RAM/CPU Bottleneck?

[Gregburz]

so i just upgraded my psu and graphics card. my psu is now 500w and i have a 2gb evga gtx 550 ti. im getting pretty good performance in games, but not quite as good as other people that have the same card say. my cpu is amd phenom x4 9750 2.4 ghZ and my ram is some cheap ddr2 2gb (i have 2 of them) ram. i was just wondering if my cpu and ram are bottlenecking my graphics card.

 

[geekapproved]

Your cpu is definitely a bottleneck. You can prove that by running a benchmark, then overclock your cpu and run the benchmark again. If you fps goes up, then you were bottlenecked.

Today's games (and OS's) run much better with 4gb of ram or more.

What OS? What resolution do you play at?

 

[Gregburz]

windows 7 home premium. 1920 by 1080.

 

[geekapproved]

Can you upgrade the cpu on that motherboard? Make and model of mobo?

 

[Gregburz]

MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 Motherboard - NVIDIA® MCP61P/6150SE, Socket AM2+, MicroATX, Audio, Video, PCI Express, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, USB 2.0, RAID

 

[casey10]

I would highly suggest upgrading to the AMD phenom 960T as of this time because it's based off the thuban die meaning it can unlock to a 6 core (37% chance of doing so and 75% chance of unlocking to 5 core) and it also overclocks very well.

 

[Gregburz]

how are these for upgrades?
1.MSI 890FXA-GD65 AMD Socket AM3 Motherboard - ATX, Socket AM3, AMD 890FX Chipset, 2133MHz DDR3 (O.C.), SATA 6.0 Gb/s, RAID, 8-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, CrossFireX Ready
2.AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AM3 CPU HDZ965FBGMBOX - 3.40GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with Fan
3.Corsair CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9B Vengeance Desktop Memory Module - 4GB, PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, 9-9-9-24 CAS Latency, Intel XMP Ready, Unbuffered

ill get 16 gb of the corsair

 

[geekapproved]

No you don't want to buy a AM3 board, it won't be upgradable, if your going to buy a new board it needs to be AM3+.

However your current motherboard supports Phenom II X4/X6 and Athlon II X4, you just need to update your bios with the old cpu before installing the new cpu.

http://us.msi.com/product/mb/K9N6PGM2-V2.html#/?div=CPUSupport

 

[Gregburz]

ah i see. am3+ is basically the next gen?

 

[Gregburz]

and is there a big difference between ASUS M5A99X EVO AMD 990X AM3+ Motherboard - ATX, Socket AM3+, AMD 990X Chipset, 2133MHz DDR3 (O.C.), SATA 6.0 Gb/s, RAID, 8-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, CrossFireX/SLI Ready and MSI 970A-G45 9 Series AM3+ Motherboard - ATX, Socket AM3+, AMD 970 Chipset, 2133MHz DDR3 (O.C.), SATA 6.0 Gb/s, RAID, 8-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, SuperSpeed USB 3.0, CrossFireX Ready?

 

[geekapproved]

Why are you buying a new motherboard??

 

[Gregburz]

im thinking the ram is bottlenecking quite a bit...i have texture problems with games that people say is ram induced

 

[casey10]

Your CPU is the bottleneck bud a 2.4 GHZ clocked processor is horrible and the first generation Phenom's are known for being horrible.

 

[Gregburz]

alright so just buy the 960T and thats it? i thought the ram was shitty too because its just ddr2

 

[casey10]

Well what speed is the DDR 2 Ram and I would buy either the 955 Phenom Or 960T it all depends on whether or not your motherboard has a core unlocker.

 

[casey10]

Yea It doesn't have a core unlocker no point of buying the 960T I'd go with AMD Phenom II x4 955 or a X6 1055

 

[geekapproved]

4GB of DDR2 is going to be fine with a new X4 955. Better jump before they are discontinued. Don't forget to update bios first.

 

[Gregburz]

Best answer selected by Gregburz.