GPU slowing system down???

timbo2410 · 3 Apr 2010 at 09:55

I have a 5850 that will be spare and I was going to chuck it in my old (family) system to replace the two 7800 GTX cards. I was flicking through web pages and came across an article that stated that if the GPU is faster than the CPU it will not only be the point of the bottleneck but it will actually slow the system down so that it is slower than running my sli 7800's ..... is that the case?
Old system:
Asus A8N Sli Deluxe
FX-55 CPU
2 Asus 7800 GTX
Win XP Pro

linaaslt · 3 Apr 2010 at 10:02

I'v never read anything like it so can't comment on it. but your cpu will be biggest bottleneck, and you won't use half of what 5850 can give to you, in your case 5770 would be an option, and for the money that you would save you could get new mobo with better cpu

SteveB · 3 Apr 2010 at 10:18

If he's already got the 5850 there's no money to be saved, unless he sells it

It won't slow your system down by putting a better, faster GFX card in. But it is more likely that the CPU will become the bottle neck.

timbo2410 · 3 Apr 2010 at 10:26

that's just the problem my new system has a 5850 in it and down the track I was going to swap that out for a Nvidia card. That leaves me with the 5850 spare. My old system runs without a fault although dated and the fans need replacing throughout (Northbridge and the two stock Antec P180 fans). That's why the old system has been relegated to "family" computer. My new system is:
Antec 1200 case
Core i7 920 2.66 @ 4 ghz CPU
EX58-UD5 mobo
6 Gig Corsair XMS3 DDR3
Corsair H50 water cooling
XFX HD 5850 GPU
Creative XFI Champion 7:1
Pioneer BDR DVD-RW, BD-RW
Sony Optiarc DVD-RW
1 x Intel X25 SSD
3 x Samsung F3 1TB HDD's
Corsair HX 1000w PSU
Windows 7 64 bit
Dell Ultrasharp 24 inch LCD

stulid · 3 Apr 2010 at 10:32

It wont make the pc any slower.

But that CPU/Motherboard and RAM will be holding back the performance big time.

If you already got the card, then just use it.

mmj_uk · 3 Apr 2010 at 10:34

As stulid says it won't slow anything down just won't operate to its full potential, it's like putting a Ferrari engine inside a Ford Mondeo.

timbo2410 · 3 Apr 2010 at 10:35

haha I posted before refreshing then .... yeah that's the problem. My old system:
Antec P180 Asus AN8-Sli deluxe
3 gig ram
FX-55 CPU
SLI 7800 GTX
is a bit long in the tooth. Now as I said I have to replace all the fans, maybe the PSU and then throw in the 5850 ... I was thinking that this would prolong it's life quite a ways, just as a web browsing/occasional kids gaming/wifes computer

timbo2410 · 3 Apr 2010 at 11:59

is there any chance of increasing the CPU either by overclocking (never done this before) or by getting a faster CPU? THe mobo is socket 939 I believe.

stulid · 3 Apr 2010 at 12:04

You would need a complete CPU, motherboard and ram make over.

I use to have a socket939, 3800X2, 4gb DDR and a GTX260.

Last year when I changed to a phenom X4 955, 4GB DDR3 and new motherboard, it was like having a new card!

timbo2410 · 3 Apr 2010 at 13:37

So really just not worth the effort then. As I said I'm just looking at keeping this old system going for general use and I'm happy with that. Thanks for all the advice it helps a great deal.