CPU Bottleneck !

Revolution

Senior member
May 24, 2000
209
0
0
My friend need a GPU for gaming mainly.
He has Intel E2180@2.0GHz(NO OC) CPU and has no intention to upgrade it soon.
He also want upgrade his non branded PSU to Corsair VX450W or VX550 or something like that.

His rest of the spec ATM:
Gigabyte G31 Motherboard
2x2GB DDR2 RAM
Samsung DVD+RW SATA
320GB WD Blue HDD SATA
250 GB Seagate HDD SATA
22" LCD@1920x1080
2x120mm Fan

Please suggest a suitable video card for him.
Thank you.....
 

faxon

Platinum Member
May 23, 2008
2,109
1
81
look at getting him a 5850 and a nice 550w PSU. he could probably get a moderate OC out of his CPU as well. tbh his whole system could use a boost, but the 5850 will still be a significant boost over a 5770 at 1920x1080. OCing the CPU will help a lot with minimum frame rates though
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
If your not overclocking that CPU to at least 2.8, don't bother with a 5850.
A 5770 is just fine at 1900x1080 with that cpu.
 

hans007

Lifer
Feb 1, 2000
20,212
17
81
even a cheap 4770 / 4850 or a 5750 would be more than enough. i'd try to o/c his chip to 2.8-3.0ghz or so too though.
 

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
a stock 2.0 2180 is WAY to slow to match up with a card like a 5850. a 5770 would certainly be the very highest I would get with stock cpu. really even a 5770 would not come close to being fully utilized with that cpu at stock speeds. a few more cpu intensive games would not even really be very playable with that cpu.
 
Last edited:

fffblackmage

Platinum Member
Dec 28, 2007
2,548
0
76
Cheapy e2180 paired with a 5850 doesn't make sense... even if it's OC'ed. Depending on budget, you could get a 4770, 4850, 5750, or 5770.

Don't forget to OC that cpu.
 

Attic

Diamond Member
Jan 9, 2010
4,282
2
76
he should keep the PSU for now and look at the 5770 to match up with his current CPU. 5770 games well at 1920x1080 from my experience. His CPU is going to really hurt performance though in a lot of recent games.
 

evolucion8

Platinum Member
Jun 17, 2005
2,867
3
81
a stock 2.0 2180 is WAY to slow to match up with a card like a 5850. a 5770 would certainly be the very highest I would get with stock cpu. really even a 5770 would not come close to being fully utilized with that cpu at stock speeds. a few more cpu intensive games would not even really be very playable with that cpu.

While you usually overly overestimate the CPU importance, you are right in this one. My brother in law has a slighly faster Pentium Dual Core E2200 at stock speed of 2.20GHz and it barely outperformed my Pentium M at 2.70GHz in games using the same video card (I'm talking about 2008 era of course), it can bottleneck to a certain extent an HD 3870, he upgraded to a HD 4870 and he was able to raise more eye candy and Anti Aliasing, but his Frame Rate didn't moved up that much, the Pentium Dual Core has a very little cache that affects the gaming performance considerably, unlike AMD"s which doesn't depend too much in cache for gaming performance.
 
Apr 20, 2008
10,161
984
126
I would only suggest a 4670. Possibly a 4850 at the VERY MOST. It will be completely underutilized with a (don't lie, Celeron variant) Core2 @ 2ghz. Not saying it's slow, but other s775 Celerons are faster than this.

A 5670 wouldn't be a bad idea. Low powered, but quite fast for an E2180.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,230
9,990
126
Get an E5200 used, cheap, or an E5300 new, and overclock to 3.5Ghz. Then you will finally have the CPU power necessary to drive these new video cards. Don't forget that the E5xxx has 2MB of cache, which is double that of the 65nm E2xxx series. Very important for gaming.
 

Revolution

Senior member
May 24, 2000
209
0
0
Thanks for all of ur replies guys.

Sorry,but no OC please cos of the following reasons.
1.Low end motherboard Gigabyte G31
2.Default heat sink from intel
3.We are from hot and humid area
4.And the main reason we are total nub in OC.I mean never done any OC in life before.....:(

We can stretch our budget maximum to HD 4870 or HD5750 if I confirm that the CPU will not be bottleneck at stock 2GHz.
So,I'm thing about 9800GT 512MB or HD 5670 512MB.
Both card are almost at same price here.
And,how much important the video memory ?
I mean 1GB or 512MB ?
There is a doubt.
I will able to play modern games at 720p with these cards ?
Though my LCD can support up to 1920x1080.....:(




Seasonic S12 Bronze 520 - got great reviews by JonnyGuru.

69$ + shipping @ New Egg

I have read the review.
That is a very good PSU.
But,unfortunately this PSU is not available in my country.
You will never find new and and good technology at cheaper price in our country.....:(
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Thanks for all of ur replies guys.

