leandrodafontoura

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2006
898
0
19,060
Ok, so I have a Q6600 2.4ghz and a 9800 GT. Want to replace the 9800 GT with a GTX 560. Will the CPU handle?

The main reason is that the 9800gt is DX9 and the GTX 560 is DX11, and its for $199, a nice price point I dont want to go over.
 

deadjon

Distinguished
Oct 21, 2009
757
0
19,060
Depends on the game.

In Skyrim your Q6600 will be a bottleneck.

In Metro 2033 it will not.

In BF3 it will not - Unless you are in Multiplayer at which point it becomes a bottleneck.

To balance the system out a little you should overclock the CPU to 3Ghz at the very least - even then it will still be a small bottleneck.

Rest assured if you spend a little money on a Cooler (Hyper 212 EVO) and double check what motherboard you have (To see whether or not it is OC Capable) and spend a little time on the PC, you will see a huge performance increase.
 

EzioAs

Distinguished
actually, it will still bottleneck your gpu unless you're able to get it around 3.4-3.5 ghz. but, it may not be the difference between playable and non-playable frame rate, just playable and more playable.
 

deadjon

Distinguished
Oct 21, 2009
757
0
19,060



This is very true, but I won't recommend a 3.6 Ghz OC to anyone who hasnt even tried to OC a Q6600 before.

The difference between 3.0 and 3.6 is HUGE. I owned a Q6600 for over 4 Years - I had it @ 2.8, then 3.0 then 3.6.

@ 3.6 it outperforms i7 920s and 930s.

I benchmarked Skyrim @ 3.0 and 3.6 - My FPS Went from a minimum of 22 to a minimum of 31 with everything on Ultra - This altered the experience from Choppy to Almost completely smooth (In the most populated areas).
 

bucknutty

Distinguished
I put a gtx 470 in my q6600 box that had 2 8800gts in SLI and got a 100% increase in frames. Games like stalker or BF2BC went from aroun 40 to around 60-70 on high. MW2 had no change because it already ran at like 70-90. BLops went up huge from like 40-50 to 70-90. MW3 runs with every thing maxed out (Native) at like 50-70.

Would the card perform even better with an i5 or i7? Sure it would, however replacing that 8800gt with a gtx560 will improve your FPS and give you the aibility to turn up the graphics detail in every game. I say get the new card and in a year or 2 or when you can get a new chip and board.
 

mildsend

Distinguished
Sep 2, 2011
37
0
18,540
If you satisfy with your 9800gt it is better for you to choose 6670 (with ddr5) because both of two cards offer the same performance, with direct-x 11 and low power..
To maximize your system u need to overclock your system atleast on 2.8GHZ.

But back to the topic, if you ask is your processor have a muscle to handle it, then the answer is depends on your what type of your game which setting that you choose, but its save to say yes that your cpu still can handle it :)
 

leandrodafontoura

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2006
898
0
19,060
Thanks for all the replis..giving a little more info:

1) I do only play in the highest quality setting possible. Otherwise I wait till I can afford a better system.

2)Altough I turn AA etc to maximum, I play at 720P only, never 1080P

3) I happen to have a swiftech liquid cooling system on the Q6600, and my board is a P43 Asus P5Ql-E

4)I dont mind not getting full potential out of the GTX 560, as long as it plays better than the 9800 GT. I was worried that it could run slower then the 9800 GT because of CPU..who knows. (btw, the point is that I want DX11)

5)Hey, I may overclock, but Im not sure the best way yet.
 

bucknutty

Distinguished
People get too caught up in what bottle necks what with out really understanding what is happening.

The computer can only go as fast a the slowest part. The challenge is that the slowest part is not the same for all applications. It depends on what the program is asking the parts to do. Some games need more cpu and less video, other games need more video and less cpu.
In those games that need more CPU this video card will not help much. In the games that need more video then you will get a pretty good lift.

There really is no way a GTX560 would perform worse than a 9800gt.
 

dejayXYX

Distinguished
Aug 16, 2011
29
0
18,530
I think you'll be fine. I have played Battlefield 3 with a 550ti (NOT 560Ti or 560) with a dual core and I did not notice MUCH bottlenecking. I eventually upgraded, sure. A Quad core with a 560 Fermi should be good. Also, when I used the 550ti with a dual core, I was able to play on medium settings, and DICE games are CPU heavy. So, I honestly believe you wont be bottlenecking the quad and you'll see a vast improvement from the 9800. Also, if you have dual PCIe slots, hold onto that 9800 and use it as a dedicate PhysX card.

P.S.

What is your motherboard and RAM? Your RAM could be a source of "bottlenecking".
 

leandrodafontoura

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2006
898
0
19,060


Only 1 PCI-e slot, so Im selling the current card in order to upgrade.

4GB DDR2 800MHZ (2x 2GB) The best the mobo will take is 8GB (4x 2GB) DDR2 1066MHZ, but Im using 32-bit XP so no need at the moment. I plan on changing to windows Vista or 7 in order to use DX11 soon.

Perhaps after I make the upgrade to GTX 560, Ill start saving for new mobo/CPU/memory. Perhaps the Ivy bridge when they get released. And Ill get a 2 slot for SLI, so I may in the future add another GTX 560.

Anyways, getting a GTX 560 now, will defenetly be an improvment.

BTW, is there a DX11 card that perhaps is more silent then the GTX 560?
 

dejayXYX

Distinguished
Aug 16, 2011
29
0
18,530
Get the 560, you'll be super happy. I love my upgrade from my 9500GT. I was so happy I almost cried.. Yeah, I am weird. Look at maxing out that ram. The DDR2 1066 aint bad stuff, but to utilize it, you will need Vista 64bit or 7 64bit. I highly recommend 7. You can buy the $99 USD upgrade version and do it that way. Take probably 30-35minutes?

Anywho.. I hear some 570s are quiet. I know my 550ti is silent.

This may be helpful

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2011-gaming-graphics-charts/3D-Noise,2680.html
 

cbrunnem

Distinguished


no one notices a bottleneck unless they've done research...

for instance a 550ti should be able to play at high detail at 1080p cause its roughly equivalent to a gtx 275 which can do that.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-3.html