Bottleneck question

[Udgnim]

not sure if this belongs in the VC or CPU forum

let's assume the CPU is a dual core. some games will usually peg a CPU at 100% and others will usually peg a GPU at 100%, but why will some games have both the CPU and GPU at less than 100%. what would be the reason for why the CPU or GPU not be running at max.

 

[toyota]

this is probably going to be a whole can of worms of a topic. as for cpus I know they dont have to be pegged at 100% to indicate a bottleneck. I can lower my cpu frequency and lose some performance but that doesnt always mean usage will go up much with the lower speed.

there are plenty of games that still run better on a quad that may only be at 70-75% usage on a dual core of the same speed and architecture. there are games that run better on an i7 quad even though they may only be using 40% of a Core 2 Quad.

now GTA 4 loves insane amounts of cpu power and it is one of the few games that will push my E8500 to 100% even at 3.8.

I guess the individual game is really what determines the outcome on a particular cpu. as for gpus I guess the same could be said but very few games really push a gpu any where near 100%. Crysis, Cryostasis and STALKER are probably the most gpu demanding games at least according to the temps I see while gaming.

 

[macd7]

resolution and game settings also impact this. running at say 1024x768 res will use more cpu and less gpu. Also, running at 1600x1200 with say 4x AA will of course stress the gpu more.

 

[Nebor]

I think my E4400 is bottlenecking my GTX295 at every turn.

 

[toyota]

I think my E4400 is bottlenecking my GTX295 at every turn.

I hope you didnt seriously put a gtx295 in a system with an e4400.

 

[Hey Zeus]

I think my E4400 is bottlenecking my GTX295 at every turn.

WTF Dur

 

[toyota]

WTF Dur

wow I just looked in another thread and he was serious. how could someone with 19,000 posts on a tech forum do something so foolish? he would bottleneck the shit out of gtx260 never mind a $500 card with over twice the power. heck my system with E8500 and gtx260 would provide much better overall gaming performance.

 

[Hey Zeus]

wow I just looked in another thread and he was serious. how could someone with 19,000 posts on a tech forum do something so foolish? he would bottleneck the shit out of gtx260 never mind a $500 card with over twice the power. heck my system with E8500 and gtx260 would provide much better gaming performance.

I'm curious what kind of scores it pulls. I have a friend who has an E3300 with a 295 but it's clocked close to 5Ghz

 

[Nebor]

It just got 15,000 on 3dMark Vantage (compared to 2400 with the 8600gt.) I think I might build an i5 or i7 computer (not sure if the i7 is better for everyday use and games) to put it in and get a GTX 260 to pair with the e4400.

 

[Hey Zeus]

I5 1156 if you just want to game. I7 1366 if you want SLI/Xfire

 

[toyota]

It just got 15,000 on 3dMark Vantage (compared to 2400 with the 8600gt.) I think I might build an i5 or i7 computer (not sure if the i7 is better for everyday use and games) to put it in and get a GTX 260 to pair with the e4400.

even a gtx260 is silly on a e4400 if you arent overclocking. seriously why did you buy a $500 gtx295 in the first place? I guarantee you I get better performance in nearly every single game out there with my gtx260 and e8500. the only games you would match or beat me would be Crysis maxed out and Stalker Clear Sky maxed at 1920. in basically every other case your gtx295 and e4400 would be slower.

you should most certainly build you a decent system or just sell that gtx295 and get something more reasonable for your current system.

 

[Hey Zeus]

even a gtx260 is silly on a e4400 if you arent overclocking. seriously why did you buy a $500 gtx295 in the first place? I guarantee you I get better performance in nearly every single game out there with my gtx260 and e8500. the only games you would match or beat me would be Crysis maxed out and Stalker Clear Sky maxed at 1920. in basically every other case your gtx295 and e4400 would be slower.

Calm down toyota.. Calm down. Here smoke this blunt. Maybe he didn't know and didn't ask questions before he bought.

 

[toyota]

Calm down toyota.. Calm down. Here smoke this blunt. Maybe he didn't know and didn't ask questions before he bought.

I am calm. lol. I am just in shock thats all.

 

[Painman]

It just got 15,000 on 3dMark Vantage (compared to 2400 with the 8600gt.) I think I might build an i5 or i7 computer (not sure if the i7 is better for everyday use and games) to put it in and get a GTX 260 to pair with the e4400.

A 295 will chew up and spit out the physics portion of the 3DMark Vantage bench, because its PhysX crunching power is just that high, and physics power is lumped into Vantage's CPU/overall score. If you wish to determine actual GFX performance of a CPU/GPU combo using Vantage, then you have to discount the CPU and overall scores and just look at Graphics scores.

Asuming you're not just trolling us all, but I do happen to realize that most of your posts here are in P&N.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I think my E4400 is bottlenecking my GTX295 at every turn.

You didn't...

 

[Synaptic71]

Maybe it was a gift, maybe he got it from a friend, etc....

Never assume you know what led up to a persons specific situation. I have a buddy who upgrades constantly. He then sells me his "old" ( which is still pretty damn new ), for dirt cheap.

Would I pass up on a deal like that? No.

I am not saying that is this persons specific situation, but before you guys here ridicule, it pays to ask questions first. People come here for help, not to be insulted by others.

 

[toyota]

Maybe it was a gift, maybe he got it from a friend, etc....

Never assume you know what led up to a persons specific situation. I have a buddy who upgrades constantly. He then sells me his "old" ( which is still pretty damn new ), for dirt cheap.

Would I pass up on a deal like that? No.

I am not saying that is this persons specific situation, but before you guys here ridicule, it pays to ask questions first. People come here for help, not to be insulted by others.

he has a thread about buying it. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=29183052&highlight=#post29183052

 

[Nebor]

even a gtx260 is silly on a e4400 if you arent overclocking. seriously why did you buy a $500 gtx295 in the first place? I guarantee you I get better performance in nearly every single game out there with my gtx260 and e8500. the only games you would match or beat me would be Crysis maxed out and Stalker Clear Sky maxed at 1920. in basically every other case your gtx295 and e4400 would be slower.

you should most certainly build you a decent system or just sell that gtx295 and get something more reasonable for your current system.

With the price of the Gtx 280s and 285s going up, I felt it was worth the price difference to get a 295 to have the best. I've since clocked my e4400 @ 3.0ghz, but I think I'm just going to go ahead and build an i5 computer with USB 3.0 and 6gb\s SATA. I'll order a gtx260 with it to put in this old computer and be left with 2 adequate gaming computers.

 

[betasub]

Sounds a reasonable way to turn 1 unbalanced system into 2 well-balanced systems

 

[shah.abid]

hey, I am using a e4400 with hd 5770 @ stock with 2GB RAM. At 1920x1080 @max settings I am getting a benchmark score B from Street Fighter IV. Previously I used hd 4770 OCed and I got A. I have even tried to OC my hd 5770 that didnt help a little.

Just want to know whether there is a bottleneck issue or there is something wrong with 5770. Coz I got A from my 4770 OCed using same specs. Event though I reached that core clock and memory clock using 5770 I always get a B. So what is wrong?

I havent bothered to try other benchmark tools because of my old CPU.

 

[cbn]

I think my E4400 is bottlenecking my GTX295 at every turn.

You have a $600 video card in the 295 GTX.

Let me guess you also have a 2560x1600 monitor right?

I don't think anyone would spend that kind of GPU money only to match it up with $150 worth of resolution (ie, 1080p monitor)