Buying a New GPU without bottleneck

[jackal79]

Hi, i have recently upgraded by Mobo to ASUS P5G41T-MLX along with 4 GB DDR3 RAM.My CPU is C2DE6550 2.33 Ghz.I want to buy a GPU to play games like crysis and if possible Skyrim on medium resolution with playable FPS.But i also do not want to bottleneck my CPU. Iam willing to overclock my CPU if required.Suggest me a GPU model from RED or Green camp.
Also suggest a CPU cooler if i have to overclock.As iam planning to buy this immediately please help out.

 

[joshhedge]

AMD 7850 is always a good call. What is your budget?

 

[jackal79]

AMD 7850 is always a good call. What is your budget?

Hi, i was planning for 7850 but then i read in some post about CPU bottleneck.I do not want to bottleneck my CPU. My budget was able to accommodate 7850.But i do not want to simply waste money.

 

[Gryz]

Don't worry too much about bottlenecks. Every system has bottlenecks. That's why no PC runs Crysis at 100000 fps. In technology you need to make choices. With a limited budget, you need to make choices.

With a faster videocard, you will always get faster frame/sec. But at some point, the CPU is doing so much work, the system can't get out frames any faster. While the GPU is still not 100% used. You might think you wasted your money. But there is more than just pure fps. There is eyecandy too (graphical feautures). When your CPU is 100% busy, and your GPU is not, just make your GPU work harder. You can do that by enabling more features. Configure higher settings in Skyrim. Install the HighRes texture pack (you'll have 2+ GB of videoram now). Enable better and more Anti-Aliasing. Maybe try SSAO. Etc, etc.

So suppose you have 30 fps average now. With a new videocard that is 3x faster, you should get 3x30 = 90 fps. But in reality, because of the CPU bottleneck, you get only 50 fps average. You might be disappointed. But then you enabled 4xMSAA + SMAA (for less temporal aliasing). And then 4x SGSS Transparency too (Sparse Grid). And your fps will stay at 50 fps. Then you install the high res texture packs, and your fps drops maybe from 50 fps to 48 fps. You set all settings to Ultra, and you stay at 48 fps. You enable SSAO (Ambient Occlusion -> better shadows) which will cost a lot of extra work. But your fps drop only from 48 fps to 45 fps. Result: you go from 30 fps to 45 fps. But at the same time, you will get a *lot* better image quality.

Buying a new/modern/expensive videocard just for higher framerates, but not for better image quality, is a waste of money.

I went from a E8500 + gtx260 to a E8500 + gtx680. Yes, my framerates went up, but not spectacular. But I could enable all the eyecandy I wanted, plus high res textures. My game looked 10x better ! Well worth the money, imho.

Then 2 months later I bought a i5-3570K. Perfect combination now. But if I had a limited budget, I'd buy a new videocard first. And worry about CPU (and mobo + RAM) later.

Hope this helps.

 

[Silverforce11]

^ This. If you aren't after 60fps in games then older CPUs are "fine", when you crank up the details and AA settings, even top end GPUs become the bottleneck in most games.

But skyrim is horridly CPU limited, you will need to OC the CPU so look into it and play around with the clocks.

 

[tweakboy]

Without no bottleneck to what ? Video cards will not bottleneck unless you have a weak CPU.

If you have a Sandy Bridge or Ivy bridge 2600k or 3770k There will be NO bottleneck for your new GPU. If you want a deal and best bang for buck grab a 7950. If you want nVidias latest grab a GTX 680 or 690 and OC the heck out of it. gl

 

[jackal79]

Thanks to both gryz and silveforce for reply. Please help with some tutorial for overclocking as I have not done it before.also suggest a good CPU cooler and make of 7850 or 6870.

 

[Silverforce11]

Get any 7850 that has 2 large fans, they are all pretty good.

As for good cpu cooler.. Hyper 212+ from Coolermaster is dirt cheap and really good perf for $. OC on your cpu is just about raising FSB clock while maintain stability, test with prime95 to crunch your cpu. There's plenty of guides on the net. You should aim for 3.3ghz or so.

 

[tweakboy]

Thanks to both gryz and silveforce for reply. Please help with some tutorial for overclocking as I have not done it before.also suggest a good CPU cooler and make of 7850 or 6870.

You can overclock with MSI AfterBurner free app.

Unless you have EVGA nvidia , then you can use EVGA Precision, which is much nicer IMO.

As for OCing and where to start. To OC your GPU core, you must know there is a possibility you need to touch the voltage, which I dont recommend.
I recommend to not touch the voltage, or at least not right now.

I want to OC the memory on your card first, as voltage doesnt matter for that OC.

OC the memory in 30Mhz increments and test games for artifacts.. gl

 

[jackal79]

You can overclock with MSI AfterBurner free app.

Unless you have EVGA nvidia , then you can use EVGA Precision, which is much nicer IMO.

As for OCing and where to start. To OC your GPU core, you must know there is a possibility you need to touch the voltage, which I dont recommend.
I recommend to not touch the voltage, or at least not right now.

