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Graphics Effects of CPU bottleneck on graphical performance

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Lord Blobbery, 16 Feb 2011.

  1. Lord Blobbery

    Lord Blobbery Curious.

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    Greetings!
    My machine is currently running a 8600GT (roughly four years old) which has the acoustic properties of a hoover at the best of times. Unfortunately, over the past few months it has developed an infuriating habit of breaking into a sustained growling noise when booted, which can only be stopped by either violently slapping the top of the PC case (a method of decreasing effectiveness and likely detrimental to other hardware) or leaving the machine for a few minutes, allowing the GPU to idle and enabling the fan to slow down enough to stop the problem. Whilst replacing the cooler would normally be my method of choice for solving the issue, the graphics performance is already atrocious (screen has native resolution of 1920x1080, not a chance of this whilst gaming). I plan on replacing the sorry thing with an HD5770 (I would go for a 1gb GTX460, but very low budget due to sailing and upcoming uni). However, a friend told me that the bottleneck created by my Pentium E2200 and Asus P5B (unable to clock beyond 2.5GHz, currently attempting to find a solution) would effectively negate any tangible benefits of the card.
    In short, is he correct?
     
  2. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    You'd still see a massive improvement, but you could get more out of your new card, (even your current one, but still not enough for 1920x1080 with highest settings) with a new CPU or overclocking your old one.

    Even overclocking my i5 750 gets significantly more out of my GPU's than at stock speeds so technically it's still a bottleneck, just not one that I need to worry about.

    The actual bottleneck will vary from game to game, even level to level and moment to moment, some will require more from the CPU so if it isn't powerful enough then the graphics card will have to wait until the CPU has finished processing the data before it can update, the same works vice versa.
     
    Last edited: 17 Feb 2011
  3. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    I'm running the same CPU & m/b as Deders above, but with the CPU at stock speed. I also run 5770's in Crossfire @ 1650x1080 resolution and I am getting an average online FPS in BFBC2 of over 85FPS and a benchmark figure of over 75FPS in Dirt 2, both with all graphical goodies turned on.

    Now my resolution is lower than yours but what it proves is that I am not CPU limited at all, even at stock speed.

    If you can get a cheap second hand fast CPU (e.g. something that will do at least 3.0GHz or more), spend your money on a new GPU. You can pick up such a CPU for £40-£60 but I wouldn't spend any more than that on such old tech. The P5B should clock a decent CPU to 3.0GHz or over.

    Other than that you are looking at a whole CPU, motherboard and RAM replacement on top of a GPU.
     
  4. Lord Blobbery

    Lord Blobbery Curious.

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    Thank you for the replies, I was beginning to think the length of the post had scared people off. For reasons unknown, the 'hitting the case' method has completely ceased to be effective. I cleaned the cooler not longer than two months ago. My parents have suggested spraying the fan's innards (assuming I can get to them, I've never had to disassemble a fan before) with WD40. Is this a good idea?
    While I'm posting, I might as well ask: when the GTS450 came out, reviews indicated that the HD5770 was still the better card; however, Custom PC has used the 450 as an ideal value graphics card for the past few months. I understand that cards will vary between board manufacturers, but why the change, and which (generally speaking) is better?
    Again, thank you for your advice.
     
  5. Altron

    Altron Minimodder

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    WD40 is not a lubricant. Don't use it on your fan. Some people have lubricated fans with lubricant oil and had good results
     
  6. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    Punctuation would help your posts to be more readable. :D

    DO NOT spray the card with WD40, you could kill it and maybe your motherboard as well.

    I think CPC said that the GTS450 was better value because it was cheaper, the 5770 is still a faster card. That said, the prices of 5770's have come down so they are now around £95 new which is only around £6-£8 more than the GTS450.

    If you are on a tight budget, you could try picking up a second hand card. you can get a GTX260 or a 5770 for around £60.
     
  7. Lord Blobbery

    Lord Blobbery Curious.

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    Noted.
    Also noted the advice about the WD40. Shame. I've given the fan a thorough cleaning with a small paintbrush, and the result is a near-constant growl of the same quality as before. I may try another fiddle about later on, but right now... really not in the mood.
     
  8. notmeagain

    notmeagain Minimodder

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    sounds like damaged bearings to me, no recovery from that other than a new fan!
     
  9. LeMaltor

    LeMaltor >^_^

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  10. Altron

    Altron Minimodder

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    http://www.overclock.net/air-cooling/773256-prepping-sleeve-bearing-fan-work.html

    Can't say I've tried it, but it seems promising.
     
  11. donok

    donok Every Little Helps .....

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    Bones speed cream is what I use to used on my skateboard bearings. Great stuff. Got some around and will be diggin it out to try in a fan. Or use hair clipper oil.
     
  12. Ph4ZeD

    Ph4ZeD What's a Dremel?

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    A 8600GT is still a heap of ****, so if you can afford it, deffo go for an upgrade.
     
  13. kenco_uk

    kenco_uk I unsuccessfully then tried again

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    If you have any, sewing machine oil works.
     
  14. Action_Parsnip

    Action_Parsnip What's a Dremel?

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    I can help with the P5B issues, i have the deluxe model and have alot of experience with different cpus and memory configurations. Got a q6700 @ 3.475ghz (386mhz fsb). Your friends right about the low cpu power thing btw :p
     
  15. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    You'd still get a major performance boost from a 8600GT to a 460 or something of that generation. Hell you'd get a major prformance boost from an 8800GT.
     
  16. sub routine

    sub routine Archie Gemel

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    you could buy some lithium grease out your local bike shop, should work a treat lubing up your fan.
     
  17. penryn 2 hertz

    penryn 2 hertz I'm not a science fiction writer...

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  18. asteldian

    asteldian Minimodder

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    The 5770 is a good buy. As for the bottleneck, the higher the resolution you play at the less pressure you put on the CPU. So, assuming you will play at 1600 due to the 5770 being stretched thing at 1920 x 1080 (though on lower settings it would do pretty good depending on your games) you will have no real issues. The performance you gain will be very significant.

    It's too bad about the CPU limitations of 2.5 but not the end of the world, I have a friend using the E2180 OC'd currently at 2.8ghz though and he is getting similar performance from his PC (using a 5850 card at 1920 x 1080) as I get from an i5 750 (light OC to 3.5ghz) and a GTX 560 in Rift (a new MMO)
     

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