Would my X3 435 be bottlenecking a 5850?

[Rhezuss]

Hi!

Recently I bought a Athlon II X3 435 (stock clocks @ 2.9GHz) which I overclocked at 3.19GHz (a mere 10% OC from the ASUS BIOS presets).

I want to replace my 4850 512mb with a HD 5xxx and from what I read, a 5850 will be the best to feel an improvement from the 4850.

Is the X3 enough to utilize the 5850 at it's fullest?

 

[jdjbuffalo]

It depends on the program. Will you notice an improvement in most games? Yes. Could you get more FPS out of most games if you had an i7 @ 4GHZ? Yes. Overall, I would say it's worthwhile.

I'll be upgrading from a 4850 to a 5850 once the price drops (hopefully in a few weeks).

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Yeah it'll be good, you'll about double your frames. The Athlon II x3's, while not uber quad processors, do quite well for themselves really. You won't really be bottle-necked.

 

[Rhezuss]

Ok i'm reassured a bit...

I had 2 options:

1- Get a Phenom II X4 right now and wait later this year and get a 5850 cheap
2- Keep the Athlon II X3 and replace the 4850 before summer

 

[toyota]

Ok i'm reassured a bit...

I had 2 options:

1- Get a Phenom II X4 right now and wait later this year and get a 5850 cheap
2- Keep the Athlon II X3 and replace the 4850 before summer

option 2 of course but I would try and oc that X3 a little bit more if you could.

 

[Rhezuss]

option 2 of course but I would try and oc that X3 a little bit more if you could.

I could but the thing is:

The multiplier is stuck. I can just up the freq. But when I do so, the mem clock follow the lead too, so now my 10% OC is applying to the memory clock too so I have DDR2-880 now.

I tried many things to let the mem to 800 but can't find any and I don't want to OC the memory.

 

[fffblackmage]

I could but the thing is:

The multiplier is stuck. I can just up the freq. But when I do so, the mem clock follow the lead too, so now my 10% OC is applying to the memory clock too so I have DDR2-880 now.

I tried many things to let the mem to 800 but can't find any and I don't want to OC the memory.

Can you change the memory divider?

 

[Rhezuss]

Can you change the memory divider?

No I can't. It's like the freq of the CPU is linked to the memory.

If I manually set the CPU clock at 225MHz the memory will be shown as DDR2-900...

EDIT: Memory divider, maybe i'm not looking at the right place. Can it be called something else?

 

[cusideabelincoln]

It is called something else, as you should be able to change it.

What is exact model of your motherboard? We can look up the manual and see what option you need to change. But if you look in the BIOS you'll probably see an option to set the RAM to DDR2-800, 667, or 533 speeds. Changing this will change the memory multiplier.

 

[1h4x4s3x]

no luck unlocking the 4th core?

 

[happy medium]

You cpu is fine for the 5850.

 

[Rhezuss]

no luck unlocking the 4th core?

Nah!

I tried everything before adding some volts to the CPU.

I set ACC to "Auto" and Unleashing Mode to "Enabled" and the computer just shut down after rebooting from BIOS. So I have to clear the CMOS witht he jumper and it will boot up again.

So I guess I got a bad 4th core.

It is called something else, as you should be able to change it.

What is exact model of your motherboard? We can look up the manual and see what option you need to change. But if you look in the BIOS you'll probably see an option to set the RAM to DDR2-800, 667, or 533 speeds. Changing this will change the memory multiplier.

I can change the speeds from 200 to 533, I guess I have to adjust the speed, for instance set the RAM to 333 instead of the stock 400 and compensate with the clock?

 

[betasub]

I can change the speeds from 200 to 533, I guess I have to adjust the speed, for instance set the RAM to 333 instead of the stock 400 and compensate with the clock?

This. By lowering your memory "default" speed (aka lowering the multiplier), you now have headroom to overclock the processor (thus increasing your memory speed from a lower base).

 

[Rhezuss]

This. By lowering your memory "default" speed (aka lowering the multiplier), you now have headroom to overclock the processor (thus increasing your memory speed from a lower base).

Ah, simple as that?

Ok thanks all!

On topic now pwahahah: I'm one click of buying this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-327-_-Product

Only 160CAD, factory OC, Guru3D reviewed it and looks like a nice little card...

Don't...click...PLACE ORDER...

 

[MarcVenice]

Ah, simple as that?

Ok thanks all!

On topic now pwahahah: I'm one click of buying this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-327-_-Product

Only 160CAD, factory OC, Guru3D reviewed it and looks like a nice little card...

