Where's the bottleneck?

D

Darq Eternal

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Sep 8, 2003
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I'm putting together a new comp from scratch and here's what I have so far:

case: LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
PSU: Antec CP-850 850W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Model BX80601920 - Retail
GPU: XFX GX260NADBF GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3
Mobo: ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58
Ram: OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB
DVD: 2X SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA
LCD:BenQ G2400WD Black 24" 5ms, 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

I may be able to scrape together enough $$$ to go to a i7 940. Question is, would I be better off with the CPU or upgrade the GPU?

This is a general use comp but I do what to game on it also so what do you think?

Any comments on the general build or improvements are also welcome.
 
Clock the CPU to drive the graphics card to its fullest, over 3GHz should do.
Clock the GPU as well :)

If you like highest AA settings, get a GTX280/5.
 
To answer your question, the graphics card.

The phrase "general use" is pretty vague, but I don't think anybody needs an i7 and GT200 for most instances of "general use".
 
The bottleneck would be the x86 architecture and 32bit software(games and most programs) not using more then 1/3 of your ram.
 
Why do people post this in Video Cards? There IS a general hardware forum. =/
Anyways, your post is like posting a pic of a sportscar and asking whats the slowest part...
 
Tbh, if anyone thinks you need to OC that i7 then they need to look at the comparisons as the i7 920 generally outpaces almost every other Quad-Core CPU @ 3ghz+ which means you are definently not being limited by that CPU and you can easily go to a GTX 285 without needing to OC your CPU.

Yes, you will see performance gains by overclocking the CPU but with the performance gains just having an i7 CPU give you but imho don't bother with it untill you find something that is limited by your CPU @ stock which may be a few years.
 
You are GPU limited, slightly. SLI gtx 280 helped me max out every game with insane aa - transparency - supersampling/af (16x) @ 1920x1200 with 60+fps. Get at least a gtx 285 if you have the cash. If not. consider 260 sli down the road.
 
Definitely GPU upgrade. Your 920 is fine. I bet you won't notice a difference i7 920 vs 940, but adding a 2nd 260gtx in SLI will nearly double your performance in a lot of games. I run 280gtx SLI on a stock 920 and every game including Crysis @ Very High runs fine. I haven't felt the need to OC my 920. I am running 1600x1200 vs I assume 1920x1200 for you but I don't think it makes that much difference. My e8400 wolfdale w/ single 280gtx struggled on Crysis with mixed settings... but i7 920 w/ 280 SLI was so smooth with everything on Very High that I was able to go in and turn the draw distance up even higher and I still run 30 - 60 fps.

So +1 for GPU upgrade. 260 is best bang/buck. 285 SLI or something from ATI if you've got the cash. I would completely scrap the idea of upgrading to a 940. Overclock your 920 eventually if you need to. Wait for Intel's next gen CPU's and then maybe upgrade to one of them if you need to.
 
go with the setup you have in the OP. my friend has the same equip with no oc and only 3gigs of ram and it maxs everything at 1920x1200. if you feel its necessary later on you could always add another gtx260. i would disregard all the references to whether or not it could run crysis at whatever fps...unless you want a subpar game with impossible system requirements its an irrelevant point. fwiw i play left4dead,cod4/5,fear2,orange box, farcry2. all maxed out at 1920x1200 and thats with the parts in my sig.
 
Thanks guys that kinda what I though already. Great feed back.


lloose said:
Why do people post this in Video Cards? There IS a general hardware forum. =/
Anyways, your post is like posting a pic of a sportscar and asking whats the slowest part...
Click to expand...

People post here when they dont get much feedback in the general forum as I did. I would think that this is more like posting the blueprints and part list of a sportscar and asking what would you change. Granted I did not post any specifics on what is was going to be used for but that way it leave the build open to what they would do for thier situation given this build. Ok, done feeding the trolls.

Thanks guys.
 
leetskeet said:
i would disregard all the references to whether or not it could run crysis at whatever fps...unless you want a subpar game with impossible system requirements its an irrelevant point.
Click to expand...

It's not irrelevant. Crysis is the most demanding game out there and a stock 920 handles it fine. If OP wants more gaming performance it will come from a GPU upgrade, not CPU. That's the answer to his question. Weather he needs that extra performance is another matter and largely a personal one.

I liked Crysis through the jungle levels. I also like Company of Heros and saw improvement on with a second 280. OP may be fine with a single 260 depending on what he plays. But in any case, a CPU upgrade in that system would be a waste for games.
 
ok, thanks boys and girls I ended up with going with a 920 and a 285.

a special nod to palerider101. I will probably go to raid eventually :)

I'm gonna try the stock heatsink on the cpu then prolly get an after market one.
 
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