or COD4 and see if you notice improvement. WOW is not graphically intensive, so you may not see any difference there.

 

[v8envy]

2.33 ghz dual core with 2 gigs of ram + windows vista is not going to cut it trying to feed two hungry GPUs at a relatively low res of 1920x1080 (2M pixels). That's a setup to drive 2560x1600 (4M pixels, or double the work required to feed your resolution).

A 9800gx2 was not as much of an upgrade from an 8800GTX at your target resolution as your wallet may lead you to believe. In fact I'm not surprised in some cases you're experiencing degraded performance.

 

[chevmaro]

Ok, so I think I will now upgrade my CPU. What would be a good upgrade for me to compliment the rest of my system? Should I get a quad core and slap it into my current board? Or should I go for a new PCIE 2.0 board and a newer cpu? Lets say I have about $400-500 to spend what would you recommend?

 

[riddlen]

yup, CPU fo sho.

 

[Chronoshock]

Spend money on aftermarket cooling first (a TRUE for example, check the Cases & Cooling forum for more suggestions). See what kind of improvements you'll get through overclocking. Even if you choose to upgrade to a better chip, whatever you get for cooling can be used on that too.

 

[happy medium]

GA-P35-DS3L v.2
e8400 @3.6

That will do the trick!

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: happy medium
GA-P35-DS3L v.2
e8400 @3.6

That will do the trick!

Or he could just overclock his e6550 to around 3.2 ghz, maybe it's a lucky chip and could even touch 3,6 ghz and that with only spending 30-50$ on a better heatsink.

 

[chevmaro]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: happy medium
GA-P35-DS3L v.2
e8400 @3.6

That will do the trick!

Or he could just overclock his e6550 to around 3.2 ghz, maybe it's a lucky chip and could even touch 3,6 ghz and that with only spending 30-50$ on a better heatsink.

I think I should try this before getting new parts and wasting more money. You think I can get the 680i to go 3+ ghz?

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: chevmaro

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: happy medium
GA-P35-DS3L v.2
e8400 @3.6

That will do the trick!

Or he could just overclock his e6550 to around 3.2 ghz, maybe it's a lucky chip and could even touch 3,6 ghz and that with only spending 30-50$ on a better heatsink.

I think I should try this before getting new parts and wasting more money. You think I can get the 680i to go 3+ ghz?

No doubt about it. You just need a good cooler for that.

 

[mhouck]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: chevmaro

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: happy medium
GA-P35-DS3L v.2
e8400 @3.6

That will do the trick!

Or he could just overclock his e6550 to around 3.2 ghz, maybe it's a lucky chip and could even touch 3,6 ghz and that with only spending 30-50$ on a better heatsink.

I think I should try this before getting new parts and wasting more money. You think I can get the 680i to go 3+ ghz?

No doubt about it. You just need a good cooler for that.

clock it up. That will help. There is a 9800 GX2 article on anand (I think its the one reviewing quad sli) that show performance gains with the increased cpu speed.

If you are using crysis as a benchmark, you see gains with quad core. I was overclocking my e6400 to 2.95 and getting inconsistent fps. I was running somewhere between 22 fps - 36 fps in game. When I put in the quad at stock I was getting 32 fps- 42 fps and I think I hit 52 fps a few times. These are at 1920x1200 all at high settings.

q6600 and a6700 are getting cheap and compatable with the 680i. I bought my q6700 for $259 at tiger.

 

[TC91]

Originally posted by: mhouck

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: chevmaro

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: happy medium
GA-P35-DS3L v.2
e8400 @3.6

That will do the trick!

Or he could just overclock his e6550 to around 3.2 ghz, maybe it's a lucky chip and could even touch 3,6 ghz and that with only spending 30-50$ on a better heatsink.

I think I should try this before getting new parts and wasting more money. You think I can get the 680i to go 3+ ghz?

No doubt about it. You just need a good cooler for that.

clock it up. That will help. There is a 9800 GX2 article on anand (I think its the one reviewing quad sli) that show performance gains with the increased cpu speed.

If you are using crysis as a benchmark, you see gains with quad core. I was overclocking my e6400 to 2.95 and getting inconsistent fps. I was running somewhere between 22 fps - 36 fps in game. When I put in the quad at stock I was getting 32 fps- 42 fps and I think I hit 52 fps a few times. These are at 1920x1200 all at high settings.

q6600 and a6700 are getting cheap and compatable with the 680i. I bought my q6700 for $259 at tiger.

a little bit off topic and dont mean to hijack thread but i was wondering how high of an fsb can your p6n run with prime 95 small fft's stability and what clock speeds is your q6700 running at on your p6n and with what temperatures and volts? i was considering upgrading to the q6700 and i see that it is 259 @ tigerdirect canada, so i would like an idea of how high i could clock it. this might help the OP too if he decides to go with the q6600/q6700 route.

as for the OP, as long as you clock your e6550 to at least 3ghz+ you should be ok @ a 1920x1200 resolution, but your cpu is extremely multiplier limited which might make overclocking a little bit hard. most 680i's should do ~450fsb with relative ease, and peak around the 480fsb range on average from the reviews that i have read (for dual cores). also make sure to use the latest drivers from nvidia's site, and not the ones that come on the CD with the card.

 

[ShadowFlareX]

Yep CPU is definitely the bottleneck. Toms Hardware has recently explained how the Core 2's scale with current GPUs. Unfortunately they didn't test the 9800GX2, but it'll give you an idea.

Tom's Hardware

 

[BFG10K]

Ok, so I think I will now upgrade my CPU.

Before you do that, try some games at high AA levels.

Also did you install your chipset drivers after a reformat?