Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 16 of 42

Thread: How much is my CPU bottlenecking me?

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    62
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    How much is my CPU bottlenecking me?

    First post, hi everyone.

    I'd just like some advice on my CPU, which is an underwhelming 2.9Ghz Celeron. How much is it screwing me over in terms of gaming performance? I know it's far from the best gaming CPU, but before I get out of shape about it I'd like to know approximately how much impact it's having before I consider upgrading or anything.

    Here's my spec:

    Intel Celeron 2.9Ghz CPU
    2 x 512mb 3200 DDR RAM (forgot which make, are worth about £60 each if that helps)
    GeCube Radeon X800GTO 128mb (AGP)
    Creative Audigy SE Sound
    Windows XP SP2

    That's about all you need to know isn't it? I'd also give you some examples of what I play, but my taste is pretty diverse. I have Oblivion, if that helps? It's running happily on all the average settings ATM.

    I know everything's all very mid-range and that's fine, I just need advice on how much the CPU is holding me back, if at all. Nothing's overclocked BTW, and if you need anymore info please ask.

    Thanks a lot.

  2. #2
    Senior Member ExceededGoku's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Lincolnshire, UK
    Posts
    1,578
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked
    1 time in 1 post
    I reckon it is having quite a big affect on your gaming performance, for a start oblivion is a very CPU intensive game and that CPU isn't really designed for gaming. But tbh there would be no point in you upgrading because it would be expensive and the performance gain minimal in most games.
    Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.2Ghz (400Mhzx8) 1.52V (set in bios, 1.47v real) | 4GB GeIL PC6400 4-4-4-12 | Gigabyte DQ6 @ 1600Mhz | HD2900XT 1GB | Enermax Infiniti 720W | Silverstone TJ07-B with custom watercooling | BenQ FP241WZ
    3dmark05 - 13140 | 3dmark06 - 6698 | SuperPi 1M - 15s

  3. #3
    Banned
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    688
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    yer those chips suck for games they are actually THE worst as i recall what else could you possibly upgrade too? socket 478??

  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    62
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Yeah these are about the responses I was expecting.

    Quote Originally Posted by rainbow
    yer those chips suck for games they are actually THE worst as i recall what else could you possibly upgrade too? socket 478??
    I don't know, I'd need some more advice there. I'd be happy to upgrade the CPU just enough so the GPU becomes the bottleneck, because that's about the performance I'm after. Any suggestions or advice?

  5. #5
    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    In the middle of a core dump
    Posts
    12,978
    Thanks
    778
    Thanked
    1,586 times in 1,341 posts
    • DanceswithUnix's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus X470-PRO
      • CPU:
      • 5900X
      • Memory:
      • 32GB 3200MHz ECC
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Linux, 2TB Games (Win 10)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Asus Strix RX Vega 56
      • PSU:
      • 650W Corsair TX
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Fedora 39 + Win 10 Pro 64 (yuk)
      • Monitor(s):
      • Benq XL2730Z 1440p + Iiyama 27" 1440p
      • Internet:
      • Zen 900Mb/900Mb (CityFibre FttP)
    This is just the link for you:

    http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=2395&p=6

    Compares a slightly faster Celeron than yours with high end Sempron and low end Athlon 64 chips. All chips benchmarked with an X800 XT, so should be of interest to you. You would need to cross reference that with another review to see how bigger S939 chips compare to the 3200 shown there.

    Looks to me like you would need to buy a S939 3500+ to double your framerate.

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    62
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Geez you guys weren't kidding.

    Thanks for that link, DanceswithUnix, exactly what I needed.

    Looks like I'm officially looking into a new CPU then *wanders off to ebuyer*

  7. #7
    Senior Member sawyen's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Sheffield University
    Posts
    3,658
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    22 times in 21 posts
    • sawyen's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Laptop motherboard
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core i7 740QM
      • Memory:
      • 8192MB DDR3
      • Storage:
      • 256GB SSD, 1TB WD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AMD Mobility HD 5870
      • PSU:
      • MSI stuff
      • Case:
      • N/A
      • Operating System:
      • Win 7 64bit
      • Internet:
      • Virgin ADSL rubbish
    As above, Celeron's arent the coolest thing around.. Pentium 4s are slow enough with loads of onboard cache.. cut that in half and you'll get a very very crippled old man.

    Its a consolation that newer celerons clock pretty good, but even at 3.8-4.0Ghz, they are still pretty shyt.. no offence to any celery users.

    You're better off upgrading mate..
    Me want Ultrabook


  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    62
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    OK, You've convinced me. I'm upgrading.

    Following the advice of DancesWithUnix I'm looking into this:
    http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=88107

    I'm fairly happy with the choice. I could go with the 3200 for £20~ less but decided against it.

    Anyway, I have another, probably extremely stupid question. Do processors fit in any mobo, or am I gonna have to dig around looking at compatibility and stuff? Also, would you recommend me taking it to a shop for fitting since I've never installed a processor before and am frankly terrified at the concept?