Don't...click...PLACE ORDER...

Compared to a HD 5850, it's quite a lot slower. Compared to the HD 4850 it's only moderately faster. I'd really try and get a HD 5850 if I were you.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

If you're moving from a 4850, really your best bet is to get a HD5850 or up. Anything else and you'll feel like you wasted your money (a 4890, maybe not, bu they're starting to get hard to find).

5850's are way too f'ing expensive right now though
Wait two weeks for the GTX 4xx series and we should see a price drop from AMD.

Edit: MV beat me to it.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Nah!

I tried everything before adding some volts to the CPU.

I set ACC to "Auto" and Unleashing Mode to "Enabled" and the computer just shut down after rebooting from BIOS. So I have to clear the CMOS witht he jumper and it will boot up again.

So I guess I got a bad 4th core.



I can change the speeds from 200 to 533, I guess I have to adjust the speed, for instance set the RAM to 333 instead of the stock 400 and compensate with the clock?

You should be able to comfortably approach 3.4-3.5GHz with the ratio at 333 with a slight bump in volts.

The added benefit is your NB/IMC speed will approach 2400MHz at 240MHz clock which will add a nice little kick. Just keep your HT speed a notch slower.




--

 

[ShreddedWheat]

I have an e5200 oced to 3.4 and went from a 4850 to a 5850 and it was a substantial increase (almost double fps in some games)! Though honestly if I would have had a 4850 1 gig card instead of a 512meg; I think I could have waited. rez @ 1920x1200

 

[BFG10K]

What resolution do you play you games at, Rhezuss?

 

[Apocalypse23]

IMO you will be bottlenecked. I have an E8400@3.9 and also a 5850 @925/1175, at 1440x900 in BC2 I hit a minimum of mid 40 fps range to sometimes even mid 30s at intense gaming. This is with high settings and 2x AA/8xAF. Due to my bottlenecked cpu, I also cannot overclock the video card higher since my CPU crashes if I try to. I recommend you switch to a core i5 750 or a core i7 920 setup as I am planning to do so myself.

 

[toyota]

What resolution do you play you games at, Rhezuss?

he has a 1920x1080 in his sig so thats probably it. a 5770 isnt much of an upgrade so a 5850 would be the way to go o course.

 

[toyota]

IMO you will be bottlenecked. I have an E8400@3.9 and also a 5850 @925/1175, at 1440x900 in BC2 I hit a minimum of mid 40 fps range to sometimes even mid 30s at intense gaming. This is with high settings and 2x AA/8xAF. Due to my bottlenecked cpu, I also cannot overclock the video card higher since my CPU crashes if I try to. I recommend you switch to a core i5 750 or a core i7 920 setup as I am planning to do so myself.

I am surprised you dont get lower than mid 30s at times with that dual core in BF2. there was a graph someone had in another forum showing the Phenom X2 hitting the 20s quite often while the X4 at the same mhz was nearly twice as fast at times.

that being said yeah his Athlon 2 X3 would hold back the 5850 but not enough to really matter. at 1920x1080 he would do better to go for the 5850 over the 5770 at this point.

 

[cbn]

IMO you will be bottlenecked. I have an E8400@3.9 and also a 5850 @925/1175, at 1440x900 in BC2 I hit a minimum of mid 40 fps range to sometimes even mid 30s at intense gaming. This is with high settings and 2x AA/8xAF. Due to my bottlenecked cpu, I also cannot overclock the video card higher since my CPU crashes if I try to. I recommend you switch to a core i5 750 or a core i7 920 setup as I am planning to do so myself.

This is happening in multiplayer?

Hmm....yeah I wouldn't doubt it with all the destructible environment? Realistically exploding buildings? Isn't that done through the CPU?

 

[Apocalypse23]

This is happening in multiplayer?

Hmm....yeah I wouldn't doubt it with all the destructible environment? Realistically exploding buildings? Isn't that done through the CPU?

Yes it is. I do have MipMap settings to High Quality in CCC, but I doubt that would effect much on the fps. Mostly I get choppy fps while shooting though intense explosions and smoke.

 

[Rhezuss]

Yeah I play at 1920 x 1080 with mostly high settings in all my games right now since they are not newer games (Risen, Dawn of War 2, Age of Conan, DA:O, Fallout 3, Sacred 2, Divinity 2...) and they're playing pretty well at the higest settings.

I think the best is to wait till Fermi's out and see what's going on...