Is my CPU being a bottleneck to my GFX cards?

[ehanger]

Would an i7 920 @ 3.0GHz bottleneck 2 EVGA GTX 275's in SLI? My 3DMark06 score is in the mid to upper 19k range and I think that I should be getting around 22kish.

How much would my score go up if I overclocked to 3.2-3.6ish?

 

[cjl]

Your 3dmark score is probably bottlenecked. Games are probably not. 3dmark06 is quite heavily CPU dependent (to the point where my setup with 4870x2 quadfire scores 17k with a 3.33GHz i7 [stock], and 27k with a 4.2GHz i7).

 

[jitpublisher]

You should use 3DMark06 to get a general idea of your systems performance, note the score, and if you upgrade, change something, use it as a baseline to compare if you made an improvement or not. Unless your score is just way out of line with a VERY comparable system in database, don't pay a whole lot of attention to it.
Pay more attention to how your games ACTUALLY run.

 

[daedalus685]

People need to stop using 3dmark 06 entirely and stop using synthetics as the be all and end all of benchmarking.

It is just a guideline, use the score as a basis, notihng more. There are some million things that can affect your score, 3k is not that much really.. Obvisouy it will go up if you overclock... but unless 3dmark is your favourite game don't pay it any mind.

 

[leo2kp]

According to a recent Tom's article, the 920 runs best at 3.6GHz when comparing power usage and speed. And the faster your processor, the less chance you have of bottlenecking those 275's no matter what synthetics tell you. So I figure, get as close to 3.6GHz as you can and stay there no matter what graphics cards you have

 

[ehanger]

OK well what do you think is the highest stable overclock I can achieve on the i7 920 by adjusting just the BCLK frequency? I am on stock cooling right now and probably will be for a long time (I have a Coolermaster V8 cooler lying around but am afraid to use it because last time I tried installing it the backplate shorted out the motherboard and I had to send it in for a replacement!).

Also what is the max sustained temperature the core i7 920 can handle? I am probably not going to keep the chip for more than 3 years so do you think it would last at all if it got to 80-85*C under load?

 

[ehanger]

Just ran 3DMark06 with my i7 920 running at 3.5GHz and got 22.5k 3DMarks... I guess you guys were right it really is a cpu intensive benchmark.