I'm asking this question again, would a dual core E7500 bottleneck a 5870?

[Braznor]

I plan to game at 1600 x 1200 with all settings maxed full AA and AF and so on.

So will a core 2 duo E7500 bottleneck a 5870 or would I be better off with something lower?

Note: My tastes in gaming varies widely from FPS to RPG to RTS. There is no game I wouldn't play and I love eye candy!

 

[bryanW1995]

it depends on the game. in general, older games couldn't take advantage of more than 2 cores so you'd be fine; newer games are more likely to use additional cores. The good news is that you should be able to get a very high OC out of that cpu so it should serve you well imho.

 

[Braznor]

it depends on the game. in general, older games couldn't take advantage of more than 2 cores so you'd be fine; newer games are more likely to use additional cores. The good news is that you should be able to get a very high OC out of that cpu so it should serve you well imho.

I'm not comfortable with OCing, but do you thin I will still get gains out of a 5870 over a 5850?

 

[SRoode]

I have a dual core E8600 OC'd to 4.3 GHz. I OC my 5850 past 5870 speeds and I always max out my GPU load in all benchmarks at 1920x1200. A dual core E7500 may be a different story though.

 

[veri745]

I would stick with the 5850. It should be plenty for that resolution, and you'll save the $100 or so with little loss in performance.

 

[Braznor]

Oh fuck it, AMD Quad cores here I come :hmm:

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Stick with what you have. At least wait a month for the x6 cpus to be out so that they can be an option(or lower the prices on Deneb cpus).

 

[jtisgeek]

Oh fuck it, AMD Quad cores here I come :hmm:

You will only gain if you get a 3 gig quad or higher don't buy a cheap quad you will use performance.

I think your core 2 is just fine for about all games right now most are always gpu limited.

 

[bryanW1995]

why wouldn't you OC an e7500??? those cpus were artificially limited by intel b/c they absolutely zero competition from amd. using stock cooling and with no effort you should be able run around 3.5. I mean, you literally should be able to click one or two buttons in the bios and you'll be gtg.

 

[jtisgeek]

why wouldn't you OC an e7500??? those cpus were artificially limited by intel b/c they absolutely zero competition from amd. using stock cooling and with no effort you should be able run around 3.5. I mean, you literally should be able to click one or two buttons in the bios and you'll be gtg.

ageed you can just go stight to 333 bus right off the bat no changes on most cpu's that would give you 3.6 on a 7500 big jump.

 

[evolucion8]

why wouldn't you OC an e7500??? those cpus were artificially limited by intel b/c they absolutely zero competition from amd. using stock cooling and with no effort you should be able run around 3.5. I mean, you literally should be able to click one or two buttons in the bios and you'll be gtg.

The AMD's TriCores are very competitive and faster overall than the Core 2 7xxx/8xxx series, specially in heavy multi threading. But definitively he should overclock his CPU, it won't bottleneck the card considerably, Alienbabeltech proved that a decent 2.0GHz Dual Core is enough for high end cards.

 

[RussianSensation]

Alienbabeltech proved that a decent 2.0GHz Dual Core is enough for high end cards.

I am not sure I would agree, especially when it comes to minimum frames. Even a 3.0ghz dual core is often not fast enough.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/778-10/giant-roundup-146-intel-and-amd-processors.html

E6400 can only manage 15 frames per second at 800x600. That's half what a Core i7 can do. If it can only get 15 frames at 800x600, don't even think for a second it will be smooth at 1920x1200!

I am not going to link pcgameshardware reviews. But there are tons of them with BF:BC2, Resident Evil 5, GTA4, ArmA2, etc. where even an E8400 dual core falls flat on its face.

Here is my quick and dirty RE5 testing:

Resident Evil 5 Benchmark with 4890:
Q6600 @ 3.4ghz 1680x1050 0AA = 57.8 fps
Q6600 @ 3.4ghz 1920x1080 4AA = 55.1 fps
Core i7 860 @ 3.9ghz 1920x1080 8AA = 75.8 fps

That's comparing quad to a quad not dual to a quad and with a 4890 not 5870!

 

[GodisanAtheist]

If you're saying f it I'm going quad... it doesn't hurt to OC the cpu you have now just to see what kind of performance boost it can yield no?

