Is my CPU bottlenecking my GPU

[bradderzd1994]

I recently installed a radeon 6870. I have noticed i can play wow on ultra with 1920x1080 and 8x multisampling d11, however in big populated areas (such as middle of sw) i will go down to about 30fps or in big fights with lots going on i will go around 20-25 fps which is bad.

I got told it would be able to handle pretty much anything on ultra with good fps. I don't know the wattage of my PSU but i think it's not that high (maybe 400W) will i need a better one to get better fps?

I have an i5-650 and i got told it's bottlenecking my new gpu? Could someone give me some more info.

*more info* Apparently my PSU has 12v1 max 20amps and 12v2 18amps is this good or bad? Can anyone calculate the wattage as i don't know the wattage of it. thanks

 

[cliffro]

Doing the math, the 12v rails add up to 456w. So maybe it's a 500w PSU. And 500 should be fine.

As to the CPU bottlenecking, at stock clocks, I could see it. It does have hyperthreading according to Intel, so that helps but it's not as good as having 2 more real cores at a higher speed.

And a google search of the Model # of the PSU including the brand name would tell you for sure it's wattage.

 

[rajaawad23]

core i5 do not have hyper-threading. your CPU is the bottleneck but it shouldnt be that obvious. have you considered overclocking your CPU???
a PSU upgrade is a good idea, I would go for a 650W to be on the safe side. how much RAM have you got installed???

 

[bradderzd1994]

My i5 is a dual core i think and how would i overclock it? It's currently running at 3.2ghz and i have 4gb ram 1333ghz

 

[rajaawad23]

core i3 = dual core with 2 virtual cores (hyperthreading)
core i5 = Dual/Quad core
core i7 = Quad/Hex core with 4 virtual cores (hyperthreading)
you do have the dual core version.

what is your motherboard???

you would overclock it through the BIOS. dont jumb into BIOS and mess around, do some research about overclocking, dont worry you will not fry your CPU if you make a mistake, the motherboard will reset the settings to default stock speed and will carry on as it was.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

More to the point here is WHICH 6870 ? AND HOW MUCH RAM ON IT ?

All the best Brett

 

[bradderzd1994]

Hi

More to the point here is WHICH 6870 ? AND HOW MUCH RAM ON IT ?

All the best Brett

sapphire 6870 1gb

 

[Brett928S2]

sapphire 6870 1gb

Hi

Its a low/medium card at best...its NOT going to be playing at Ultra....

All the best Brett

 

[cliffro]

core i5 do not have hyper-threading. your CPU is the bottleneck but it shouldnt be that obvious. have you considered overclocking your CPU???
a PSU upgrade is a good idea, I would go for a 650W to be on the safe side. how much RAM have you got installed???

http://ark.intel.com/products/43546/Intel-Core-i5-650-Processor-%284M-Cache-3_20-GHz%29

I don't own an i5-650 so I don't know personally, but according to Intel's website it does.

Processor Number i5-650
# of Cores 2
# of Threads 4
Clock Speed 3.2 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency 3.46 GHz

Newegg agrees as well http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115220

 

[rajaawad23]

I don't own an i5-650 so I don't know personally, but according to Intel's website it does.

OK, Ive been proven wrong. its the first time I hear of the i5 6**, it sounds like intel are rebranding the core i3 with the somewhat useless Max turbo but it does sound like a fairly good CPU specially at 3.46GHz. (Thanks Cliffro for correction )

Its a low/medium card at best...its NOT going to be playing at Ultra....

this card is upper medium mate. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32442-4.html

back to the original question getting 30-25 FPS minimum is great if you are not happy lower AA to x4!!!
if you want the best your going to have to get something like a 6950 2GB. That will max it out. but I dont see the point of doing so when you have a good enough system.

conclusion:

your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU a bit. if you can overclock it, do so if you cant, consider getting a proper core i5 quad core 7** or getting a i7 8**.
you have a great system. there is no point in spending $200+ on a few FPS. but it is up to you.

 

[Brett928S2]

I don't own an i5-650 so I don't know personally, but according to Intel's website it does.

