HD6970 Bottleneck.

[sheldonleigh]

Hi there boys an girls.

I have a question for those of you that know...

I am currently running a Phenom2 940 BE Processor at 3.4gz. It is very stable but still quite slow. It is on an AM2 board running 4gb of 800Mhz ram. Now I am a noob at all things OC so couldnt get any extra out of the memory without the system disagreeing.

A coule of months ago I upgraded from a HD 4850 to a HD 6970 and I did see a FR increase, but not a big one at all.

Now I am trying to work out if my processor/ram is bottlenecking my GFX card or if the card is working at its max. With this in mind I have just ordered an OC bundle(i7 3820@4.7ghz, 16gb ram on Asus Sabretooth MOBO) and a SSD. Now if the card is getting bottlenecked I will keep the current card, if the Card is working at its max I will leave it on my current board and build a system for my wife.

I know the new board allows for 2cards at PCI-e 3 @ x16. Is it worth buying a new PCI-e 3 card to replace the HD6970 or buying a second HD6970 to run in Xfire.

I know there are many questions but I am a noob and bow down to your superior knowhow.

So options are:

1o I Buy a new card for my new board (If the 6970 has more nothing to offer when it is on a new system.

2o I Use the 6970 on my new board (If it is currently bottlenecked on the old board and has more to offer)

3o I Buy a second 6970 for new board for Xfire (If the scaling makes it worth having 2 and if 3rd Gen Pci-e Is not enough of a buff over the PCI-e 2.1.

Ty all for your input in advance

Ron

 

[PEXON]

A 6970 will be nowhere near enough to 'bottleneck,' an i7 and a 2011 board. Even with the 940BE it wouldn't be holding the card back. Maybe if it was a Pentium 2 but not last gen, no way. This gen cards can't even saturate PCI-E 2, never mind PCI-E 3.

 

[SieB]

What PEXON said.

Also, if you are not seeing a huge frame rate increase from a 4850 to a 6970 then there is something wrong somewhere. I went from a 4850 to a 6850 and there was a big frame rate difference, so you should definitely be seeing a massive frame rate increase.

Make sure you have the latest drivers installed

http://sites.amd.com...on_win7-64.aspx

What FPS are you getting in games? if you can list the games and what FPS you are getting in them that will help. 

 

[sheldonleigh]

A 6970 will be nowhere near enough to 'bottleneck,' an i7 and a 2011 board. Even with the 940BE it wouldn't be holding the card back. Maybe if it was a Pentium 2 but not last gen, no way. This gen cards can't even saturate PCI-E 2, never mind PCI-E 3.

Thanks for the reply. That's strange because I was hoping not to have to replace my care. In games online is it still the gpu that makes the biggest fr diff? I play BF2, WOW, Starcraft and c&C mainly...

Maybe its the 800mhz RAM?

 

[sheldonleigh]

A 6970 will be nowhere near enough to 'bottleneck,' an i7 and a 2011 board. Even with the 940BE it wouldn't be holding the card back. Maybe if it was a Pentium 2 but not last gen, no way. This gen cards can't even saturate PCI-E 2, never mind PCI-E 3.

Thanks for the reply. That's strange because I was hoping not to have to replace my care. In games online is it still the gpu that makes the biggest fr diff? I play BF2, WOW, Starcraft and c&C mainly...

Maybe its the 800mhz RAM?

 

[sheldonleigh]

Sorry for double post, phone froze while posting..

 

[sheldonleigh]

What PEXON said.

Also, if you are not seeing a huge frame rate increase from a 4850 to a 6970 then there is something wrong somewhere. I went from a 4850 to a 6850 and there was a big frame rate difference, so you should definitely be seeing a massive frame rate increase.

Make sure you have the latest drivers installed

http://sites.amd.com...on_win7-64.aspx

What FPS are you getting in games? if you can list the games and what FPS you are getting in them that will help. 

Frame rates to follow.

So I have always kept my AMD Drivers up to date. It is on auto update and it downloads often. I really dont know what to do now. I will get my new OC Bundle This week

(with the i7 3820@4.7, 16gb of Quad channel 1600mem all on an ASUS board: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_2011/SABERTOOTH_X79/ )

I will trial the card then and hope it pulls its weight. If it doesnt then what do I do?

Do I buy a secong HD6970 and X-fire them?

Or do I buy a PCI-e 3 Card like the HD79... which will be the more costly option but may be worth it.

Thanks again for the knowledge dump

PS cant wait for the new setup, Hoping it lasts a good few years as I am getting medically retired and have a kid on the way...

 

[SieB]

Your old setup, the AMD one, shouldn't be affecting your 6970 performance at all, you will get a few FPS more with your new i7 one but only a few fps and only in some games.

