Will my CPU hold me back? (i7-2600)

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triplesatvat

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Jul 2, 2014
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Hi Toms Hardware Folks,

I have a quick question about my system specs and whether my CPU is bottle-necking me.

I recently ran a 3DMark test and got this report back:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4220683?

I have:

CPU: i7-2600
GPU: I am upgrading to a GTX 980 4GB I got as a gift
Hard Drive: Intel 900 series 480GB SSD
RAM: 8GB, DDR 667
Monitor: 2560x1600 Dell 30 Inch

I run at 2560x1600 and try to hit ultra in all the games I play. These days, I'm playing a lot of that new Shadow of Mordor game

Is my i7-2600 bottle-necking my performance? When I ran my 3D Mark test, it said your GPU is ready but your CPU doesn't want to play.

The reason I upgraded to the GTX 980 was I was having slightly low FPS at 2560x1600 in the newest games, so I figured I should just up the GPU. I have been apprehensive to change the CPU because I would have to replace the motherboard and CPU.

Let me know what you think and what role the CPU plays in performance and FPS and benchmarking, as it's always been harder for me to understand than the video card

Any other things I might upgrade? More or faster ram? Any other thoughts?

Thanks much!!!
 
Solution
RazerZ
Considering that your benchmark score is higher than a similar system with an i7 and GTX Titan, no you don't have a bottleneck.
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If there's any bottleneck, which there probably isn't, I'd bet it's the CPU before the RAM. Depending on the game, 3.4 GHz might be limiting performance a little for games that only use one or two threads. Sandy Bridge motherboards use DDR3, not DDR1, so his RAM is likely 1333 MHz DDR3. As long as it's a dual-channel kit, it will be sufficient.

OP, you should be fine without upgrading unless a specific issue comes up. I find it's better to actually monitor my hardware usage to alleviate performance issues. Sometimes you can fix problems by changing a couple settings.
 
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Thanks so much guys. I will wait then to upgrade anything else, including the RAM and CPU.

If you REALLY think I should change the RAM, I will, but a 16GB CL9 kit was $200

At some point I will do all three (Motherboard, CPU, RAM), but I guess I just want to wait as long as I can. I am really nervous about doing a motherboard installation, which is about the only computer thing I've never done myself :)
 
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That CPU will not hold back your gaming experience one bit. In fact, the i7 is has more power than any game can really utilise, as newer games tend to use the GPU for all the heavy lifting. In fact, you would probably have to use a stock clocked, i3 (Sandy/Ivy Bridge) to really notice a true bottleneck. You'd notice some with a stock Haswell i3, but it would still be playable. The i5 is really the sweetspot for gaming performance, since most of them give you a quad core CPU with plenty of of OC capability. The i7's benefits (over the i5) are in the hyper-threading performance, which isn't really utilised much in modern games... yet.


I would recommend either PC3 10600 (1333 Mhz), or PC3 12800 (1600 Mhz), to save money. From the benchmarks I've seen, the performance increase to from 1333 Mhz to 1866 Mhz isn't really enough to notice, unless you're doing something like video rendering. For gaming, 1866 Mhz is already overkill; although, there isn't much of a cost difference. Since you already have top notch components, it would be a little odd to put in slower memory; just know that the performance difference isn't that big. If you want a more noticeable performance increase, DDR4 is where it's at... albeit expensive as hell.

EDIT: After rereading, and seeing the posts that came in while I was typing, no need to "upgrade" the RAM. It's still relevant information, though.
 
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Are you sure your ram isn't DDR3 😉 ?. You shouldn't have to upgrade your parts for another few years.
 
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If you are okay with slower memory speeds, then you won't be spending too much money if/when you upgrade to 16 GB. You can upgrade to 2x8GB memory for under $150

If you have nothing against TEAM memory, these are the cheapest solutions on Newegg (with a heat spreader):
Team Elite Plus 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333Mhz (PC3 10600)
Team Dark Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600Mhz (PC3 12800)
Team Xtreem 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 2400Mhz (PC3 19200) (10-12-12-31 latency specs)

Then you have the more common brands, all at/under $150
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333Mhz (PC3 10666)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600Mhz (PC3 12800)
HyperX Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333Mhz (PC3 10600)
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600Mhz (PC3 12800)
 
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I was really just comparing the memory speeds. I wasn't thinking he would actually consider it; mostly due to cost. But, I believe you are right.

That list of memory was just an example that upgrading isn't going to cost $200. I was simply pointing out that you could do dual 8 GB sets, with low latency, for a decent price. And no; for gaming, there is no real need to go beyond the 8 GB mark. If he wants to do something more resource intensive than gaming, then sure; but you're right, no need for just gaming. He didn't say if this was just for gaming, or if he was doing other stuff too, so I figured I'd throw in that information.
 
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