Bottlenecking Question

Juxax · 28 Mar 2007 at 04:27

I'm currently using:-
Asrock Dual SATA 2 mobo
Akasa Paxpower 500w PSU
Geforce 8800GTS
Athlon 64 3200+ running at 2.0Ghz
1.5GB RAM (x2 512's & x2 256's in DC Config)

I'm upgradin my processor to a Athlon X2 3800+ Manchester Oc'd to 2.35Ghz, and I'm ditchin the x2 256 MB of ram, for X2 512. I don't know much about PCs but I know enough that a 64 3200+ Single Core is causing bottlenecks as far as the GPU is concerned, but what other factors are there to consider in the bottlenecking equasion.

Also, I know for the moment, conroe's rule, and that would remove pretty much all the bottleneck, but will that upgrade remove any at all? if so, estimated, enough to make a significant increase?

Running Games like Doom 3, at 1440x900 Resolution, all settings highest, I never seem to go lower then 30 FPS, and thats only 5% of the time, Running Dark Messiah i estimate around 25-30 FPS in the Majority, and less playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R with Full Dynamic Lighting on, I'm not lookin for any definiative answers, just guesses, I'd take the guesses of you guys over my own noobishness any day.

masslac · 28 Mar 2007 at 09:27

The X2 3800+ will give you a tremendous boost in overall performance. Apart from adding that, there's nothing I would really do to that machine for the time being. The RAM is not an urgency, but a good 2GB kit certainly wouldn't go amiss.

If you want to sell the 3200+, let me know.

Defcon5 · 28 Mar 2007 at 11:57

Id sort out your ram and clock that 3200.

An X2 3800 still runs at 2ghz, so only games that are multi-threaded will benifit.

IMO you will notice better gains from a decent low latency 2gb kit than an extra core

BigDom · 28 Mar 2007 at 13:09

Defcon5 said:
Id sort out your ram and clock that 3200.

An X2 3800 still runs at 2ghz, so only games that are multi-threaded will benifit.

IMO you will notice better gains from a decent low latency 2gb kit than an extra core

Whilst the X2 Cores don't run any faster, they do help alleviate load. Won't be anything like 2x faster of course but will run a lot more smoothly. I definatly notice the difference going between my single core and dual core systems with similar core perfomance.

masslac · 28 Mar 2007 at 13:40

Defcon5 said:
IMO you will notice better gains from a decent low latency 2gb kit than an extra core

That is totally not true.

BigDom · 28 Mar 2007 at 13:55

masslac said:
That is totally not true.

Agreed, an extra core means the game has the WHOLE core - so stuff like TS will sit on the second core along witht he OS. Rather better than benefits from memory. That said 1gig for many games is pushing it these days so I would reccomend 2gig. But definatly worth getting a dual core processor.

Winnter · 28 Mar 2007 at 14:53

Bigdom would a AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200 be ok for gaming aswell? Like if i was to get a geforce 8800 GTS 640mb (But i would not be overclocking that CPU) Thank you

Defcon5 · 28 Mar 2007 at 16:13

Winnter said:
Bigdom would a AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200 be ok for gaming aswell? Like if i was to get a geforce 8800 GTS 640mb (But i would not be overclocking that CPU) Thank you

Is that not an AM2 chip?

Juxax · 28 Mar 2007 at 16:27

Thanks guys.

I know that the Dual Core won't power games any faster then a Single, but the 2nd prosc would handle things like Anti Virus, and stuff.

I'm hoping the x2 3800 won't hold the rest of the system back, I know it won't reach FULL potential, for that I'd prolly need either Intel or the AM2 chipset, with a solid low latency 2GB Kit running DDR2, but I'm hoping it'll unleash the power of my 8800 more then the single 3200.

As for selling it, sure, i still got the box, and Heatsink+Fan included, good condition.