best cpu to run 8800gt

[slick2004]

I keep hearing that the 8800gt isnt being utilized with most of the cpu's out there, im running a amd x2 6400, is there a better cpu out there to max out my card???

 

[v8envy]

Lots of faster CPUs. Core 2 E6750 or higher (including all E8xxx series). QX9650. For a very small number of games a Phenom 9600 or Q6600 will also do better. Also any non-celeron core2 chip Intel makes once overclocked to 2.8ghz or so will not CPU bottleneck the 8800GT. The celerons OCd will trade blows with the 6400x2, so I wouldn't declare them a winner outright.

In reality a 3.2 ghz amd x2 should be enough for anything this side of Crysis. You're fine. It's the guys with 3600x2s that are starting to struggle. 2.9 ghz Optys are starting to grunt and strain, but are still keeping up the good fight.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: slick2004
I keep hearing that the 8800gt isnt being utilized with most of the cpu's out there, im running a amd x2 6400, is there a better cpu out there to max out my card???

No.

And at 3.2GHz your are far more likely to become I/O bound in the overwhelming majority of games and applications ...

 

[slick2004]

And at 3.2GHz your are far more likely to become I/O bound in the overwhelming majority of games and applications ...

what does that mean??

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: slick2004
And at 3.2GHz your are far more likely to become I/O bound in the overwhelming majority of games and applications ...

what does that mean??

It's a poor description of you being video card bottlenecked.

Now, with a faster cpu, you may be able to improve your minimum fps in certain situations, but with what you've got, I wouldn't worry about it for the time being.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

It means the biggest bottleneck in modern systems is still hard drive access time (I/O). And I agree at 3.2ghz your CPU is not bottlenecking you, yes a well overclocked C2D will give you a few more FPS on the high end but it will not be very noticable unless you run very low resolution.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
It means the biggest bottleneck in modern systems is still hard drive access time (I/O). And I agree at 3.2ghz your CPU is not bottlenecking you, yes a well overclocked C2D will give you a few more FPS on the high end but it will not be very noticable unless you run very low resolution.

Well, that is as true as can be, but shouldn't be hugely relevant to the subject at hand. As long as you have enough ram, the game will be as smooth as your cpu/video combo will allow during each level. The difference between the average new hdd, and the fastest hdds in RAID, won't affect game smoothness 99% of the time, but you'll load your next level in 3 seconds instead of 10, that kind of thing.

The exception to this is games that continually 'cache' or cross-load things while you're in active gameplay. Slow or moderate hdds will bog your game down in this case, but most of the time, adding memory aids hugely here. A great example of this is BF2. With 1GB or even 1.5GB, there's often a lot of 'choppiness' right after a new map is loaded, as the system shuffles things around to get it all going. 2GB or 2.5GB pretty much wipes out that choppiness.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: slick2004
And at 3.2GHz your are far more likely to become I/O bound in the overwhelming majority of games and applications ...

what does that mean??

Being I/O bound is the computer state where the cpu is idle while waiting for the rest of the system (ram, optical drives, hard drives, network, etc) to feed data across the memory bus.

Arkaign proved and 'qualfied' my I/O bound comment by his reference to system ram (and its potential to 'bottleneck' overall performance).

Thank you.

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Well, that is as true as can be, but shouldn't be hugely relevant to the subject at hand. As long as you have enough ram, the game will be as smooth as your cpu/video combo will allow during each level. The difference between the average new hdd, and the fastest hdds in RAID, won't affect game smoothness 99% of the time, but you'll load your next level in 3 seconds instead of 10, that kind of thing.

The exception to this is games that continually 'cache' or cross-load things while you're in active gameplay. Slow or moderate hdds will bog your game down in this case, but most of the time, adding memory aids hugely here. A great example of this is BF2. With 1GB or even 1.5GB, there's often a lot of 'choppiness' right after a new map is loaded, as the system shuffles things around to get it all going. 2GB or 2.5GB pretty much wipes out that choppiness.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: slick2004
And at 3.2GHz your are far more likely to become I/O bound in the overwhelming majority of games and applications ...

what does that mean??

It's a poor description of you being video card bottlenecked.

Now, with a faster cpu, you may be able to improve your minimum fps in certain situations, but with what you've got, I wouldn't worry about it for the time being.

No.

It was a statement of fact being relevant to the interaction between the gpu in question (8800gt) and the cpu in question ( a 3.2GHz X2 6400+) - regarding gaming and overall system performance. And it is quite relevant to the question at hand ... as noted by your comment concerning system ram (and disk I/O)

 

[cubeless]

having more cpu, faster bus speed, faster disk, etc... will just let the bottleneck move around...

in crysis @ 1680 widescreen the 8800gt is the bottleneck on my kid's 6750@3ghz... drop the res to 720p and now it's cpu/mem bus limited...

there is always a faster cpu, but can you take advantage of it? easy test is to run task manager perrformance tab (stretch the screen put horizontally to get more duration) for both cpus and play what u like to play then see if u r using all your cpu power...

i have a 2.5ghz x2 and a 3.2ghz e4500... with the same 8600gts at the same clocks and the same resolutions the 4500 gets better frame rates because it has more cache, faster memory, faster clock... it lets the 8600 be all that it can be...