If you still get low frame rates with your new build then it's a problem with your card. Performance wise you would be better off with a 7xxx series card over a 6970 anyway, either a 7870, 7950 or a 7970 would be a good choice.

 

[sheldonleigh]

Your old setup, the AMD one, shouldn't be affecting your 6970 performance at all, you will get a few FPS more with your new i7 one but only a few fps and only in some games.

If you still get low frame rates with your new build then it's a problem with your card. Performance wise you would be better off with a 7xxx series card over a 6970 anyway, either a 7870, 7950 or a 7970 would be a good choice.

The new i7system, Will it effect overall system performance, Like load speeds?

This is strange, I was so sure itd make a diff, I should have Checked first.

With me retiring I am looking at doing a wb design corse so I can take a part time Work from Home offer to do video editing and design website for small businesses. Will the new pc help with that like I planned? And will the old kit work as a second pc for games and to run as a server. I am hoping I have not waisted my money on the system and the new 120gb SSD.

Ty again.

 

[Robbss]

I would say its the memory holding it back, i've got a a 6950, 16GB 1600MHz RAM, and a AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.6GHz, i run pretty much all games silky smooth, BF2 is simply no match and WoW, Starcraft II i have no FPS issues what so ever.

EDIT: Running in 1920x1080

 

[SieB]

Your new system will be a hell of a lot faster than your old one and you will definitely notice a difference. For games though, FPS and gaming performance comes mainly from your graphics card, so for gaming you want to get the best graphics card you can afford.

Your new PC will be fine for web design, it's a bit over kill but we like overkill here

And yes, your old system will be perfect for a server and to run games.

 

[SieB]

I would say its the memory holding it back, i've got a a 6950, 16GB 1600MHz RAM, and a AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.6GHz, i run pretty much all games silky smooth, BF2 is simply no match and WoW, Starcraft II i have no FPS issues what so ever.

EDIT: Running in 1920x1080

Starcraft and WoW are more CPU bound, you will get better performance with a good CPU.

 

[sheldonleigh]

Your new system will be a hell of a lot faster than your old one and you will definitely notice a difference. For games though, FPS and gaming performance comes mainly from your graphics card, so for gaming you want to get the best graphics card you can afford.

Your new PC will be fine for web design, it's a bit over kill but we like overkill here

And yes, your old system will be perfect for a server and to run games.

Thats a relief

I am really trying to look longterm at the moment. I am looking at the new 7series AMD GPUs and forgot how much they cost. I think I am going to have to put up with the current card for the moment. I am in the process of settling a court case against the idiot who drove over me with a truck. He had no licence for the vehicle and trashed me for life. That will be sorted by July and maybe I will celebrate with whatever is the best GPU at the time. Maybe if it goes well Ill get 2 ;P

Till then I will run the old setup as a server and let the wife play on my Laptop. I will have to use this 6970 till then.

I am expecting the new setup to last at least 4yrs even if it needs a few bits added on along the way.

What do u recommend I install onto the SSD? I have read that you put your OS on it but what else??

Its only 120gb so I will have to be shrewd ;@)

 

[SieB]

Thats a relief

I am really trying to look longterm at the moment. I am looking at the new 7series AMD GPUs and forgot how much they cost. I think I am going to have to put up with the current card for the moment. I am in the process of settling a court case against the idiot who drove over me with a truck. He had no licence for the vehicle and trashed me for life. That will be sorted by July and maybe I will celebrate with whatever is the best GPU at the time. Maybe if it goes well Ill get 2 ;P

Till then I will run the old setup as a server and let the wife play on my Laptop. I will have to use this 6970 till then.

I am expecting the new setup to last at least 4yrs even if it needs a few bits added on along the way.

What do u recommend I install onto the SSD? I have read that you put your OS on it but what else??

Its only 120gb so I will have to be shrewd ;@)

Run over by a truck

ouch!!!

Hope you win your court case and get a nice big pay out from it

Your new system will last a long time, the CPU you are buying for it now is a Sandy Bridge Extreme CPU and when the Ivy Bridge Extreme CPUs are released you will be able to upgrade to one of those without changing your motherboard if you feel like you want to, so you are good for at least 4 years.

For your SSD you should install your OS and all applications that you use like Photoshop, your web browser, a few games and anything else you use often.

 

[sheldonleigh]

I would say its the memory holding it back, i've got a a 6950, 16GB 1600MHz RAM, and a AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.6GHz, i run pretty much all games silky smooth, BF2 is simply no match and WoW, Starcraft II i have no FPS issues what so ever.

