Am I CPU limited or GPU limited?

Weazle · 22 Nov 2010 at 16:07

Hey,

Just some advice on my current setup:
Intel Q9400 o/c to 3.2GHz
Sapphire Toxic 4890 o/c to 900MHz(core)/1050MHz(mem)

Am I currently CPU or GPU limited in games?

Looking to upgrade the GPU but not sure if its worth a new ATI card or not, was thinking the new 5xxx or the 6xxx range when it comes out.

Thanks.

subbytna · 22 Nov 2010 at 16:15

both are fairly decent still...can you not squeeze more "juice" from teh quad? to 3.6 maybe?

the 4890 at 900 is still decent...depends on your screen size though

Blue160 · 22 Nov 2010 at 16:25

GFX will be the limiting factor in nearly every game. That card is still pretty good though. Maybe crossfire is the way to go?

If not a GTX 580 or a HD5970 should be a step up, or you could wait a bit for the 69xx cards to be released.

Weazle · 22 Nov 2010 at 16:28

subbytna said:
both are fairly decent still...can you not squeeze more "juice" from teh quad? to 3.6 maybe?

the 4890 at 900 is still decent...depends on your screen size though

I could go to 3.6GHz but there's something weird that happens when I start online gaming, I experience a bottleneck with network packets and the computer just has the most awful lag spikes .... its using an onboard Realtek Gigabit LAN card (EP45-UD3R) ... not sure if its memory or LAN card but its to do with timings.

I run the 4890 at 1920x1200.

d_brennen · 22 Nov 2010 at 16:32

Maybe spend ~ £10 on an Intel Pro 1000 PCI nic? I had bothers with an OC and Realtek onboard nic some years ago. It kept just disconnecting saying a cable was unplugged. Reboot fixed it for a while, but it always came back. Cue several network cables and new router, the penny finally dropped

BigRazer93 · 22 Nov 2010 at 16:34

Nope, like people have said, they are still fairly good components you have there, but that cpu could do with ocing more as they can reach 3.6+ easily. Have you tried updating your network drivers etc? Seems a bit wired that happens.

You could upgrade the GPU if you wanted to, I would wait for the new AMD cards to be released and see how they go.

Weazle · 23 Nov 2010 at 23:15

Yeah the onboard LAN is wierd, upgraded/downgraded so many drivers for it to rule out the drivers themselves

Gonna try getting a new network card, o/c that cpu a bit more and then upgrade the gpu when the 6xxx ATIs come out

Thanks for your advice guys.