Intel q9450 bottleneck for newer graphics cards?

[Boffinboy]

Hi all, I am looking to upgrade to a 27" monitor with 2560x1440. This would probably need an upgrade to a ATI7950/70 or a GTX680 (or 670 etc. when released) to maintain good framerates. However, I am concerned that it would be bottlenecked by my CPU which is a q9450 OC'ed to 3.2Ghz. Anyone have any thoughts whether this will be an issue?

Cheers,
Boffinboy

 

[Jaydip]

It can be a issue for some games.Grab a 2500K before the GPU upgrade.

 

[Boffinboy]

Thanks, probably can't spring to the cost of everything at the moment, but perhaps it makes sense to do the cpu and mobo first

 

[Jaydip]

Yeah because high-end gpu should be paired with a reasonable cpu.You don't want your gpu to be bottle-necked by ur cpu.

 

[Ieat]

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-7970-cpu-scaling-performance-review/1

The higher the res the less the cpu matters. Although you will get better minimum frame rates with a newer cpu. Honestly though you could sell your cpu, ram, mobo for a good price and upgrade to an i5 would probably cost you $100 or less so why not.

 

[toyota]

get a new mobo/cpu/ram setup and then sell your other stuff and put that towards a new gpu.

 

[AtenRa]

IMO, for 2560x1440 get the best GPU you can buy first. Depending on the game but most of them are GPU limited at that high res.

 

[toyota]

IMO, for 2560x1440 get the best GPU you can buy first. Depending on the game but most of them are GPU limited at that high res.

GPU prices are high right now so it makes sense to me to go ahead and get a decent platform first and then get a new gpu. I think its silly spending 450-500 bucks for a gpu if you cant have it perform at 100%. then again his cpu is not terrible so nothing wrong with getting a gpu now if he does intend to upgrade the cpu really soon after.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

IMO you can't even fully use a 6850 leave alone 6950. Get i5 2500k with 7850 and oc both

 

[cytg111]

Here

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2839/7

now tell me how the Q9650 fares, it is clocked in your ballpark.. Nehalem is the referenced models, but sandy is like + 15 percent at most right ?
Also, you're gaming at a hell of alot more than 1680 ... which just further evens out the graphs.

Verdict : You got plenty of CPU horsepower, get a new descrete gfx card. a 580 or 680 is not loony.

 

[Boffinboy]

Thanks guys, food for thought given almost everything will be GPU-limited at that high res.

 

[bigsnyder]

The Q9450 will be fine. Sandy or Ivy Bridge might net a few more fps, but nothing dramatic. Have you tried pushing a little more on your clock speed? I run my Q9550 at 3.7 fairly easy on a X38 board. 3.4 shouldn't be much of a stretch for your Q9450.

 

[Denithor]

A Q9450 at >3GHz is still a fairly potent chip.

Best advice I can give you would be to go ahead, buy the new GPU, try it out in your games and see how it performs. If you still feel like you're lagging, at that point sell off your cpu/mobo/ram and upgrade to SB/IB.

 

[formulav8]

Huh? That quad is plenty strong to push a higher-end video card. You don't need a stinking 2500k to have a nice, playable computer.

 

[Face2Face]

Huh? That quad is plenty strong to push a higher-end video card. You don't need a stinking 2500k to have a nice, playable computer.

Amen. Even my Phenom II is plenty fast for all my games 1080p.

 

[tonyfreak215]

Amen. Even my Phenom II is plenty fast for all my games 1080p.

I concur. Running a Q9550 at 3.6 with a 6970. Not having any issues at all. I plan on waiting until Haswell comes out to upgrade.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I concur. Running a Q9550 at 3.6 with a 6970. Not having any issues at all. I plan on waiting until Haswell comes out to upgrade.

agreed people get real nutty about minimum CPU and power supplies. I've yet to see anything about what the core2quads limits are in verifiable numbers.

 

[Boffinboy]

Thank you all - now lets see if I can convince the OH not to kill me if I buy a new monitor and graphics card...

 

[pcm81]

Hi all, I am looking to upgrade to a 27" monitor with 2560x1440. This would probably need an upgrade to a ATI7950/70 or a GTX680 (or 670 etc. when released) to maintain good framerates. However, I am concerned that it would be bottlenecked by my CPU which is a q9450 OC'ed to 3.2Ghz. Anyone have any thoughts whether this will be an issue?

Cheers,
Boffinboy

My 980X OCed to 4GHz still bottlenecks my 2x6990s.

 

[AnotherGuy]

True that q9450 at 3ghz is powerfull enough and should not bottleneck anything... I have mine in the sig at 3.2 and never have any issues with it...

 

[aaksheytalwar]

For a 6850 you are okayish, but anything more is a waste. I promise you this, I have first hand experience with all types of hardware unlike the theory many people seem to be self proclaimed experts in. Just use both pieces of hardware, not even side by side, you will immediately know the difference.

 

[Boffinboy]

I'm somewhat confused. The links people provide here show benchmark results that when GPU limited, a q9450 would not be a bottleneck. At 2560x1440 almost all games will be GPU limited.

To those suggesting this does not reflect reality, are you talking about avg framerate or differences in minimum framerate, or something else?

 

[Jaydip]

At ur res u r mostly gpu limited.But now a days we get crappy console ports which can be severely unoptimized.So my suggestion would be to buy a decent cpu before taking the plunge.

 

[Don Karnage]

Push the Q more. Should be able to hit 3.6-3.8

 

[Silverforce11]

Had a Q9400 @ 3.6ghz, was fine for OC 5850s CF. 1080p or above and max settings = gpu bottleneck.