Min. CPU (AMD and Intel) not to bottleneck 79xx card?

[VirtualLarry]

Just wondering. I'm guessing my Q9300 @ 3.0 is way too limited. (I've heard someone mention that it is limiting my GTX460 1GB in Skyrim @ 19x12.)

 

[Tempered81]

1100t, 2500k imo

 

[Concillian]

In what game?? BF3 is not very CPU heavy at all if you have enough cores, but something like Civ 5 or Skyrim or Shogun might be CPU limited.

A C2Q at 3 GHz will be the bottleneck in any game that is at all CPU intensive these days, but you'll have your eye candy all the way up, and it's not like your FPS would be better with a lesser card. CPU issues don't often lighten up that much when you lower resolution or visual quality.

 

[SickBeast]

1100t is too weak.

A 2500K would be nice.

It's a shame that we were recommending the same CPU a year ago for the same price more or less.

 

[Smartazz]

1100t is too weak.

A 2500K would be nice.

It's a shame that we were recommending the same CPU a year ago for the same price more or less.

Intel doesn't really lower the prices of their CPUs, even after they're replaced.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

A highly overclocked AM3 CPU would work fine as long as it had at least four cores.

I wouldn't buy AMD right now so I recommend the i5 2500k with a decent overclock.

 

[RavenSEAL]

1100t is too weak.

A 2500K would be nice.

It's a shame that we were recommending the same CPU a year ago for the same price more or less.

Yeah...OK

 

[byteman99]

I have a core i7 920 and so far i dont feel to be limited. Even at 2560x1600 my games are running fine with my brand new ATI 7970.

 

[bryanW1995]

Being cpu-limited is complete game-dependent. Many, or even most, games would be fine with something like a stock i7 920. But something like civ5 is much more cpu-dependent. That game has a cpu bottleneck in larger maps ibt regardless of your gpu, yet it will be gpu-limited once your turn starts again if you don't bring a big-enough gun to the fight. Generally speaking, a 2500k is the bees knees these days for gamers, I got an easy 4.5 with a $25 cpu cooler and all my case fans on low. If you can wait a few months, the IVB equivalent cpu will be around 6-8% faster per clock. And it also should hit 5.0 with similar acoustics, or 5.5 if you want to get aggressive or use h20.

 

[GaiaHunter]

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

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_CPU_Scaling/

Games that show CPU bias - Starcraft II, Hard Reset, Civ 5 and Skyrim. Curiously Shogun 2 and Battleforge aren't CPU dependant.

 

[Obsoleet]

Many rigs, like mine, are CPU limited in a lot of games. I simply don't care. I just play the games. It's not like it's such a terrible fate that you can't play the games, as long as you have a decent enough GPU.

In my games, they run so smooth at my res (1920x1200) that I haven't had the urge to upgrade either component for years now. I won't be upgrading until Haswell and whatever single GPU + 1TB (minimum 512GB upgrade from my 160GB) SSD is top at that point.

 

[maniac5999]

So, since I play at 1080p, and I basically have a P2 970, I should be looking at something in the range of an overclocked 7870 or 7850? (especially since I like games like Civ5)

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Civ 5 is a cpu hungry game, but I wouldn't make my chose based on one game.

Pretty sure the 7870 and 7850 are going to be Cayman refreshes on 28nm.

While I'm sure they'll be faster than the 6970/50, I don't think they'll be worth paying extra for considering the price drops that will take place. Given your current setup I'd just go used once that happens tbh, you could probably snag a 6970 for around $150/$200.

 

[superjim]

The guru3d article gives all the answers you should need on this topic. With that said, some crappily-coded games (looking at you Skyrim) do have CPU bottlenecks.

 

[SlowSpyder]

The guru3d article gives all the answers you should need on this topic. With that said, some crappily-coded games (looking at you Skyrim) do have CPU bottlenecks.

Oddly enough, I must have the fastest PhII in the world. I've seen a ton of benches that show Sykrim cannot get to 60FPS with a PhII, yet I see 60FPS nearly always. What's more is that I'm never close to pegging the two active cores. This is using FRAPS, by the way.

 

[boxleitnerb]

There is not THE bottleneck. It all depends on your games and settings. In my eyes it's almost a sin not to play with SGSSAA with this card wherever possible (DX9 only unfortunately). Then, the CPU does rarely matter.

To be honest, I gets annoying reading about this silly bottleneck question again and again. There is no black and white and no definitive answer. No offense.

 

[Concillian]

Oddly enough, I must have the fastest PhII in the world. I've seen a ton of benches that show Sykrim cannot get to 60FPS with a PhII, yet I see 60FPS nearly always. What's more is that I'm never close to pegging the two active cores. This is using FRAPS, by the way.

Run out from Dragonreach and stand at the top of the stairs, looking down at the tree. I get CPU related slowdowns in most of Markath.

With shadows ultra anyway.

 

[Concillian]

There is not THE bottleneck. It all depends on your games and settings. In my eyes it's almost a sin not to play with SGSSAA with this card wherever possible (DX9 only unfortunately). Then, the CPU does rarely matter.

To be honest, I gets annoying reading about this silly bottleneck question again and again. There is no black and white and no definitive answer. No offense.

I agree, especially because you can increase visual quality with a better card.

The "bottlenecks" for CPU are usually low FPS spikes in specific areas or situations. Rarely is a game fully CPU limited, in that frame rates are across the board exactly the same between cards. Instead usually a CPU limitation will cause a better video card to offer a significantly higher maximum FPS improvement than average FPS improvement (because CPU is only a bottleneck sometimes, and when it's not, a better video card will pump out great FPS.)

 

[SlowSpyder]

Run out from Dragonreach and stand at the top of the stairs, looking down at the tree. I get CPU related slowdowns in most of Markath.

With shadows ultra anyway.

Yup, you are right.

I am seeing 25-26FPS in that part with shadows on Ultra. But, task manager doesn't show too much going on, total CPU use was at 21%. One core was in the 60-70% range, the others were all well under 20% I'd estimate.

 

[IonusX]

umm hate to break it to all of you but bottleneck never goes away. its just reduced. the only cases of a non-existant bottleneck would be something silly like a 3960X with like a 2400pro or some old card like that.
its simply how much bottlenecking you get. as a result TC id say anything over a pII x4 975/c2e/1055t wouldn't catch too bad. i mean it will catch no matter what cpu you use.and while i do agree the 2500k/1100t/8120 is probably where it stops being moderately noticeable. it still wont go away. the cpu that will reduce the bottleneck to nothing, just doesnt exist yet.

 

[jibberegg]

I think we can interpret the OP's question as being...

"Is this a ridulous combination of CPU/GPU where I regularly won't see the benefits of one thanks to the inadequacy of the other?"

Sure in specific games at specific parts then you can easily force one part into a bottleneck, but in general what is the combination like? I agree with GaiaHunter, the Guru3D article covers this topic very well... http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-7970-cpu-scaling-performance-review/

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Yup, you are right.

I am seeing 25-26FPS in that part with shadows on Ultra. But, task manager doesn't show too much going on, total CPU use was at 21%. One core was in the 60-70% range, the others were all well under 20% I'd estimate.

Probably sloppy console port, just like the Asassin's Creed games where I'll see slowdowns even though neither my CPU, a single core, or GPU are fully utilized.