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How can I tell i my GFX card is restricted by the CPU

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Hi,

I currently have a HIS X850 PTE AGP card and don't really want to upgrade to PCIe yet. The processor is a Winchester 3000 (at stock) and I have 1 Gig of Corsair XMS RAM. Does this mean that the GFX card is restricted by the Processor? I have just bought an AMD X2 4600 and another Gig of RAM. I was wondering if the GFX card will fare better after the upgrade or whether its as good as it gets? I only play games at a Res of 1024x768.

Cheers,

BlueSoulJah
 
Caporegime
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bluesouljah said:
Hi,

I currently have a HIS X850 PTE AGP card and don't really want to upgrade to PCIe yet. The processor is a Winchester 3000 (at stock) and I have 1 Gig of Corsair XMS RAM. Does this mean that the GFX card is restricted by the Processor? I have just bought an AMD X2 4600 and another Gig of RAM. I was wondering if the GFX card will fare better after the upgrade or whether its as good as it gets? I only play games at a Res of 1024x768.

Cheers,

BlueSoulJah

nah it shouldnt be restricted but you may notice an improvement with wour upgrade but it may just be smoothness and an increase of 3-4 fps
 
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it is likely that the cpu is bottlenecking the gfx. A way of finding out is to run 3dmark05 at stock and then begin to overclock the cpu. If it shows increases in marks then it is likely to be bottlenecking. Once the increases do not appear as great with greater overclock it will not be bottlenecking.

(That gives you a rough idea anyway)
 
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You could do it that way or you could just overclock your current cpu and see what sort of difference it makes. That way you can get extra performance without the outlay of cash.

Why do you play a 1024x768? Is that the max res of your monitor?
 
Soldato
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I prefer the method of recording benchmarks in CPU-limited games with FRAPS myself. Games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Half Life 2 (especially Lost Coast) are great for this.
 
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I used to have a nice 21" CRT monitor, that gave up the ghost and I was offered a very cheap TFT. I was skint and it was on offer, so I went for it. That seems the most acceptable res for that monitor viewingwise.

I have already bought the parts. The 4600 arrived today and the RAM should come tomorrow. I upgraded it about 2 years ago, so its served me well. I just did this as a cheap upgrade to last about a year and then see what Vista is all about, although I'm not so impressed with it so far.

I don't play many games on the PC since getting my 360, but I noticed on Prey that it seemed to be almost refreshing the screen at the top, and the system hits recommended spec. Hence the question, really.

Cheers,

BlueSoulJah
 
Soldato
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want to test to see if your cpu is the limitation?

keep increasing resolution and adding AA, eventually you will see a drop in framerate, at that point the gfx card is the limitation and not the cpu. but with the card you have its not fast enough to be limited by your cpu. unless you game at 648x480 or you reduce all details to minimum.
 
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OKay, so I ran 35mark05 with the Winchester straight after a reboot and the result was 6375. I put in the AMD 4600 and set the driver and stuff up and put on the optimiser. The result this time was 6654. I get the RAM tomorrow and will rerun. Guess it is restricted?
 
Soldato
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3dm05 is gpu limited since your x850 is slow so a faster cpu will not yeild much better results.

but your 3dm06 score should skyrocket since it takes cpu power into consideration on the final score.
 
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