Cheapest CPU to withstand 2x 7950 w/out bottleneck?

[Martini1991]

I'm in two minds about it.

 

[LtMatt]

That has already been explained to you.

Ah Rusty how i have missed thee.

 

[almighty15]

I have a 2500k and just moved to Xfire 7950's

You want any benchmarks running?

 

[zx128k]

2500k @ 4.8Ghz is CPU limited in 3Dmark Firestrike but that is with two 7970's. This is the only software this happens.

 

[almighty15]

2500k @ 4.8Ghz is CPU limited in 3Dmark Firestrike but that is with two 7970's. This is the only software this happens.

There's something wrong dude.... you should have both GPU's at 99% load.

I do and my 2500k is clocked lower then yours

 

[Orangey]

People on GC forum say BF3 multi is bottlenecked by 2500K.

I'm wondering if I should upgrade my 2500K for my planned 9950 xfire?

 

[LtMatt]

People on GC forum say BF3 multi is bottlenecked by 2500K.

I'm wondering if I should upgrade my 2500K for my planned 9950 xfire?

Ideally you want a i7 2600k/2700k minimum to get the most from your multi gpu setup. Anything lower and it certain games your cards will only see 60-80% usage. Notable games like Battlefield 3 and Crysis benefit from extra threads. In other games where only 2/4 threads are used then you won't see any noticeable benefit from an i7 over an i5.