What CPU will limit a 4830?

[Wolfsbane2k]

Hi,

I recently purchased a 4830 as an upgrade from a 7600GT to pair with my AMD 3800 X2 S939 based pc.

However, i've realised i'm significantly CPU limited and now looking at a new pc instead, but not sure at what point i would go from CPU limited to GPU limited at 1600x1200, or possibly 1920x1200 if i get a new 24" monitor as well. Looking at the Phenom 720BE price range, £400 for cpu, memory and Mobo.

Games - Currently Left for Dead, Fallout 3.

My other option is, of course, crossfire it with a 4830 or 4850 or sell and upgrade to a 4870 instead.

Any ideas?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This is what I would go for:

Phenom II 720 ~ £125
780G or 790GX motherboard ~ £60 to £90
4gb DDR2 ~ £40
Aftermarket heatsink ~ £20+
HD4850 512mb ~£150
I would definitely look at a new PSU unless you have got a decent one already. What do you have BTW??

I would then sell the other bits you have including the HD4830.

[Pob255]

Most 24" are 1920x1200, 1600x1200 is non-wide screen 4:3 and hard to get hold of these days.
First ting to do is check if you are cpu bound and makeing sure windows is clean and crud free.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

First ting to do is check if you are cpu bound and makeing sure windows is clean and crud free.

I second that!!

[Wolfsbane2k]

This is what I would go for:

Phenom II 720 ~ £125
780G or 790GX motherboard ~ £60 to £90
4gb DDR2 ~ £40
Aftermarket heatsink ~ £20+
HD4850 512mb ~£150
I would definitely look at a new PSU unless you have got a decent one already. What do you have BTW??

I would then sell the other bits you have including the HD4830.

With a 4850 back down on the Scan Todayonly at £104 on occasion, it's a possibility, but would stretch to 8GB for photochopping.

PSU is a Enermax 535w Whisper II - EG565P, primarily due to having 2 DVD burners and 6 3.5" HD's in the pc..

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

With a 4850 back down on the Scan Todayonly at £104 on occasion, it's a possibility, but would stretch to 8GB for photochopping.

PSU is a Enermax 535w Whisper II - EG565P, primarily due to having 2 DVD burners and 6 3.5" HD's in the pc..

Doh!! I meant HD4870 NOT HD4850. You can get an HD4870 512mb for around £150 now.

[Wolfsbane2k]

Most 24" are 1920x1200, 1600x1200 is non-wide screen 4:3 and hard to get hold of these days.
First ting to do is check if you are cpu bound and makeing sure windows is clean and crud free.

Aye, still running on a 21" proffesional Illyama monitor for Photochopping at 1600x1200, but could use of a second, larger screen for gaming and autocad with the illyama for colour matching as a second screen.

It's a pretty clean system on XP. Just how do i find if i'm CPU bound. Looking at 3DMarks 06, there aren't a huge amount of 4830's i can compare it to, but i get a score of 8329.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Aye, still running on a 21" proffesional Illyama monitor for Photochopping at 1600x1200, but could use of a second, larger screen for gaming and autocad with the illyama for colour matching as a second screen.

It's a pretty clean system on XP. Just how do i find if i'm CPU bound. Looking at 3DMarks 06, there aren't a huge amount of 4830's i can compare it to, but i get a score of 8329.

With a Q6600 at 3ghz and an HD3870(overclocked to 877mhz) I was getting around 12600 in 3DMark06. Since an HD4830 is more powerful you should be getting a similiar if not better score!!

[Wolfsbane2k]

With a Q6600 at 3ghz and an HD3870(overclocked to 877mhz) I was getting around 12600 in 3DMark06. Since an HD4830 is more powerful you should be getting a similiar if not better score!!

Just been back to futuremark and it looks like more people are registering the 4830. Seems most new CPU's get circa 12000 to 14000 - with a c2d at 3.5/3.7 ghz with 4830.

Not all that suprising though.. this poor machine still runs on DDR1!

Deffo time to spend some money and do my bit to improve the economy!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It maybe worth also budgeting for a newer PSU too such as a Xigmatek 650w modular Scan are doing for £57 if you are intending to go crossfire or get an HD4870. I always buy a new PSU when I do an overhaul of my desktop.

[kalniel]

Hi,

I recently purchased a 4830 as an upgrade from a 7600GT to pair with my AMD 3800 X2 S939 based pc.

However, i've realised i'm significantly CPU limited

I doubt that very much. You'll be limited in benchmarks like 3dmark06, but gameplay at real resolutions almost certainly won't be. You will be GPU limited at even 1600x1200 with that CPU - if you're not, then your framerate will be high enough that it doesn't matter

To test, find your favourite intensive game. Use fraps to measure frame rate and go play a bit at your normal resolution. Then repeat the same kind of play at both a lower and a higher resolution (if possible - if not, add MSAA). If neither lowering or rasing resolution had any effect on framerate then you are indeed CPU bound.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Some games are more CPU limited than others!!

An example is in Farcry2:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==

In the last chart the CPUs were not powerful enough in Farcry2 to make it GPU limited at 2560x1600. Anyway if the OP sells his/her socket 939 x2 3800 they could get between £45 to £80 on Ebay for it plus the motherboard and RAM. This would certainly pay towards the cost of the upgrade.

[kalniel]

Some games are more CPU limited than others!!

Absolutely - that's why I suggested testing his favourite game. If you get your setup right for your favourite game(s) then that's always better than some synthetic benchmark.