Is my CPU the bottleneck in most games?

[Quake]

I've been thinking about replaceing the cpu without buying a new video card. And It seems that games like Dirt2, UT 3 are CPU hungry, because I receive the same FPS even if UT3 is at 640x480.

Which CPU will be good with the video card I have? Is the AMD Phenom II 810 a bit too much?

Specs:
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 5200+ @ 3.05
Ram: 2 GB DDR2
Video card: Asus Geforce 8800 GS, GPU @ 680 Mhz, Ram @ 972 Mhz
Power Supply: CoolerMaster 460W
OS: Windows 7 / Linux

 

[mpilchfamily]

Yes a single core CPU is a bottleneck for most any video card from the 8800s on up to today's cards.

 

[Quake]

Sorry, it's an AMD Athlon X2 5200+, Dual Core.

 

[heyheybooboo]

What is your typical resolution?

I'm not the Gaming Guru around here but I'd say the 8800gs with an X2 5200+ @ 3GHz+ is a pretty good balance.

I got a Phenom 810 and it's a monster. You can also check out the Phenom 925.

But for around the same price ($140) you can snag this Radeon HD 4870 1GB for $145 after rebate. Easily more than 2X the jam of your 8800gs. You could also jump on the Radeon HD 5770 1GB in the same price range depending upon your future path ------- here are Anand's Benchies.




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[Quake]

I have a 22 inch monitor thus I game at 1680x1050. Can someone explain how we find a bottleneck? According to this post http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=179790&cid=14888326
"If you are seeing processor usage 100%, then your video card may be holding you back"

I don't understand the concept, I always believed that a 100% usage meant that the cpu was the bottleneck.

 

[betasub]

Some games, like those mentioned in OP are CPU hungry. Others are graphics whores. So the "bottleneck" (ugh) will vary. OP's system is fairly well balanced - a major upgrade of either graphics card or CPU(/mobo/RAM) will simply shift the balance.

Going for one of the strongest CPUs (PhenomX?) supported by his current platform would seem to be a good first step.