Quick question...CPU bottlenecking maybe?

[scheibler1]

Just wondering how to tell if your CPU is a bottleneck. I'm running a E2180 with a measly 1mb cache @ 3ghz and think it may be bottlenecking my GTX 260 oc'd. My CPU never really maxes out to 90-100% usage, but I think the cache is really hurting performance. Reviews with Quad cores overclocked to 3.0-3.2ghz and dual cores overclocked to 3.0-4.0ghz are getting higher benchmarks then me(especially minimum fps) and I believe this may be do to the cache size of the dual/quad cores being 4-6mb.

I remember reading that by changing the resolution you should be able to tell if your cpu is holding you back, but forgot the details. I don't really gain any fps going from 1920x1200(my gaming res) to 1680x1050 or even 1440x900 in crysis. I guess I need to test COH and WiC too...

What do you think?

 

[Foxery]

Cache is a factor in games, but the difference shouldn't be too large; most charts comparing the older Core2 models tend to show a 5-10% difference.

Here are a few from an old AT article:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...owdoc.aspx?i=3112&p=11
And another:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...howdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=4

 

[scheibler1]

It seems I will benefit from the larger cache and even faster clock speeds then. From what I have gathered from various articles is that my overclocked e2180 is equivilant to a E6600 or E6700 at stock speeds(2.4-2.6ghz).

I think I need to start saving for an E8500 or Q6600

 

[FalseChristian]

Get the E8600 (3.33GHz, 6MB L2 Cache shared). You're guaranteed to get an E0 stepping unlike the crappy C0 stepping I have with my E8400. You'll get past a 4GHz overclock no problem and Core 2 Duos are better for gaming.

 

[scheibler1]

Meh I just picked up a Q6600. I plan to get it to 3.0-3.4 ghz. All I've got is ddr 800 ram and a p35 chipset. I can't really take advantage of a E8400/E8500 with a lower FSB and ram