Could my processor be slowing down my GPU's?

metbandit1 · 5 Mar 2011 at 10:32

Ok i posted a couple of days ago asking for advice on what to upgrade to from 2 GTX 260s in SLI but took advice to wait for a while closer to when BF3 comes out.

Then i thought, what if my CPU is bottlenecking my gfx cards. my cpu is a Q6600 G0 clocked to 2.66GHz could it cause a bottle neck? along with the old RAM i have?

Also what equivalent do my 2 cards add up to in new spec terms? (1 GTX 470 for example)

any other details i have missed out just shout at me for!

thanks!

Jono8 · 5 Mar 2011 at 10:37

An overclock on that CPU would do a world of good.

pob9 · 5 Mar 2011 at 10:42

Jono8 said:
An overclock on that CPU would do a world of good.

+1 get a decent cooler and crank it up

metbandit1 · 5 Mar 2011 at 10:43

annoyingly the BIOS is really confusing on this board.
ASUS P5N-D, also it wont give me any option to change the bus speed. only ever the FSB speed..

I was thinking when i get my uni bursary through i just buying a new mobo/ram/cpu and upgrading.

but i presume that my CPU as it is, is slowing them down?

sadbuttrue · 5 Mar 2011 at 11:15

A quick and dirty test for cpu bottlenecking is to compare the benchmark of a game at maximum and minimum graphical settings. If the difference is minimal you're likely being bottlenecked by the cpu in that particular game.

metbandit1 · 5 Mar 2011 at 11:19

sadbuttrue said:
A quick and dirty test for cpu bottlenecking is to compare the benchmark of a game at maximum and minimum graphical settings. If the difference is minimal you're likely being bottlenecked by the cpu in that particular game.

Thanks! Ill give that a try and see what comes up!

metbandit1 · 5 Mar 2011 at 11:35

OK just benchmarked on BFBC2 and my average FPS on LOW settings was 30 FPS on the net with dual SLI 260s it runs at High with 4x AA it was 55.6 FPS.

so something slowing it down....

Jono8 · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:22

metbandit1 said:
OK just benchmarked on BFBC2 and my average FPS on LOW settings was 30 FPS on the net with dual SLI 260s it runs at High with 4x AA it was 55.6 FPS.

so something slowing it down....

What? it was 30fps on low settings and 55.6 on high settings or have i read that wrong?

metbandit1 · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:33

the benchmark of tests on the internet says with the GTX260s in SLI it should run on 55.6 FPS.

however when i did my tests to compare. on high mine ran 20FPS and on low it only ran 30FPS

Cycrow · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:41

That does seem abit low for an sli setup
Could indicate ur cpu is struggling
Best way to check is to monitor your cpu and gpu usage during the game
High cpu usage and low gpu would indicate a serous bottleneck at the cpu

Ideally ull want high gpu usage.

4T5 · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:45

metbandit1 said:
my cpu is a Q6600 G0 clocked to 2.66GHz
thanks!

That is not an overclock that is a nudge towards where it should be.

Adjust your cooling/buy an after market cooler/ get some push/pull goodness going on & don't stop tweaking till you get to 3.4Ghz or I'm sending the Boys round. :mad:

arc@css · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:50

Most do at least 3.0Ghz.

Neil79 · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:53

Mine is at 3GHZ and i have a terrible board, with one GTX 260 OC my frames are good in BFBC2 so will be good playable in BF3

Jono8 · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:55

metbandit1 said:
the benchmark of tests on the internet says with the GTX260s in SLI it should run on 55.6 FPS.

however when i did my tests to compare. on high mine ran 20FPS and on low it only ran 30FPS

Oh i see! Yeh that seems low.

WingZero30 · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:56

[email protected] will bottleneck gtx 260 sli config.

[email protected] (stock speed)
[email protected] (10.3% extra performance which isn't a lot)
[email protected] (41.6% extra performance which is substantial)

You should atleast overclock it to 3Ghz which will give you 25% extra performance which is moderate amount but will help improve your gaming performance

.

WingZero30 · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:57

4T5 said:
That is not an overclock that is a nudge towards where it should be.

Adjust your cooling/buy an after market cooler/ get some push/pull goodness going on & don't stop tweaking till you get to 3.4Ghz or I'm sending the Boys round.

metbandit1 · 5 Mar 2011 at 14:01

http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15492184

theres my 3D mark score...

i might just wait until i get my uni bursary and buy a new setup haha, ill put up with the Bad FPS until then....

it doesnt give me the option to change the Bus speed on my BIOS.

only my FSB speed.
(the larger number isntead of the 3 digit one)

can i change the FSB and still get an overclock?

WingZero30 · 5 Mar 2011 at 14:03

metbandit1 said:
http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15492184

theres my 3D mark score...

i might just wait until i get my uni bursary and buy a new setup haha, ill put up with the Bad FPS until then....

it doesnt give me the option to change the Bus speed on my BIOS.

only my FSB speed.
(the larger number isntead of the 3 digit one)

can i change the FSB and still get an overclock?

FSB (Front Side Bus) speed is the bus speed.

metbandit1 · 5 Mar 2011 at 14:17

WingZero30 said:
FSB (Front Side Bus) speed is the bus speed.

so im fine to adjust it from there then? lol. (im new to this you see hah)

ill give it a go. but im upgrading soon anyways so then ill be fine!

tommybhoy · 5 Mar 2011 at 14:19

metbandit1 said:
can i change the FSB and still get an overclock?

Off hand, a 370 FSB will give you 3.3GHz on the q6600.