re-visit GPU vs older CPU benchmarks?

[Shinobisan]

A while back Anandtech benchmarked how the latest GPUs fared when they were pared with older CPUs. This was a great idea... as the easiest upgrade to make to an older system is to drop in a new GPU. But actual results may vary.

At the time, I would have still gained some benefit from each of them with my old C2D E8400.
Now, I'm being tempted by the latest cards - specifically the GTX460.

But where is that old "CPU" limit? would I crash into it?
Or could I save more $ and get even better performance from the 470? 5850?
I'm sure others have similar ideas with various processors.

For the curious... I'm currently running two 3870s in crossfire - so yes anything would be better.

 

[Termie]

The article referenced in this thread may help a bit, although the e8400 isn't listed: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2089698. The take away message is that it depends on the game. If it can use more than two cores, you may be limited, if not, then you'll be ok with your e8400.

Your 3870s in crossfire probably aren't that bad...maybe equivalent to a 5770? Are you sure a GTX460 is a big enough jump to notice?

Edit: Anandtech's test on some older games show the 3870x2 (roughly what you have) benching in between the 4850 and 4870, i.e. the level of a 5770: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2556/13. Might not hold true in newer games, but just consider that 4850 to GTX460 isn't a huge jump, although it might be worth it for more consistent performance vs. your crossfire setup.

 

[Shinobisan]

Excellent note Termie!
Thanks for finding the link (I was a little time limited - so I took the lazy route... I apologize for that. You filling in the gap is perfect. Thanks!)

From what I can tell the 3870X2 (which is still on many benchmarks) is close to the 5670 in performance. Not bad. I would like to pick up DX11 - the main reason I am looking for a new card.

Power/Price seems to be great for the 460 right now.

Your comment that it's game dependent is also noted. I'm thinking Crysis 2 - which can't be bench tested yet. So right now it's all just guesswork.
That's part of the fun though.

Again... thanks for your quick reply.

 

[Termie]

From what I can tell the 3870X2 (which is still on many benchmarks) is close to the 5670 in performance. Not bad. I would like to pick up DX11 - the main reason I am looking for a new card.

Well, if you're closer to 5670 performance in newer games, by all means upgrade. I'm surprised it's that low, since a single 3870 was a bit faster than a 4670, and should honestly be pretty close to a 5670 on its own. Maybe the crossfire scaling just isn't up to snuff.

GTX460 1GB is a great choice. 5850s have to come down to $250 to be worth it. Right now they are the same price as the GTX470...and that's too much.

 

[nemesismk2]

All this talk of the 3870 makes me miss my HIS 3870 which had ICQ3 cooling. Played so many games with this video card and it never let me down.

 

[Shinobisan]

Indeed. Crossfire on the 3870s only yielded a 20% increase (game dependent). scaling has come a long way in just a short time. "Tom's" has an article today on how well the 460 scales - 90% gain with the 2nd card. very nice.

 

[WildW]

As far as CPU bottlenecking goes. . . you ought to be able to figure that out without changing your GPU. Switch a game to the lowest resolution possible and use something like fraps to examine the frame rate - minimums, average, etc.

Assuming your current GPU isn't so terrible that it can't max out the game at 640x480, you'll see the best frame rates your CPU can manage. As far as I understand it, no GPU upgrade will then give you higher FPS without more CPU power.

Did this on an old machine for giggles. Athlon 64 3200 @ 2GHz, massive overkill GPU = nVidia GTS250, playing Borderlands. 30 to 34fps at 1920x1200 . . .30 to 34fps at 1024x768.

 

[happy medium]

A while back Anandtech benchmarked how the latest GPUs fared when they were pared with older CPUs. This was a great idea... as the easiest upgrade to make to an older system is to drop in a new GPU. But actual results may vary.

At the time, I would have still gained some benefit from each of them with my old C2D E8400.
Now, I'm being tempted by the latest cards - specifically the GTX460.

But where is that old "CPU" limit? would I crash into it?
Or could I save more $ and get even better performance from the 470? 5850?
I'm sure others have similar ideas with various processors.

For the curious... I'm currently running two 3870s in crossfire - so yes anything would be better.

Mabe I missed it, but what resolution are you running?

 

[Shinobisan]

I'm running 1080p.

@WildW - I understand the theory exactly. Actually a really cool idea. Thanks for writing that out.

 

[happy medium]

e8400 with a gtx460 will be great at that resolution.

as far as Crysis 2 goes ,it has been said it will not be anymore demanding then the original Crysis ,and the gtx 460 should be fine.

Now a dual core cpu with Crysis 2 might be a different story.