I want to OC the memory on your card first, as voltage doesnt matter for that OC.

OC the memory in 30Mhz increments and test games for artifacts.. gl

No, I meant overclocking the CPU.

 

[jackal79]

One more thing. If I have to a add a CPU cooler too do I have to change my PSU?. I have a corsair vx 450.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I can't believe the replies. With that system you won't benefit from anything higher than a 6850 max.

 

[Rvenger]

Yes but when the 7850 is the same price or $20 more than a 6850.....


A 1gb 7850 would work fine.

 

[SPBHM]

a 7750 should be sufficient for Skyrim in "medium",

any current VGA is going to be "bottlenecked" by that CPU in some games/settings.

 

[Termie]

I can't believe the replies. With that system you won't benefit from anything higher than a 6850 max.

And this time I completely agree with you.

No one is going to play skyrim smoothly on an early core 2 Duo. Spending $150-200 on a GPU with that system? Ludicrous.

Does the OP actually have a GPU now? The most you'd want to buy would be a 7750.

 

[tweakboy]

No, I meant overclocking the CPU.

Ooops crud!!!!!!!! Ok well get into that its very easy as pressing to keys in the BIOS .......

Tell us what you want as a OC and stable and well get you there. thx gl and gb

 

[jackal79]

Ooops crud!!!!!!!! Ok well get into that its very easy as pressing to keys in the BIOS .......

Tell us what you want as a OC and stable and well get you there. thx gl and gb

Well, iam not sure how much I can OC my current CPU of 2.33. Someone please suggest on that along with how.

 

[jackal79]

And this time I completely agree with you.

No one is going to play skyrim smoothly on an early core 2 Duo. Spending $150-200 on a GPU with that system? Ludicrous.

Does the OP actually have a GPU now? The most you'd want to buy would be a 7750.

Iam currently having a 9600gt. Will 7770 work for me ?

 

[toyota]

wow at some of the replies here. the OP's cpu is really slow and does not meet recommended and most cases not even minimum requirements for newer games. a 7850 would be laughable waste on a cpu like his and even a 7750 would not come close to being fully utilized. and its not just about bottlenecking the card as his cpu is a bottleneck just in general and will severally limit playability. a 7750 would be the very highest I would go but again dont expect all newer games to play all that great. I have a feeling you will not even be able to tell the difference over your 9600gt in some games other than adding more AA or raising the resolution. if you have low resolution monitor then I would not even bother with new gpu.

 

[jackal79]

wow at some of the replies here. the OP's cpu is really slow and does not meet recommended and most cases not even minimum requirements for newer games. a 7850 would be laughable waste on a cpu like his and even a 7750 would not come close to being fully utilized. and its not just about bottlenecking the card as his cpu is a bottleneck just in general and will severally limit playability. a 7750 would be the very highest I would go but again dont expect all newer games to play all that great. I have a feeling you will not even be able to tell the difference over your 9600gt in some games other than adding more AA or raising the resolution. if you have low resolution monitor then I would not even bother with new gpu.

I have a Dell 1920se 19 inch with a native resolution of 1440 * 900. What GPU would you suggest?

 

[toyota]

I have a Dell 1920se 19 inch with a native resolution of 1440 * 900. What GPU would you suggest?

stick with what you have. a 7750 would certainly help in some games but really any newer game is going to be held back by that cpu as it does not even meet requirements in most cases. some of the settings that you would hope to turn up also impact the cpu so you would actually end up with some games performing only a little better and in some rare cases worse on a 7750 than your 9600gt.

 

[jackal79]

stick with what you have. a 7750 would certainly help in some games but really any newer game is going to be held back by that cpu as it does not even meet requirements in most cases. some of the settings that you would hope to turn up also impact the cpu so you would actually end up with some games performing only a little better and in some rare cases worse on a 7750 than your 9600gt.

So do you mean that there is no way i can play games like crysis 1 cod:mf even if I go for 7750 & overclock my CPU?

 

[toyota]

So do you mean that there is no way i can play games like crysis 1 cod:mf even if I go for 7750 & overclock my CPU?

you can already play those old games. I played Crysis 1 on medium DX9 settings with an 8600gt and slower cpu than yours. now if you want to run max settings then yes you will need to oc your cpu and get a faster gpu. and you can probably already max Call of Duty MW at just 1440x900.

a 7750 is basically like a gtx260 or 4870 so your cpu will hold it back by quite a bit at 1440 but overclocking it will help. as for newer games, your cpu is going to hurt you even if you oc it a bit and will be general limitation in many cases.

 

[Termie]

So do you mean that there is no way i can play games like crysis 1 cod:mf even if I go for 7750 & overclock my CPU?

I think Toyota is stating things a bit strongly but is getting the point across. In a game like Crysis 1, a 7750 will help. In a game like Skyrim, it will barely do anything and you may be sorry you spent the money. You will average below 30fps no matter what you do as long as you have that CPU.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I agree with Toyota. Either upgrade nothing or everything.