shat_kat

Yea thanks for that mate! Is this processor going to bottleneck the 4870?

Muftobration

I would say that processor will definitely bottleneck the card. I Just went from an Opteron 165 @ 2.81GHz with my HD4850 to a Q6600 and the difference is absolutely huge. When I went from X850XT PE to HD4850 with my Opty, I was not extremely impressed by the change. It took me about a week to realize that my CPU was holding me back a lot (playing Garry's Mod with my brother and his friend, both of them on Core 2 Duos and getting no slowdown with worse graphics cards).

Let me put this into perspective: I was playing Oblivion on my Opty and HD4850, averaging around 40 FPS outside in the wilderness with high settings. When I upgraded to the Q6600, I was able to max it out (at 1920x1200) to very high, turn all the sliders all the way up, enable full AA and AF and got over 60 FPS average (hung around 60, but sometimes went lower or hit 61 or 62 rarely).

I cannot say for sure that the CPU alone accounted for this change. I upgraded my mobo and RAM as well, so that played a role, but not as strongly as the CPU, I assume. Honestly, before this experience I would not have told you that I thought the CPU was a critical aspect in a gaming machine, but I sure would now. I knew it was important, but I thought you could get away with having one a few generations old, unlike a graphics card. Clearly, this is not the case. I think you will see a much healthier score with an upgraded CPU (Core 2 or Phenom).

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Opteron 165 CCBBE 0610 DPMW at 3105MHz verified.

I've reluctantly selected "Audiophile" as my user title. I am a lover of audio, but there is a stigma of ignorance and unscientific fantasy that surrounds that word. If you are an audiophile who believes the nonsense Stereophile and company would have you believe, do some scientific research and reconsider your positions.

shat_kat

agh, yea i was afraid it was going to be like that... ive just got this processor aswell haha. would you recommend a quad or tri core? I will be able to sell this processor on in a few weeks, so when i get a bit more cash together i will pick one up. Any other recommendations from anyone?

edit: im guessing this would be good enough? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...)%20-%20Retail

cheers

Muftobration

That will definitely be enough. That thing is probably only slightly slower than a Q6600. Oh, an dI don't know if this might interest you, but I was having a hell of a hard time running big VSTs at low latency (audio plugins for music composition) on my opty, but this Q6600 made things go perfectly. I'm really in love with my revamped computer.

My theory with CPUs is that they shouldn't blow you out of the water with performance, but should not slow you down. When I started getting horrible slowdown in Gmod, that's when I knew it was time to upgrade. If you feel like you're being held back in games, it has to be your CPU, because that HD4870 surely is not the problem.

__________________
Opteron 165 CCBBE 0610 DPMW at 3105MHz verified.

I've reluctantly selected "Audiophile" as my user title. I am a lover of audio, but there is a stigma of ignorance and unscientific fantasy that surrounds that word. If you are an audiophile who believes the nonsense Stereophile and company would have you believe, do some scientific research and reconsider your positions.

noobdown

ok. thanks for the heads up. my appoligies if i affended anyone.

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shat_kat

Well yea muftobration, i was expecting more of a boost out of this, and im trying to future proof for *atleast* a year or 2... haha. Im worrying now if a 600w psu is enough. Cheers for the info!

Apparently if i get the black edition, i only have to notch the mulitplier to the next setting (15?) to hit 3.0ghz haha.

edit: Ive also just checked that my mobo doesnt support the 9850 but does support the 9750... does this mean i wont be able to overclock the 9750?

edit again: well Revision 2 of my mobo does, now i have to find out which revision it is... cpuz doesnt want to tell me...

Nope, its Rev 1. so im limited to a maximum of 9750, not like thats a bad thing. Does this mean i would not be able to overclock it though? sorry for being a pain in the butt!

another edit: if i went for 9650/9750, would i be able to overclock... and would i notice a difference in games from what i have at the minute?

shat_kat

i figure i should try and future proof it a bit more, so any help with this will be a great help!
Cheers

thlnk3r

Noobdown, I don't think you offended anyone. I was just pointing out the fact that Xyro did test with a single video card. I was hoping you might have some more suggestions for Shat

Shat, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to overclock it. Honestly it's really hard for us to tell you what OC you'll get out of it. As you know nothing is ever guaranteed in overclocking. Heck you may get a crap stepping and not be able to OC at all.
With the games you play now, what kind of increase are you wanting to see? I would imagine some increase in performance would be visible after going to a K10...there's no doubt about that. Sad thing is, I don't think we'll ever be able to max these cards out...they are just too darn powerful.

Good luck

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shat_kat

cheers thinker. The reason im asking about overclocking, i mean possible overclocking, is because my motherboard doesnt support the 9850, which is that same wattage as the 9750, thats why im not sure if i would have to use it at stock or if there would be room to oc. http://giga-byte.co.uk/Support/Mothe...ProductID=2722

Ideally, well after getting this 4870, ive turned into a bit of a git, and i dont want to see maybe cod4 or stalker drop below 60, well, my refresh rate, cause tearing is doing my head in now haha.
Cheers!

thlnk3r

Shat, the 125W is actually just the TDP (thermal design power). For some odd reason the GA-MA770-DS3 doesn't support the 9850's. The support for that processor may have not been released yet in a BIOS update (cpu ID). If the CPU support page says it's supported then I don't see a problem with compatibility. The overclocking aspect is uncertain until you receive the processor. Perhaps someone with this same board and processor can shed some light on this question.

In regards to your video card questions, do you have v-sync enabled? What is your refresh rate set to in Display Properties? COD4 shouldn't drop below 60FPS. When I played COD4 on my 3850 with everything on High at 1440x900, according to the ingame FPS command was getting around an average of 80-90. You should be fine.

Good luck

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