What is my bottleneck?

[AgentUnknown]

With the release of L4D, maybe this is a good time to upgrade. What is my bottleneck, what should I upgrade first? Built my first PC last year. If I change the processor, I take off the heatsink and remove the CPU? And just put a new one in with new heatsink?

E2140 1.6
2GB ram
XFX 8800GT

 

[themisfit610]

Yes. Get a new CPU, preferably one of the new Wolfdales - but make sure your mobo supports it. Adding more RAM never hurt either 8800gt is still good and strong for most games at non insane resolutions +AA.

~MiSfit

 

[DSF]

If you're running that E2140 at stock, that's your big bottleneck. Have you considered overclocking it? Overclocked it should play L4D just fine with an 8800GT.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Never overclocked before. Anyone have a guide to do it?

 

[WoodButcher]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2057083&enterthread=y

 

[SMOGZINN]

I thought I would jump in here too because I am basicly doing the same thing as the OP. I do a little bit of everything with my computer, but Lets face it, even my largest spreadsheets barely slow my current setup now, so the only thing that more power really matters for any more (for me at least) is gaming.

My Specs are very similar,

GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775
E2160 1.8GHz (slight OC)
SST DDR2-800 2GB (1X2)

I know I'm going to add an extra 2 gig stick to get to that 4gig dual channel which is about the best I can get with my 32bit OS.
I'm at work so I don't remember just what my CPU is running at, but I have it OCed some, but not as much as I was hoping for. I'm on the stock heatsink, could probably do better with a better Heatsink, but at this point I think I'm better off just buying a faster CPU then sinking another $40 in a heatsink.

So, What say you?
It seems that the extra ram for dual channel is a no brainer at $19.50 from eWiz.com.
So do I upgrade to a E8400 Wolfdale, or just get a good heatsink and try for some more juice from my E2160?

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: SMOGZINN
I'm at work so I don't remember just what my CPU is running at, but I have it OCed some, but not as much as I was hoping for. I'm on the stock heatsink, could probably do better with a better Heatsink, but at this point I think I'm better off just buying a faster CPU then sinking another $40 in a heatsink.

If you can't get that CPU to 3GHz with the stock cooler, you're extremely unlucky. Try giving it a voltage bump or two - odds are, you'll be stable at 3GHz with acceptable temps. It won't be nearly as fast as an E8400, but you might find that it's fast enough for you (it's fast enough for me - I plan on waiting till prices drop before upgrading again).

 

[SMOGZINN]

Originally posted by: vj8usa

Originally posted by: SMOGZINN
I'm at work so I don't remember just what my CPU is running at, but I have it OCed some, but not as much as I was hoping for. I'm on the stock heatsink, could probably do better with a better Heatsink, but at this point I think I'm better off just buying a faster CPU then sinking another $40 in a heatsink.

If you can't get that CPU to 3GHz with the stock cooler, you're extremely unlucky. Try giving it a voltage bump or two - odds are, you'll be stable at 3GHz with acceptable temps. It won't be nearly as fast as an E8400, but you might find that it's fast enough for you (it's fast enough for me - I plan on waiting till prices drop before upgrading again).

I've been OC's for quite some time (actually since the original king of OC the Celeron A 300) and feel pretty confidant at my mad skillz but I can't get anywhere near 3GHz on this chip. When I build this system I build an identical one for my brother, and got it much higher then mine but still below 3GHz, so it might be another component like my PSU that is holding me back. I build my own case, so maybe I should add some more fans to it.

 

[AgentUnknown]

I tried to OC this thing being my first time. I changed it to 400 X 8 multiplier. I changed core voltage to 1.384. What else do I need to change? Once I save these settings in bios and load windows, it only sees it as 1.6Ghz. What am I doing wrong?

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: AgentUnknown
I tried to OC this thing being my first time. I changed it to 400 X 8 multiplier. I changed core voltage to 1.384. What else do I need to change? Once I save these settings in bios and load windows, it only sees it as 1.6Ghz. What am I doing wrong?

Whoa, nelly. You don't just jump to 8 x 400. Overclocking is something that takes time, with some trial and error. Move the FSB up in small increments first. Chances are windows sees it as 1.6 GHz because your overclock didn't stick.

By the way, download CPU-z to check the speed of your processor, rather than asking Windows.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Ok, I use CPU-z and it jumps every few secs from stock to 2.2Ghz. But when I use coretemp it sees it as oc'ed. Windows My computer says stock. Which one do I listen to?

 

[DSF]

Chances are you have Speedstep and/or C1E enabled. That's what causes your processor to cut its multiplier to 6 when extra processing power isn't needed. It's an energy saving feature. Always trust CPU-z.