Getting GTX 285 - I have some questions!

[Iverieli]

I have a Foxconn 590 SLI motherboard (AM2 - PCIE-1.0) with an AMD X2 5600+ (stock 2.8Ghz).

I was going to do a full system upgrade but then I decided to just get a monster video card.

Since I'm running resolutions of 1680x1050, its not reasonable to get a GTX 295. Not to mention my CPU couldn't come close.

My questions are these....

Will I have problems with this video card because of my CPU? If bottleneck is 150 FPS for example, who cares right?

Also, will PCI-E 1.0 be a problem? I know 1.0 and 2.0 are backwards compatible, but will I see a large performance difference? Considering what I have been reading, the difference is virtually non existent because nothing can currently burden a 16x PCI-E 1.0 slot.

I really need your thoughts and some information on this. Thanks.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Iverieli
My questions are these....

Will I have problems with this video card because of my CPU? If bottleneck is 150 FPS for example, who cares right?

You won't have problems per se, but getting 150 FPS would be unlikely with a slow CPU, as the CPU would most likely be the bottleneck preventing higher FPS. Here's some reviews of recent games with a single fast GPU, a bit slower than the GTX 285. They're done at low resolutions, which means you're not going to see higher FPS, even at higher resolutions like 1680.

GTA4 - 13 CPU round-up

COD4 + GRiD - Intel CPU Clock for Clock Comparison @ 2GHz

COD5 - 12 Intel and AMD CPUs

Far Cry 2 - various speeds

Left 4 Dead - various speeds

Your CPU isn't as bad as a single core or Athlon with less cache, but its definitely slower than comparable MHz C2D, Phenom or i7. The main benefit of a fast GPU like the 285 is the ability to crank up all details and IQ settings like AA with virtually no hit to FPS (being CPU bottlenecked).

Also, will PCI-E 1.0 be a problem? I know 1.0 and 2.0 are backwards compatible, but will I see a large performance difference? Considering what I have been reading, the difference is virtually non existent because nothing can currently burden a 16x PCI-E 1.0 slot.

Shouldn't be much of an issue, not before CPU limitations anyways, I wouldn't worry about. Just upgrade to PCI 2.0 whenever you decide to update your system platform.

 

[Iverieli]

Shouldn't be much of an issue, not before CPU limitations anyways, I wouldn't worry about. Just upgrade to PCI 2.0 whenever you decide to update your system platform.

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

But even so, PCI-E 1.0 should be just fine for a card like GTX 285 right?

 

[chizow]

PCIE is a hardware limitation, the north bridge chipset/PCIE controller determine 1.0 or 2.0 support. There's some other differences, like power supplied through the PEG slot, but it basically comes down to 2x as much bandwidth due to 2x faster signaling through the existing 16 PCIE lanes.

What I meant was that by updating your system platform at some point (mobo/CPU), you'd also get the newest PCIE spec by default. As for differences in performance, I've seen some reviews showing a GTX 280 class card is where you start seeing differences between PCIE 2.0 x16 and x8 (x8 is the same as PCIE 1.0 x16), but that's typically with the fastest CPUs and still show very little difference. With a slower CPU, PCIE limitations should be less of an issue for you.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Iverieli

Shouldn't be much of an issue, not before CPU limitations anyways, I wouldn't worry about. Just upgrade to PCI 2.0 whenever you decide to update your system platform.

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Are you saying you can update to PCI-E 2.0 with drivers? I thought it was a hardware difference?

I checked the latest BIOS for my board and they are from 2007, so as far as I know, AM2 boards dont support PCI-E 2.0.

But even so, PCI-E 1.0 should be just fine for a card like GTX 285 right?

yeah your gtx285 will be okay with pci-e 1.0 and no you cant update anything to make it 2.0. your X2 cpu is going to really keep that GTX285 from performing well especially minimum framerates.

 

[Zenoth]

At 1680x1050 a GTX 260 Core 216 would suffice, and the performance difference between that and a GTX 280 or GTX 285 isn't very high, something along the lines of 15% to 20% at maximum, considering stock frequencies. And your CPU isn't exactly a good one for such cards, so I'd go with a GTX 260 unless you plan on upgrading your CPU eventually along with playing on higher resolutions, in which case I'd go with a GTX 285 in prevision of such circumstances.