EDIT: Running in 1920x1080

See I thought the same thing. I tried to get the 1066mhz ram and the pc kept crashing. At the price of those 1066 ram cards I sent them back.

I only started to notice the FPS drops when I started playing on my birthday present from the wife. A 27" Samsung 9series screen at 120Hz. It is a beautiful piece of kit. Maybe too good. My wife knows the way to my heart. Every gift she buys is for the PC. She bought m all the Logitech Gseries Kit. Latest bit being the G35 surround sound headphones. (I was in hospital for brain surgery and seeing as I dont sleep I asked for a set of headphones dso I didnt disterb the other people. She too went for overkill

But they are so comfortable and the sound is so clear for gaming its better than the Z906 speakers she bought me last year.

I am a lucky man.

 

[sheldonleigh]

Run over by a truck

ouch!!!

Hope you win your court case and get a nice big pay out from it

Your new system will last a long time, the CPU you are buying for it now is a Sandy Bridge Extreme CPU and when the Ivy Bridge Extreme CPUs are released you will be able to upgrade to one of those without changing your motherboard if you feel like you want to, so you are good for at least 4 years.

For your SSD you should install your OS and all applications that you use like Photoshop, your web browser, a few games and anything else you use often.

Yeah Unpleasant .. I have actually won the court cast already, the company accepted liability for the idiot as his boss had told him to move the vehicles even though he had no licence. At the moment we are working on getting medical evidence so they work out how much my life is worth... 14tonnes + going over your body makes a real mess inside. But I am finally walking again and I am hoping to get back into a job, even if its 1hr a day, as I refuse to be a taker.

Wow, ok I didnt know what I was buying, I looked at the i5 2500 and it lacked a lot of the extras u can do on the new board. I also though itd not serve to buy the i5 as it didnt seem as though any new processors would come out for that chipset. I am slowly learning about all of these things. I thought Id rather put in an extra couple of quid to get newest kit to hopefully last longer.

I really appreciate your input here and Look forward to the next phase... POWER!!

 

[SieB]

Good to here you are back to good health, hope it all goes well for you

Be sure to post some pictures of your PC when you build it so we can get our fix of nerd porn

 

 

[sheldonleigh]

Ok so, Thanks to Scan computers' the new bundle and case arrived wednewsay. That's only 2working days after my order even though I made major changes to the basic bundle.

I ordered a Bitfenix Collossus which is a beast of a case, I never thought it would be as big as it is but it looks fantastic and is a pleasure to work with. I managed to hide 90% of the cables which left plenty of air movement room.

This being my first ever instillation of a motherboard I relied heavily on the book that came with my Asus Sabretooth motherboard. The book was very well written and included a great illustration of every step in the instillation process.

With the system all put together I installed my OS (windows 7) and wow onto my SSD to see what a difference the faster processor and RAM made. The first thing I noticed was the rapid windows startup, it took about 1/3 the time it used to. Secondly I noticed the speed wow loaded each screen and how responsive the whole system was. There was no waiting for new areas to load and the frame rate was stuck at 60Fps at ultra settings.

To put this into perspective, on my old system I could play at a maximum of good and regularly dropped below 25fps.

I am waiting for a little more time out of hospital to load a few more games to see just hot much the new system has helped on other games.

I can honestly say that I am extatic, the ammount of performance I gained through installing this new setup is well worth the cash.

I can honestly recommend the Bitfenix Collossus case as it is beautiful and is long enough for even the longest of ATI cards, in this setup I used the HD6970 which i had to cut a hole in my old case to fit it in. So in my books its great to have.

The one thing that worried me is that the big GFX cards cover the small fan on the mobo. Other than that there seems to be plenty of space for multiple cards.

I am very happy with the choices I made, I think I will wait a few months then splash out on a couple of the best cards available then.

Thanks to all of you for the help and advice.

Cheers

Ron

 

[ndsouz1]

Save yourself all the trouble.

Just upgrade your motherboard to any kind of amd chipset from 760 to 890

And dump 16 gb of ddr3 ram anywhere from 1333 to 1600 speed is okay.

Your' current card and CPU is powerful enough to stay 60fps at all times in almost all games.

I just upgraded my brothers Athlon64 2.4ghz with 4gb 800hmz ddr2 6950 1GB

TO

FX-4100 4core 3.6ghz with 8gb 1600MHZ ddr3 and a 760g motherboard. 6950 1GB

6950 1GB is less powered than a 6970 ... But he is playing all his games at full settings 8x AA 16x AF and it stays 60FPS+ at all times.

NOTE: I was planning to buy your processor as a upgrade for my bro. the Phenom x4 940 BE 3.4GHZ, but ended up buying the fx4100 x4 3.6ghz