Which is my bottleneck for gaming?

[pjyelton4476]

Hey everybody, I'm not sure how to check something like this out, but any idea which would be the bottleneck for gaming, either my Athlon64 3200+ running at 2200 MHz or my GeForce 6800GS? Getting only OK frame rates for Oblivion but not sure which to upgrade.

Other system info:
ePOX nForce4 DDR 8NPA SLI mobo
2gigs PC3200
nothing overclocked

 

[Marshall1]

Video card!

 

[moonboy403]

depends on what resolution you're gaming at

anything above 1280 x 1024, it's your video card
anything below that, it's more like both (though video card still plays a huge role)

all in all, upgrading your video card is a must if you wanna get more frames

 

[RussianSensation]

The videocard hands down.

"The game gives all our midrange and budget video cards a solid thrashing. Anything with 12 pixel pipes and fewer will struggle to render the game with all the settings enabled. You're going to have to give up graphical quality to get decent frame rates on a midrange card." - Gamespot

 

[Rinaun]

Video card is one of the most important pieces in a gaming rig, and since your is what, a generation old, im going to say it needs a update. Also, how much RAM do you have?

 

[Brian48]

Originally posted by: Marshall1
Video card!

 

[Noema]

Video card.

 

[CaiNaM]

your video card.

if you have a Pentium 4 3GHz+ or Athlon 64 2GHz+, a faster cpu will get you very minimal gains.

Games against CPUs. Part II.

 

[v8envy]

Easy to test. Crank resolution down to 640x480, low res textures, no FSAA/HDR/bloom. Keep the view distance settings the same, ditto grass.

Then see if your frames go up. If they do (and I suspect they will), it's your video card. Expect the frame rates you see at 640x480 at 1280x1024 (or higher) with an X1900XT or equivalent.

 

[blckgrffn]

Posts like this keep reminding why I am waiting until at least this fall to pick up oblivion!

My poor 6800 256 @ 440/800 For $100, I don't think it can be beat though...

Nat

*OP, it is very, very likely your vid card. I would consider going to 2 gigs of ram if you can and going for a sweet x1800 ish card, or just going all out and getting the x1900xt, which seems to be hands down the best card for this game.

 

[ballmode]

card

 

[MechaSheeba]

Depends on the game and resolution. In a game like UT2K4 that's optimized to hell and back, the CPU would most likely be the bottleneck. For Oblivion, however, the video card is definitely going to show a larger gain when upgraded.

 

[kmmatney]

I should be getting my copy of Oblivion in 2 says. I plan on using the system in my sig with is stuck at 1280 x 1024 resolution max. I think I'll be OK, but we'll see...

 

[BFG10K]

Overall I'd have to say it's the video card.

 

[videoclone]

3200+ 2.2Ghz ??? is that a 754 AMD 64 ? if so look into selling the old gear and getting a 939 Athlon64 and a better Videocard

AGP card's max out at 7800GS but your CPU option is already around max now for 754

you can get a cheap 3000+ 939 CPU, 939 Motherboard and a PCI-E videocard for a nice price.

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: videoclone
3200+ 2.2Ghz ??? is that a 754 AMD 64 ? if so look into selling the old gear and getting a 939 Athlon64 and a better Videocard

AGP card's max out at 7800GS but your CPU option is already around max now for 754

you can get a cheap 3000+ 939 CPU, 939 Motherboard and a PCI-E videocard for a nice price.

I think you missed the SLI mobo, man!

A 3000+ would be a substanstial downgrade. Don't do it. You could drop in another GS, you know

My vote is for x1800 on a budget, for about $100 after selling your GS, or x1900xt to play Oblivion the way it was meant to be played

 

[413xram]

I have the exact same processor and MB. The only differance is I have 1 gig of ram and 2 7900 gt. cpu is OC to 2.375 GHZ and VC is 700 on core (1.55 volt mod) and 850 on mem. 6400 on 3dmark 06. My problem is a cpu bottleneck. If i where you I would upgrade your VC's and wait and see what is going on with the releases of AM2 and conroe than upgrade your system. The games I play with my system run just fine with all the bells and whistles turned on.....Far Cry, COD2, Rome :total war, and FEAR demo. And I game at 1920 x 1200 resolution.

 

[Powermoloch]

vid card