[SOLVED] Can a gpu be limited by the cpu?

Nov 12, 2021
6
0
10
So can a gpu be limited by the cpu? the gpu i want to put in my pc is a amd radeon hd 6870, but my cpu is a: amd athlon 64 3500 2.2 ghz. Also i got 1gb ram, If someone can tell me i would really be happy to know
 
Solution
There's almost always SOME kind of limit.

But, yes. Let's say you have a particular CPU and a particular GPU, and the GPU is the limiting factor (ie: the CPU can throw data at it faster than the GPU can process it).

You can get a more powerful GPU. Maybe it's still the limiting factor, but less than it used to be. Maybe it's that magical "perfect match" (which doesn't exist, from one game to another, the burden can shift), or maybe it's so much more powerful that it can handle graphics processing faster than the CPU can feed it data.

You're still getting better performance.

It's also very possible, as I hinted at earlier, that in one game, the CPU is the limiting factor and the GPU is waiting on it for more data, yet on another...
There's almost always SOME kind of limit.

But, yes. Let's say you have a particular CPU and a particular GPU, and the GPU is the limiting factor (ie: the CPU can throw data at it faster than the GPU can process it).

You can get a more powerful GPU. Maybe it's still the limiting factor, but less than it used to be. Maybe it's that magical "perfect match" (which doesn't exist, from one game to another, the burden can shift), or maybe it's so much more powerful that it can handle graphics processing faster than the CPU can feed it data.

You're still getting better performance.

It's also very possible, as I hinted at earlier, that in one game, the CPU is the limiting factor and the GPU is waiting on it for more data, yet on another game on the same system, the GPU is the one under pressure, and the CPU is waiting on the GPU.
 
Solution
King_V,


There's almost always SOME kind of limit.

But, yes. Let's say you have a particular CPU and a particular GPU, and the GPU is the limiting factor (ie: the CPU can throw data at it faster than the GPU can process it).

You can get a more powerful GPU. Maybe it's still the limiting factor, but less than it used to be. Maybe it's that magical "perfect match" (which doesn't exist, from one game to another, the burden can shift), or maybe it's so much more powerful that it can handle graphics processing faster than the CPU can feed it data.

You're still getting better performance.

It's also very possible, as I hinted at earlier, that in one game, the CPU is the limiting factor and the GPU is waiting on it for more data, yet on another game on the same system, the GPU is the one under pressure, and the CPU is waiting on the GPU.


ok thank you for telling me but does it matter how much ram you have? i want to add a gpu that's 2gb vram and my ram is only 1gb does that matter? can i add it? -Sapro
 
What is the make/model of all of your specs?
What is this pc used for?
What is your budget for an upgrade?

There is always some sort of a limiter.
It could be cpu/gpu/ram/drive, Your finger dexterity... and so on.

If your interest is gaming, try this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

Unless you are running DOS or such, 1gb is woefully inadequate for anything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: King_V and dotas1
USAFRet
If your system has only 1GB physical RAM, that is a MUCH bigger issue than which CPU or GPU.

What OS is this running?

The OS is windows 7 32 bit. -sapro
 
geofelt
What is the make/model of all of your specs?
What is this pc used for?
What is your budget for an upgrade?

There is always some sort of a limiter.
It could be cpu/gpu/ram/drive, Your finger dexterity... and so on.

If your interest is gaming, try this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

Unless you are running DOS or such, 1gb is woefully inadequate for anything.

I don't know the model i am a kid, my pc i want to use it to run simple games like valorant and cs:go, My budget is 0$ because i already got the gpu i want to put i already got ram to put only thing i need is a new motherboard to put a new cpu. -sapro