Gtx 260 - 280 Cpu Bottleneck?

[aviduser]

Alright, I've decided on either be a gtx260 core 216 or gtx280 for my next card.

My question is will a phenom II 940 @ 3.0ghz bottleneck either card?

[NightRain]

This really depends on the resolution you're running. If you are running 1680x1050 or higher then the answer in no. I've worked with the Phenom II 940 and a GTX 260 recently and it ran everything smoothly at 1680x1050 no problem on a nice 22" LCD. However once you start to use AA the graphics cards become the bottleneck, I know this because a GTX285 with a similar setup resulted in faster FPS. If the CPU was a bottleneck then the FPS would be the nearly the same.

I was quite impressed with the Phenom II when compared to the Phenom X4 9850 Black edition, but I'm still giving the Core i7 the edge right now from what I've seen.

[aviduser]

Im running a 22" Lcd at 1680x1050 max resolution.

Thanks for your input. Its good to know I can run a demanding card with the phenom II at stock.

Fyi. Im coming off a phenom 9550 to a phenom II 940, I've researched building an i7 rig. As far as bang for buck goes, it'd cost about $500 more. *I'd need a new mobo/ddr3 ram/Psu/Operating System.

So far it sounds like I'm good to go. Additional reply's are welcome!

[Eagle Eye]

Alright, it'll either be a gtx260 core 216 or gtx280.

Another question is, will a phenom II 940 @ 3.0ghz bottleneck either card? I'm running some generic 400mhz ddr2 also, will upgrading that be of benefit?

Thanks for the help so far.

Asked and answered in this thread...

hd4850 Crossfire or Gtx280


My Answer

Depends on the resolution, at a low res yes at higher one not so much, also consider things like AA, AF and in game settings. The benefits of having a cpu at say 3.6GHz will obviously show better performance in games that are more CPU bound. They I would I look at Avid is if the game plays at your desired resolution and configuration than a bottleneck shouldn't be much concern.

Fast ram on the AMD platform is not nearly as much of a concern since it has an integrated memory controller and no FSB. DDR800 with tight timings will perform as well as DDR1066 with loose timings. Furthermore, if the CPU multiplier is unlocked DDR 800 will be fine since you are not overclocking the memory rather just the cpu itself. I think people prefer having DDR1066 in their system just because it has a nicer ring to it and looks better on paper, all the while it really makes no difference in terms of performance.

Regards,

Eagle Eye

[aviduser]

Cool Thanks.

[geokilla]

AnandTech: CrossFireX and the Phenom II X4 940 ? Competitive or Not?

ENJOY! I found it to be a very good article. Even though it doesn't involve the GTX260 or GTX280, it does involve your Phenom II. It should help. If not, it's a good read anyways :P