Best cpu for Radeon hd 3850 ? trying to avoid bottlenecking

[neonfire1981]

I have a Radeon HD 3850. I want to know what is the best Core 2 duo / Core 2 quad to pair it up with ? I don't want to just pair up the fastest cpu I can afford, I'd like to pair it up with a cpu that will ensure that neither the cpu nor the 3850 is bottlenecking the other. Any idea's ?

 

[Deleted member 4644]

I think almost any Core 2 duo will not bottleneck it. Forget Quads for gaming unless you have the cash to burn. Something like a 2.66ghz core 2 will not bottleneck it at all.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115206

Something like this would be plenty. Personally, I would get the e8400 though.

 

[yh125d]

The 3850 would bottleneck pretty much any C2D. My e7200 at stock (midrange C2D) is bottlenecked by my 9800GT (although I really don't like the term bottleneck)

 

[LoneNinja]

Personally I don't think any of the C2D will bottleneck it, the 3850 is a fairly weak card. The 4670 swaps blows with it and a 9600GT will consistently beat it.

 

[imported_Scoop]

One is always bottlenecking the other. That's just life. Why not just ensure you are totally GPU-bound and get the fastest chip you can afford?

 

[Marty502]

Yeah, don't sweat it. No such thing as a "perfectly balanced" rig, always games strain your computer in different ways.

Don't plan for avoiding bottlenecks, plan for it as being as fast as you can within your budget.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Scoop
One is always bottlenecking the other. That's just life. Why not just ensure you are totally GPU-bound and get the fastest chip you can afford?

Agreed. Although OP fails (FTL) to mention game/app and video resolution. Totally vague.

 

[neonfire1981]

Thanks for the advice everyone ! I'll probably swing for an e6300 wolfdale, and accept that I can't balance it perfectly, but this should be alright for the money !

 

[Denithor]

You gotta remember also - games will bottleneck differently on any given system.

Crysis brings a GPU to its knees but doesn't hardly take advantage of a quad. Run WoW on the same system and the GPU takes a vacation while the CPU, RAM & HDD get pushed until they cry.

I know this because in most games I play I have to turn off my F@H GPU client or the game runs jerky with very low fps. When playing WoW I generally see no difference in fps between running the client and not - meaning that WoW is not taxing my GPU at all. (I have seen one or two WUs that do strain the GPU to the point it affects WoW fps - if I happen to get one of those I have to turn off the client in order to have a smooth game.)

EDIT: The point. I forgot to make my point. :laugh: Because different games are going to hit different bottlenecks on any given system, your best bet is what was suggested here - grab as much CPU as you can so that is less likely to cause any slowdowns. The new e6300 is an excellent choice from that perspective. Are you sure it is compatible with your motherboard?

 

[neonfire1981]

I don't have a motherboard for it yet. I have a 3850 card in anti-static wrapping So I guess that could be my next question, but it'd be best to start that discussion on another post I think.