And just get a 5850. Why spend more money than you have to, even if you have the extra money?

 

[apoppin]

This is absolutely false, especially when it comes to minimum frames. Even a 3.0ghz dual core is often not fast enough.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/778-10/giant-roundup-146-intel-and-amd-processors.html

E6400 can only manage 15 frames per second at 800x600. That's half what a Core i7 can do. If it can only get 15 frames at 800x600, don't even think for a second it will be smooth at 1920x1200!

I am not going to link pcgameshardware reviews. But there are tons of them with BF:BC2, Resident Evil 5, GTA4, ArmA2, etc. where even an E8400 dual core falls flat on its face.

Here is my quick and dirty RE5 testing:

Resident Evil 5 Benchmark with 4890:
Q6600 @ 3.4ghz 1680x1050 0AA = 57.8 fps
Q6600 @ 3.4ghz 1920x1080 4AA = 55.1 fps
Core i7 860 @ 3.9ghz 1920x1080 8AA = 75.8 fps

That's comparing quad to a quad not dual to a quad and with a 4890 not 5870!

No it isn't - as long as you do what BFG10K does - SHIFT the burden to the GPU with max AA/AF

NO ONE in their right mind displays benches at 800x600 to prove a point in gaming

Take those same Re5 benches and up the filtering

i have done a LOT of extensive testing - at REAL world settings; 19x12 maxed out with HD 4870-X3 TriFire and you are exaggerating the CPU.
- i tested 17 gameswith FIVE CPUs - Core i7 920/Q9550s/Phenom II 955-X4/Ph II 720 X3/550-X2 - at 3 clocks, from their individual stock, all at 3.5 GHz at their individual Max OC (3.8-4.0 GHz) - and my findings completely contradict yours

The CPU is no where as important as the GPU and mostly any C2D at 3.2 or so GHz will not be bottlenecked by GTX 480 class (HD 4870-X3 TriFire) in most games.

Only a handful of games take advantage of even more than 2 cores although the latest ones do and more are joining the list

No worries - go for it. Later on, if you "feel disadvantaged" you can OC further or upgrade to a cheap Ph II Quad (which keeps up with the i7 in gaming)

 

[evolucion8]

The CPU is no where as important as the GPU and mostly any C2D at 3.2 or so GHz will not be bottlenecked by GTX 480 class (HD 4870-X3 TriFire) in most games.

The HD 4870X2 usually is as fast or slighly faster than the HD 5870, sometimes by a noticeable margin even though it won't do a difference in playable frame rates. So I doubt that the GTX 480 is faster than the HD 4870 Trifire even though Trifire/QuadSLI scaling sucks.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2977/...tx-470-6-months-late-was-it-worth-the-wait-/9

 

[toyota]

at 1600 and with your stock cpu a 5850 would be a much smarter move. theres no point in buying a $400 video card when a $300 video card will give you the same playable results in almost every case with your current setup.

 

[apoppin]

The HD 4870X2 usually is as fast or slighly faster than the HD 5870, sometimes by a noticeable margin even though it won't do a difference in playable frame rates. So I doubt that the GTX 480 is faster than the HD 4870 Trifire even though Trifire/QuadSLI scaling sucks.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2977/...tx-470-6-months-late-was-it-worth-the-wait-/9

i was being very conservative. From my performance testing with 14 games last week, my GTX 480 outclasses my HD 4870-X2 in every way; i would say that TriFire might be slightly faster in some situations; much slower in others.


AMD has really improved (4870) TriFire over a year ago. Scaling is a lot better and there are far less issues with it now. One of my friends has HD 5970 QuadFire and he isn't terribly pleased with it's performance.

at 1600 and with your stock cpu a 5850 would be a much smarter move. theres no point in buying a $400 video card when a $300 video card will give you the same playable results in almost every case with your current setup

i never think that way. Once he gets his 5870, he will consider overclocking .. and then perhaps he will upgrade his CPU. At that point, the "extra" $100 might be a good deal. His CPU is not so slow that he cannot max out the visual details and add extra filtering.

 

[toyota]

i was being very conservative. From my performance testing with 14 games last week, my GTX 480 outclasses my HD 4870-X2 in every way; i would say that TriFire might be slightly faster in some situations; much slower in others.