OK, Ive been proven wrong. its the first time I hear of the i5 6**, it sounds like intel are rebranding the core i3 with the somewhat useless Max turbo but it does sound like a fairly good CPU specially at 3.46GHz. (Thanks Cliffro for correction )

Its a low/medium card at best...its NOT going to be playing at Ultra....

this card is upper medium mate. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32442-4.html

back to the original question getting 30-25 FPS minimum is great if you are not happy lower AA to x4!!!
if you want the best your going to have to get something like a 6950 2GB. That will max it out. but I dont see the point of doing so when you have a good enough system.

conclusion:

your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU a bit. if you can overclock it, do so if you cant, consider getting a proper core i5 quad core 7** or getting a i7 8**.
you have a great system. there is no point in spending $200+ on a few FPS. but it is up to you.

Hi

"Upper medium"...you are kidding right.... my shops sell this card and we pay a LOT less than £100 for it...

My personal crossfired cards cost me OVER £500 >> EACH...

That card is low, I was being generous calling it low/medium...

All the best Brett

 

[rajaawad23]

Hi

"Upper medium"...you are kidding right.... my shops sell this card and we pay a LOT less than £100 for it...

My personal crossfired cards cost me OVER £500 >> EACH...

That card is low, I was being generous calling it low/medium...

All the best Brett

I would call my HD 5850 lower medium and the 6870 is better, I know it is and my card is maxing out any game i play on 1080i.

I dont know what cards you have, Im guessing 2x6990 or 2x 590, Im I right?

if you have any of the cards I mentioned, I would call that top end, there are no better.

my ranking:
top end: 6990
high end: 6970/6950 2GB
medium (upper): 6870/6950 1GB
medium (lower):6850
low: 6790

away from all this, do you agree with me that paying around £200 for a better GPU is a waste of money if everything runs all well?

 

[Brett928S2]

I would call my HD 5850 lower medium and the 6870 is better, I know it is and my card is maxing out any game i play on 1080i.

I dont know what cards you have, Im guessing 2x6990 or 2x 590, Im I right?

if you have any of the cards I mentioned, I would call that top end, there are no better.

my ranking:
top end: 6990
high end: 6970/6950 2GB
medium (upper): 6870/6950 1GB
medium (lower):6850
low: 6790

away from all this, do you agree with me that paying around £200 for a better GPU is a waste of money if everything runs all well?

Hi

My own cards are old now...they are a pair of the very rare 5870`s but the 2 gb versions... only a few were ever made...but they will still max out ANY game...

Which sort of answers your second question.... I have been a gamer for well over 20 years and the following is true... >>> the MORE you pay for a graphics card the better you get...as mine prove...I paid well over £1000 trade for them around 18 months ago, and they will still beat just about everything, apart from a pair of 7970s...

All the best Brett

 

[rajaawad23]

Hi

My own cards are old now...they are a pair of the very rare 5870`s but the 2 gb versions... only a few were ever made...but they will still max out ANY game...

Which sort of answers your second question.... I have been a gamer for well over 20 years and the following is true... >>> the MORE you pay for a graphics card the better you get...as mine prove...I paid well over £1000 trade for them around 18 months ago, and they will still beat just about everything, apart from a pair of 7970s...

All the best Brett

wow, that sounds like a great setup you have there. and I definitely that the more you pay the more you get.
BTW do you agree with my hierarchy of GPUs I listed above?

P.S. you have been a gamer longer than I've been alive

 

[cliffro]

Of course he could try turning the AA down a couple of notches, as a lot of us know the more that's happening on screen, the more work the GPU is doing while applying AA.

 

[Brett928S2]

wow, that sounds like a great setup you have there. and I definitely that the more you pay the more you get.
BTW do you agree with my hierarchy of GPUs I listed above?

P.S. you have been a gamer longer than I've been alive

Hi

Lol...to my age

The easy way to grade graphics cards is NOT benchmarks...its PRICE....

As graphics cards, particularly the top ones are one of the few parts that manufacturers make a HUGE profit on, the BEST is ALWAYS the most expensive....so forget benchmarks, just look at the price....

All the best Brett