Sorry,but no OC please cos of the following reasons.
1.Low end motherboard Gigabyte G31
2.Default heat sink from intel
3.We are from hot and humid area
4.And the main reason we are total nub in OC.I mean never done any OC in life before.....:(

We can stretch our budget maximum to HD 4870 or HD5750 if I confirm that the CPU will not be bottleneck at stock 2GHz.
So,I'm thing about 9800GT 512MB or HD 5670 512MB.
Both card are almost at same price here.
And,how much important the video memory ?
I mean 1GB or 512MB ?
There is a doubt.
I will able to play modern games at 720p with these cards ?
Though my LCD can support up to 1920x1080.....:(






I have read the review.
That is a very good PSU.
But,unfortunately this PSU is not available in my country.
You will never find new and and good technology at cheaper price in our country.....:(

How are the prices of the 5750's or 4850's there? You should have 1gb for 1900x1080.


I had a biostar G31 board and it overclocked my e5400 to 3.6. The memory was holding me back. Its a good board.
 

Revolution

Senior member
May 24, 2000
209
0
0
How are the prices of the 5750's or 4850's there? You should have 1gb for 1900x1080.

Following are all average price and without 5% VAT:

Ati HD 5750 1GB - Rs.8500
Nvidia GTS250 1GB - Rs.7000
Ati HD4850 1GB - Rs.6800
Nvidia 9800GT 512MB - Rs.5500
Ati HD 5670 512MB - Rs.5500
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Following are all average price and without 5% VAT:

Ati HD 5750 1GB - Rs.8500
Nvidia GTS250 1GB - Rs.7000
Ati HD4850 1GB - Rs.6800
Nvidia 9800GT 512MB - Rs.5500
Ati HD 5670 512MB - Rs.5500

Buy the 4850 1gb and learn to overclock your 2180 cpu.

If you overclock your 2180 you will be much happier.
 

blanketyblank

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,149
0
0
Following are all average price and without 5% VAT:

Ati HD 5750 1GB - Rs.8500
Nvidia GTS250 1GB - Rs.7000
Ati HD4850 1GB - Rs.6800
Nvidia 9800GT 512MB - Rs.5500
Ati HD 5670 512MB - Rs.5500

Out of these I'd go for the 5670 since it's the cheapest and has the newest technology. I'd probably use the system mostly as a media center though instead of a game machine.
For speed 4850 or GTS 250 would be good and it's more a matter of which games you play for which of those you pick. 200 Rs seems like a negligible amount, but if it's not go for the 4850.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Out of these I'd go for the 5670 since it's the cheapest and has the newest technology. I'd probably use the system mostly as a media center though instead of a game machine.
For speed 4850 or GTS 250 would be good and it's more a matter of which games you play for which of those you pick. 200 Rs seems like a negligible amount, but if it's not go for the 4850.

5670?

He said the system is for "mostly gaming".

The cheaper 4850 1gb is the best choice.
 

Revolution

Senior member
May 24, 2000
209
0
0
Yea,the system mainly for gaming.
May not be @HD :( but at least @720p or little higher.
So,I think may be GTS250 GB or HD 4850 GB ?
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Following are all average price and without 5% VAT:

Ati HD 5750 1GB - Rs.8500
Nvidia GTS250 1GB - Rs.7000
Ati HD4850 1GB - Rs.6800
Nvidia 9800GT 512MB - Rs.5500
Ati HD 5670 512MB - Rs.5500

Out of these, it is a toss up between GTS250 1GB and the 4850 1GB as they trade blows depending on the games you play. GTS250 does consume more power though.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5670_6.html#sect0

5670 is not a very good budget gaming card.
 
Last edited:
Apr 20, 2008
10,161
984
126
Out of these, it is a toss up between GTS250 1GB and the 4850 1GB as they trade blows depending on the games you play. GTS250 does consume more power though.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5670_6.html#sect0

5670 is not a very good budget gaming card.

It performs higher than expected TBH. 400sp's and only about 20-30% slower than a 4770? It's not great, but it performs adequately.

The GTS240 is a variant of the 8800gt, right? It's hard to keep up. The 5670 beats it soundly with support for DX11 and eyefinity. Not to mention pretty low power usage.

Pairing it with a 2ghz Core2 isn't a bad idea. Seems like a logical pair to me.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
It performs higher than expected TBH. 400sp's and only about 20-30% slower than a 4770? It's not great, but it performs adequately.

The GTS240 is a variant of the 8800gt, right? It's hard to keep up. The 5670 beats it soundly with support for DX11 and eyefinity. Not to mention pretty low power usage.

Pairing it with a 2ghz Core2 isn't a bad idea. Seems like a logical pair to me.

The 8800gt is much faster then the gt240 (9600gt) and about equal to a 4770.

The 4850/gts 2501gb will easily beat all of them, especially at 1900x1080.
 

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
The 8800gt is much faster then the gt240 (9600gt) and about equal to a 4770.

The 4850/gts 2501gb will easily beat all of them, especially at 1900x1080.
okay now I am lost. RussianSensation said gts250, then Scholzpdx said gts240 and now you are saying gt240. those are three different cards.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
okay now I am lost. RussianSensation said gts250, then Scholzpdx said gts240 and now you are saying gt240. those are three different cards.

Don't be confused me and Russian agree the 4850 and gts 250 are the cards for the OP givien his price range and cpu power.