Is my CPU bottle necking my GPU?

[ISimplyFallenI]

I recently bought an AMD Radeon HD 7870 which was an upgrade from 6770 and there isn't as much as a performance boost as i thought there would be. Some games where I know it should do excellent in it doesn't do as well as I thought it should. The CPU in question is an AMD Phenom II X6 1035T 2.6GHz.

 

[Vlada011]

No, you can play and with 6950, 6970, 7950, 7970 without problem on your CPU.
Better if you OC little. Yes on Intel maybe can give higher P score, but your GPU score will be same.
Only in CF/SLI AMD is weak.

 

[iBeInspire]

It shouldn't be bottlenecking, but a little OC will do nothing but good

EDIT : 300 Posts, BABY!

 

[Gamepro105]

i wouldn't say it is bottle necking, i would buy a good CPU cooler and overclock both your CPU and graphics card. Be sure you have a good enough psu!

 

[Vlada011]

OC to 3.0GHz for beginning if you have proper cooling and PSU.
I think 3.0GHz that CPU can without voltage rise or only little.
But if you OC later on 3.5GHz for 24/7 that would be perfect for 1-2 year more.

 

[ISimplyFallenI]

OC to 3.0GHz for beginning if you have proper cooling and PSU.
I think 3.0GHz that CPU can without voltage rise or only little.
But if you OC later on 3.5GHz for 24/7 that would be perfect for 1-2 year more.

i wouldn't say it is bottle necking, i would buy a good CPU cooler and overclock both your CPU and graphics card. Be sure you have a good enough psu!

It shouldn't be bottlenecking, but a little OC will do nothing but good

EDIT : 300 Posts, BABY!

I'll overclock but I'll wait until my new PSU arrives, I'm already maxing the thing out with the video card and I don'twant to push it any farther.

 

[MacLeod]

I actually think it is holding you back. 2.6GHz is really way too slow. You really need to overclock up to 3.2 or better if you can. Don't forget to crank on the CPU/NB as well as Phenom II's really come to life when you do.

 

[Scoob]

I think bottlenecking is really subject to what you're trying to do at the time. Some titles need a good CPU to enabled decent FPS at higher settings, other's seem to be happy on a fairly basic CPU as long s the GPU is up to the job. I'd say your average FPS these days seems to like good performance from both CPU and GPU, f you want to turn all the pretties on.

As others have said here, I think a small (initially) overclock once you have your uprated PSU might yield some extra performance. In my own experience, having a newer gen GPU with an older gen CPU, really benefits from a CPU overclock.

I saw this on my Q6600 when I upgraded from my 8800GT to my GTX 275, I needed that 3.6ghz OC to get the best out of the GPU. Moving on to a GTX 570, well the thing had an easy ride of it as the Q6600 even at 3.6ghz couldn't keep it fed in most of the titles I played. Going to a 2500k saw my 570's properly utilised at last.

Now, I have TWO 570's in SLI, my overclock of 4.6ghz on the 2500k is keeping them fed quite nicely.

So yes, get that new PSU, swat up on OC guides for your CPU and see what improvements you can achieve.

Best of luck.

Scoob.

 

[ISimplyFallenI]

I think bottlenecking is really subject to what you're trying to do at the time. Some titles need a good CPU to enabled decent FPS at higher settings, other's seem to be happy on a fairly basic CPU as long s the GPU is up to the job. I'd say your average FPS these days seems to like good performance from both CPU and GPU, f you want to turn all the pretties on.

As others have said here, I think a small (initially) overclock once you have your uprated PSU might yield some extra performance. In my own experience, having a newer gen GPU with an older gen CPU, really benefits from a CPU overclock.

I saw this on my Q6600 when I upgraded from my 8800GT to my GTX 275, I needed that 3.6ghz OC to get the best out of the GPU. Moving on to a GTX 570, well the thing had an easy ride of it as the Q6600 even at 3.6ghz couldn't keep it fed in most of the titles I played. Going to a 2500k saw my 570's properly utilised at last.

Now, I have TWO 570's in SLI, my overclock of 4.6ghz on the 2500k is keeping them fed quite nicely.

So yes, get that new PSU, swat up on OC guides for your CPU and see what improvements you can achieve.

Best of luck.

Scoob.

I definitely will overclock, and luckily I have an aftermarket cooler that's up for the job but I think in the end I may just upgrade to a new CPU. It will likely be piledriver, which I know is a stupid idea since they're quite crap but I bought a 990FX motherboard recently and I don't have the money for a new one which is unfortunate.

 

[Scoob]

I think, given that overclocking has the potential to give some good free performance - subject to cooling and PSU, as you are of course more than aware - it's certainly worth-while as a first step.

I'm afraid I'm not really up on how the different AMD CPU's compare performance-wise, though I do remember reading about people getting better performance from their last-gen AMD CPU's than their (at the time) new Bulldozers. Though I expect that largely depended on the task being performed. Hopefully Piledriver will move the game on a little, we all benefit from AMD being a good competitor regardless of the brand we choose.

Do your homework, see how Piledriver might compare to your current setup once you overclock and go from there. My assumption is that Piledriver has the potential to be a marked improvement over your current Phenom II, plus I'd hope it offers more overclocking headroom too. Of course do your homework to ensure you're getting a worth-while improvment for your spend.

Scoob.

 

[ISimplyFallenI]

I think, given that overclocking has the potential to give some good free performance - subject to cooling and PSU, as you are of course more than aware - it's certainly worth-while as a first step.

I'm afraid I'm not really up on how the different AMD CPU's compare performance-wise, though I do remember reading about people getting better performance from their last-gen AMD CPU's than their (at the time) new Bulldozers. Though I expect that largely depended on the task being performed. Hopefully Piledriver will move the game on a little, we all benefit from AMD being a good competitor regardless of the brand we choose.

Do your homework, see how Piledriver might compare to your current setup once you overclock and go from there. My assumption is that Piledriver has the potential to be a marked improvement over your current Phenom II, plus I'd hope it offers more overclocking headroom too. Of course do your homework to ensure you're getting a worth-while improvment for your spend.

Scoob.

I heard Piledriver can be overclocked very easily and you can get excellent clocks out of it, also the Piledriver CPU's have an unlocked multiplier as mine doesn't so just that alone I can likely get better results out of Piledriver.

 

[Scoob]

Sounds like an obvious upgrade for you then mate, plus it justifies your purchase of that 990FX

The good thing is that I'm noticing more and more titles are making better use of multiple cores, so in real terms your CPU could become more and more effective over time. Also, newer OS's such as W7 and W8 have far better schedulers which has improved load balancing across multiple cores no end from the Windows XP days. My Q6600 at stock (2.4) runs certain things better now under W7 64 than it did under XP @ 3.6 - plus general desktop fluidity is nicer - even on my old spinner drives.

Scoob.