Bottlenecking - CPU or Graphics?

[Chrisco90]

I wasn't sure whether to post this in the CPU forum or here, so my apologies if it's in the wrong spot.
CPU - AMD Phenom II x4 @3.0GHz AM2
GPU - EVGTA Nvidia GTX 460 Superclocked Edition

My question is, is there any bottlenecking going on? It's hard to find a balance, and I'm not sure if I have achieved that yet. I've overclocked the GTX 460 by 10% but haven't really seen any sort of increase in FPS with games.

 

[christop]

Not really but you could push you cpu a little harder.

 

[Chrisco90]

That's what I figured, I just wanted to be sure. I was thinking about buying a water cooling kit for overclocking purposes if the CPU was a problem.

 

[WindowsDOS]

water cooling helps, but not for your kind of ghz, it's rather unnecessary. I'd go with a nice, reliable CPU fan.

 

[purple stain]

Yah if anything it would be the CPU bottlenecking.Try getting another 400mhz out of it and you should be fine.
As WindowsDOS stated a watercooling setup isn't needed.On those chips you will hit a threshold limitation long before heat is problem.Just get a Hyper 212+.It's a single air cooler but it's very good at cooling.

Hyper 212+ Evo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&Tpk=hyper%20212%2b%20evo

 

[cuecuemore]

It depends on the games you are playing. Are you tracking your CPU and GPU usage? It's pretty easy to tell where your bottleneck lies if you do.

 

[Chrisco90]

Well I am going to be doing a mass upgrade in a few months that water cooling will greatly benefit, so I figure I might as well get that now instead of getting a decent fan that I won't be using later on.

 

[purple stain]

In that case then yes it seems like a better idea.

What are you upgrading to?

 

[Chrisco90]

I'm going AM3+ with possibly a hexcore Phenom II.

 

[cuecuemore]

Negative on the hexacore Phenom II, that's old tech and Zambezi is out now! You could get an FX-6100 and net an increase in processing power, the 6-core Phenom II will only disappoint.

 

[purple stain]

Yah then watercooling will be a better choice in the long run.It seems that most of the 8 core and 6 core's are topping out at 4.7ghz on air.So that means you should get to 5ghz+ very easily.And remember that these are only B2 revisions.There should be new revisions out in the next couple months which should yield better results.

EDIT: I'm sort of lost after rereading your post.Your going with a AM3+ Phenom ii 6 core? I figured you meant the FX 6 core which use's the AM3+ socket.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

the Hexcore phenom's dont offer much at all in performance above a quad core for gaming.

 

[Chrisco90]

I'm not quite sure why I said Phenom, I meant FX. My apologies.

 

[uncfan_2563]

Honestly if you're going to upgrade motherboards then I think you might as well go intel. Not to start another bulldozer bashing session but if gaming is your use, you're better off with a faster quad core. If you do in fact have a use for the 6th core, go for the Zambezi yea

 

[jyjjy]

Yeah, the i5-2500k is the way to go. Best value for the money around, especially for gaming, and it overclocks a huge amount.

 

[swifty_morgan]

with games already spreading themselves out over 8 "cores" (2600) it's hard to recommend a quad anymore. But if I were going to go for a quad I'd wait for the FX4100 to see what it would do before getting a 2500. IMO, buying a quad right now is like someone telling a quad over a dual core is not needed and having them say that 6 month's ago.

 

[uncfan_2563]

with games already spreading themselves out over 8 "cores" (2600) it's hard to recommend a quad anymore. But if I were going to go for a quad I'd wait for the FX4100 to see what it would do before getting a 2500. IMO, buying a quad right now is like someone telling a quad over a dual core is not needed and having them say that 6 month's ago.

*not trying to be sassy I'm quite serious* Can you point us to a game that significantly benefits from >4 cores?

 

[swifty_morgan]

actually I just came across this while looking for something else. you'll notice 1 older game and 1 newer game spread out over 8 "cores"..... ie: the 2600........... now I'm disappointed with AMD for their lack of speed over Intel last gen architecture.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-fx-8150--8120-6100-and-4100-performance-review/

 

[jyjjy]

IMO, buying a quad right now is like someone telling a quad over a dual core is not needed and having them say that 6 month's ago.

IMO this is overstating things to the point of being absurd.

 

[swifty_morgan]

people like you and I can build a new system a month all year long. Most people build machines to last 3-5 years. Why retard your system right off the bat ?

 

[uncfan_2563]

IMO this is overstating things to the point of being absurd.

Agreed

people like you and I can build a new system a month all year long. Most people build machines to last 3-5 years. Why retard your system right off the bat ?

You don't think a 2500k or the equivalent will last 3 years, is that what you're saying?

 

[vilenjan]

I actually think he might be capped by the Hyper Transport on the mobo. AM2 boards had 1000GHz HT link, AM2+ and AM3 boards use 2000GHZ link. Now 2k was overkill for the x4s (about right for the x6s though), but 1k might be too little bandwidth for a 3ghz quad core. You might want a mobo transplant, the Your cpu will drop right in into a AM3 or a AM3+ mobo.

 

[Chrisco90]

I actually do have an AM2+ board.

 

[purple stain]

What CPU do you have exactly?

I'm pretty sure it is one of the very first Phenom ii's which used the AM2+ socket.So i'm not sure if it even will fully utilize a 2ghz HT.

 

[swifty_morgan]

I actually do have an AM2+ board.

actually your architecture is going to hold you back. You won't get a lot out of your system even if you do over clock. Is a few extra FPS worth the extra strain ?