AMD has really improved (4870) TriFire over a year ago. Scaling is a lot better and there are far less issues with it now. One of my friends has HD 5970 QuadFire and he isn't terribly pleased with it's performance.


i never think that way. Once he gets his 5870, he will consider overclocking .. and then perhaps he will upgrade his CPU. At that point, the "extra" $100 might be a good deal. His CPU is not so slow that he cannot max out the visual details and add extra filtering.

if he doesnt oc or get a new cpu for several months then we will already be looking at new cards again. he would have accomplished nothing by spending 100 bucks more on a card that provides nearly zero benefit. sorry but at just 1600 his cpu is already giving up 20-30%(sometimes more) over having a fast quad paired with the 5870. a small oc on the 5850 would provide him with basically every bit of the same performance of the 5870 with his cpu and res.

 

[apoppin]

if he doesnt oc or get a new cpu for several months then we will already be looking at new cards again. he would have accomplished nothing by spending 100 bucks more on a card that provides nearly zero benefit. sorry but at just 1600 his cpu is already giving up 20-30%(sometimes more) over having a fast quad paired with the 5870. a small oc on the 5850 would provide him with basically every bit of the same performance of the 5870 with his cpu and res.

It isn't like the 5870 will be wasted on his PC. He will get higher detail settings with 5870.
-His choice.

You exaggerate the importance of a really fast CPU

 

[MaheshH]

sorry to hijack your thread mate but i have a similar question

I have a intel e6400 and my 8800gt recently went kaput. I play at 1280x720 and i'm thinking of getting a 5770. will this bottleneck my CPU????

I kind of get the feeling at this resolution it might not but i may upgrade my monitor later so i would also like to know at what resolution it might bottleneck the GPU (if it does so)

Thanks in advance for you replies

 

[toyota]

It isn't like the 5870 will be wasted on his PC. He will get higher detail settings with 5870.
-His choice.

You exaggerate the importance of a really fast CPU

look at modern game reviews at 1600 and you will see that his cpu is giving up 20% or more even with much slower cards than a 5870. hell I can find benchmarks where he would actually give up 50% such as GTA 4, Prototype and some others. cranking the AA because your cpu is too slow to come close to utilizing your gpu is a stupid excuse to spend 100 bucks more. a 5850 will provide the same playable experience as a 5870 at 1600 with his cpu. the only game there would likely be any advantage would be the STALKER games and Metro 2033 and thats if you run the games at settings the card is barely going to handle anyway.

 

[happy medium]

sorry to hijack your thread mate but i have a similar question

I have a intel e6400 and my 8800gt recently went kaput. I play at 1280x720 and i'm thinking of getting a 5770. will this bottleneck my CPU????

I kind of get the feeling at this resolution it might not but i may upgrade my monitor later so i would also like to know at what resolution it might bottleneck the GPU (if it does so)

Thanks in advance for you replies

A 5770 is good up to 1650x1050 and sometimes @1900x1080.
You cpu is ok, but you might want to overclock it some.

 

[toyota]

sorry to hijack your thread mate but i have a similar question

I have a intel e6400 and my 8800gt recently went kaput. I play at 1280x720 and i'm thinking of getting a 5770. will this bottleneck my CPU????

I kind of get the feeling at this resolution it might not but i may upgrade my monitor later so i would also like to know at what resolution it might bottleneck the GPU (if it does so)

Thanks in advance for you replies

1280x720 at stock cpu speeds yes but that cpu should easily oc enough to eliminate most of it. if you are not going to oc that cpu then I would get a 5750 512mb if you can find a good deal.

 

[happy medium]

Braznor, If you plan on upgrading to a quad core in the next few months go ahead and buy your 5870. If not just grab a 5850.

 

[thebomb]

sorry to hijack your thread mate but i have a similar question

I have a intel e6400 and my 8800gt recently went kaput. I play at 1280x720 and i'm thinking of getting a 5770. will this bottleneck my CPU????

I kind of get the feeling at this resolution it might not but i may upgrade my monitor later so i would also like to know at what resolution it might bottleneck the GPU (if it does so)

Thanks in advance for you replies

You'll be more than fine with a 5770. Once you start playing at 1680x1050 (or above), there will be no difference between your CPU and an i7.