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Estimation of CPU bottleneck, upgrade advise.

A

arky33

Junior Member
Hello! Long time lurker here using a new account since I somehow couldn't access my ancient 2005 xmail account for password recovery 😀

I tried searching around the forums for what I was looking for, but it guess it may be too specific.

I am looking to upgrade my old gaming rig to something that will be able to play BF3 (and eventually D3) fairly well on my 24" @ 1920x1080.

My current system :

x2 6400+ AM2 BE @ 3.5
Gigabyte MA790X-DS4
ATI 3870HD 512m
4 GB (2x2) OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-6400 DDR2 CL5-4-4-15
SB X-Fi Xtreme gamer 24bit 7.1
Antec neopower 480W

I was wondering if it would be worth it to try upgrading only the GFX and maybe adding an SSD instead of starting from scratch. I tried the comparison tool on Anandtech, comparing my 6400+ to an i5 2500k. Of course the performance upgrade is astonishing, but in games the performance difference seems less radical.

So in a few words, would it be worth it for me to try upgrading my 3870 to a 6950 first to see how much my CPU is bottlenecked, or should I build a completely new system? Will my 480W PS be enough?

Thank you very much.
 
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Why not try out one of those "AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma", the thuban with the 2 cores disabled? They are listed on newegg now, and if you can unlock it you have yourself a steal for $125.

I would definitely consider some form of processor upgrade since you are tossing $200 worth of motherboard and RAM for maybe 20% more fps at 1080p.
 
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get a new video card

your processor is fine...

Get a SSD as it helps with load up if you like getting vehicles...
The fastest loadup always get first pick.
 
From initial BF3 beta testing, and based on Bad Company 2 performance, it sounds like any quad core cpu will make a noticeable difference in framerate minimums.

What's your budget, or are you still trying to determine that? Also, are you ok with waiting until Q1 2012 for the new AMD gpu's or do you want something now for the official BF3 release in October?

If you're trying to spend as little as possible, I would hold off on the SSD and just upgrade your graphics card first. But understand that the cpu bottleneck in your system will cause fps to tank when something physics heavy happens on screen. If that bothers you, then getting a quad core will necessary. If not, get the SSD!

If you live near a microcenter, they have some pretty ridiculous specials on quad core bundles.
 
Thank you very much for the replies!

I will definitely look into the Zosmas from newegg.

As for the budget, it was initially around 800$ CAN, until I realized I had the option to upgrade and not start from scratch. If I could spend around half of that on a reasonable quad core CPU and good gfx and still get a good gaming PC, that would be awesome. I dont mind not having the latest tech, as long as it runs games OK.

I know it may not be the best time to upgrade with the new GPUs around the corner, but then again, new GPUs always seem to be around the corner...So yes, I'd like to have a new built by the end of october.
 
I'd definitely start with just the video card given that as soon as you look at CPUs you're going to want a new motherboard and DDR3 too. See how just the GPU plays and go from there.

Hard to dig too much into CPU 'bottleneck' on an unreleased game. Gaming CPU 'bottlenecks' are often exaggerated, but we'll see.
 
My opinion is that you are going to need both (unless your going to run it at or under 720p) for BF3 after playing the alpha, beta and the Caspian conquest map. My 955 quad hits about 80 percent CPU usage in game at about 45-60FPS in Metro and in some area's in Caspian the CPU can be very much walled pulling 45-55FPS. So if you get a 6950 without upgrading the CPU, your going to be immensely bottle necked.

Some of the collaborative benchmarks from the alpha and beta have showed that an x6 improved performance substantially but a PII quad will be sufficient and about right for a single graphics card and your mobo should support it. The game is heavily GPU dependent and quad core reliant for anything more than 720p.
I haven't looked at how much ram BF3 actually uses, but it is not much. I was far from the wall with 4GB's. Let ram be the last thing you do.
 
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aigomorla said:
get a new video card

your processor is fine...

Get a SSD as it helps with load up if you like getting vehicles...
The fastest loadup always get first pick.
Click to expand...

definitely bad advice for him. That CPU is not fine. I just sold my x3 @ 2.8ghz to a friend running an Athlon x2 6000+ and his FPS jumped from 30s outside to 50s outside and 110s inside on his 6970.
He will still need a new video card of course.
 
Build a new rig OP, it would be easier than trying to bring your current one up to spec. For gaming intel is currently king so a 2500k if you want to overclock.
 
You'll probably need a new CPU to get the most out of BF3 based on the performance reviews I've seen, but a Phenom II would be a great upgrade for your system.
 
sm625 said:
Why not try out one of those "AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma", the thuban with the 2 cores disabled? They are listed on newegg now, and if you can unlock it you have yourself a steal for $125.

I would definitely consider some form of processor upgrade since you are tossing $200 worth of motherboard and RAM for maybe 20% more fps at 1080p.
Click to expand...

That SB600 motherboard isn't going to unlock any cores. So, Deneb 955 or 965 quads. edit though, I suppose with the 960T being a Thuban based black edition, it should overclock just as well as the Denebs, or better. And easily match the 955 or 965's clocks.

Still, for 120-130$, either of those should prove to be enough CPU to drive a modern, middle range graphics card at the OP's resolution.
 
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Thank you very much for your input everybody! I guess it's time give up the x2 and get something better, my options being the thuban upgrade (at the very least), or a brand new i5 2500k system.
 
I'm not sure if this will help anyone bought I thought I'd share it anyway:

My friend recently built a rig with a 2500k and a GTX570 (evga superclocked). I'm currently running a Core2Duo e7200 @ 3.8ghz with a GTX460-768. I did some testing to see if my CPU would be a bottleneck with his video card.

Unigen Heaven DX11 benchmark at 1920x1080 4xAA 8xAF:
Core2Duo @ 3.8ghz with GTX460-768 : 21fps
Core2Duo @ 3.8ghz with GTX570 : 31fps
2500k @ stock 3.3ghz with GTX570 : 40fps
2500k @ 4.4ghz with GTX570 : 40fps

So, it looks like my Core2duo has some room for a faster video card but it would become the bottleneck with a GTX570. Unfortunately, I do not have an SLI-capable mobo. I'm probably just going to wait for the BD dust to settle and then build a new rig rather than spend money on a video card that will be a slight upgrade before my CPU becomes the bottleneck.

However, I did not do any research on the effectiveness of Unigen Heaven as a benchmarking tool, so these results may mean nothing to the real gaming world...
 
You def don't need to build a new rig OP you can get life out of yours for BF3:
http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=2695

just buy any quad core CPU 3ghz+ with a 6MB L3 cache and your video card of choice.

img.php


Maybe more RAM but shouldn't be necessary.

The C3 steppings of AMD cpus overclock better FYI if you're into that.
 
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