Ati 4870 and AMD CPU Bottleneck?

[RBA]

After reading SKYMTL's excellent review, I was wondering if anyone knows what the bottleneck for CPU/GPU is for this card for gaming at 1600 x 1200 resolution? I will be replacing my SyncMaster 930B monitor shortly and am considering a later purchase of a 4870 GPU. I will be sticking with my AMD platform for a little while longer, but I have an opportunity to replace the aging 4600 X2 with a 6000 or 6400 X2 or even popping in a 9750 quad core to improve my current system and extend longevity of current platform. Does anyone have some advice as to performance with this hardware?? Will a quad core make any difference in performance over a dual core? A motherboard change or Intel is not an option at this time. Replies and advice would be appreciated. :help:

[bojangles]

I don't think there will be much of an impact in all honestly. There isn't much bottleneck, IF ANY, on a stock Intel CPU. I would think that if you upgrade to a 6000 you should be more than fine. A 9750 quad is not worth it until you get the Spider Platform for the new Socket Type.

[Ogdin]

There is a good article on cpu scaling that you might wanna check out at CPU scaling in games with dual & quad core processors but the one x2 they have in the test is only a 2.5ghz part.

[RBA]

Thanks Ogdin for the link! I wasn't sure if I needed to upgrade my cpu to ensure the video card would perform properly. It looks like just upgrading the video card will allow me to enjoy games at 1600 x 1200 with higher detail settings and I have sufficient cpu power for now.

[SKYMTL]

With a good AMD dual core (2.8Ghz+) you should not have any problem at that resolution.

[RBA]

Thanks for the response sky. In your opinion should I stick with the 6000 X2 / 6400 X2 choice to pair up with ATi 4750 card or does the AMD 9750 quad option offer me any benefits for gaming performance as my Asus board supports this option as well. Would appreciate your advice. Later next year I will consider replacing my mother board and ram.

[SKYMTL]

At this time the quad gives very little performance benefit IMO.

[RBA]

Thanks for your opinion. I'll pick up a 6000+ X2 to tide me over and add a 4870 next month or as soon as they are available.

[Eagle Eye]

Just get a 5000+ x2 Black box edition you'll get same performance, save yourself a bit of money, and it will run cooler. Just overlock it using the multiplier and with a little extra voltage and it will run as fast as a 6400+ X2. Keep the money you save and put it toward some high performance DDR800 memory.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 2.6GHZ Retail Black Box No HSF Unlocked - DirectCanada

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 Windsor 3.0GHZ 2000FSB 2X1MB 90NM Retail Box - DirectCanada

[ebdoradz]

me and Para_Frank got his 5600+ not black edition to run @ 3.25 Ghz and we havent push it to the limit yet

those 5600 OC pretty well