    Anyway, thanks a lot guys, you've been great so far.

  9. #9
    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    In the middle of a core dump
    Posts
    12,978
    Thanks
    778
    Thanked
    1,586 times in 1,341 posts
    • DanceswithUnix's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus X470-PRO
      • CPU:
      • 5900X
      • Memory:
      • 32GB 3200MHz ECC
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Linux, 2TB Games (Win 10)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Asus Strix RX Vega 56
      • PSU:
      • 650W Corsair TX
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Fedora 39 + Win 10 Pro 64 (yuk)
      • Monitor(s):
      • Benq XL2730Z 1440p + Iiyama 27" 1440p
      • Internet:
      • Zen 900Mb/900Mb (CityFibre FttP)
    At this point I suppose I should mention that old Hexus favourite: the Asrock Dual SATA-2 motherboard.

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=291356

    The link is on Scan as I happened to have their page open in my browser, I expect Ebuyer have it as well. Note that I don't actually own one of these, but they seem to get a lot of mentions around here for people with AGP cards worth keeping.

  10. #10
    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    In the middle of a core dump
    Posts
    12,978
    Thanks
    778
    Thanked
    1,586 times in 1,341 posts
    • DanceswithUnix's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus X470-PRO
      • CPU:
      • 5900X
      • Memory:
      • 32GB 3200MHz ECC
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Linux, 2TB Games (Win 10)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Asus Strix RX Vega 56
      • PSU:
      • 650W Corsair TX
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Fedora 39 + Win 10 Pro 64 (yuk)
      • Monitor(s):
      • Benq XL2730Z 1440p + Iiyama 27" 1440p
      • Internet:
      • Zen 900Mb/900Mb (CityFibre FttP)
    Quote Originally Posted by Nobuo
    I'm fairly happy with the choice. I could go with the 3200 for £20~ less but decided against it.
    I should point out that the next step up, 3700, has twice the cache memory as the 3500 you are currently looking at. In some apps (like halflife-2) it matters, though I am quite happy with my overclocked 3000+ and that only has the 512KB.

    Anyway, thanks a lot guys, you've been great so far.
    I think we all love spending other people's money; much easier than spending your own!

  11. #11
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Essex
    Posts
    161
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    To be honest I don't see your CPU being an obvious bottle-neck really. It's a mid-range celeron matched with a mid-range X800 GTO. The way to see if your CPU is really the bottle-neck is to increase the resolution in your game, and see what impact it has on the framerate. The rule of thumb is: if the framerate stays roughly the same, then it's a CPU bottle-neck, if it goes down then it's a graphics bottle-neck.


    HardOCP did a good editorial on CPU-scaling in games a few days ago, which might give some insight: http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==
    To sum up their results with some pretty high-end cards such as the 7800GTX, they found that a P4 3.2GHz is about the point where you see the CPU holding you back. Of course your situation is slightly different with a celeron, but I'd guess that you would only start seeing a bottle-neck with something like a 7800GT

  12. #12
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    62
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Quote Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix
    I think we all love spending other people's money; much easier than spending your own!
    Lol, I can imagine!

    Quote Originally Posted by Rohan
    To be honest I don't see your CPU being an obvious bottle-neck really. It's a mid-range celeron matched with a mid-range X800 GTO. The way to see if your CPU is really the bottle-neck is to increase the resolution in your game, and see what impact it has on the framerate. The rule of thumb is: if the framerate stays roughly the same, then it's a CPU bottle-neck, if it goes down then it's a graphics bottle-neck.
    Oh I see...didn't know that. I'll do some experimenting when I get home then, if it turns out the graphics card is the bottleneck I think I'll leave things be for now. From the comparison DanceswithUnix supplied it doesn't look like that's the case though.

    Assuming I do choose to upgrade the processor, I'd like to avoid upgrading the mobo if possible. How do I know which type of processor is for my mobo? Is it to do with this 939pin business?

  13. #13
    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    In the middle of a core dump
    Posts
    12,978
    Thanks
    778
    Thanked
    1,586 times in 1,341 posts
    • DanceswithUnix's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus X470-PRO
      • CPU:
      • 5900X
      • Memory:
      • 32GB 3200MHz ECC
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Linux, 2TB Games (Win 10)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Asus Strix RX Vega 56
      • PSU:
      • 650W Corsair TX
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Fedora 39 + Win 10 Pro 64 (yuk)
      • Monitor(s):
      • Benq XL2730Z 1440p + Iiyama 27" 1440p
      • Internet:
      • Zen 900Mb/900Mb (CityFibre FttP)
    That hardocp article is pretty hard going! It also seems to be rather high-end in the kit they use.

    This is rather more what I want to see from a scaling article:

    http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=2330&p=6

    A bit old now, but still shows rather nicely whether that extra 200MHz would make a difference if you were playing half-life2. Note that it isn't just dependant on the game, but the level within the game makes a big difference, some levels just seem to keep giving!

  14. #14
    Banned
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    688
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    [QUOTE=Nobuo]Geez you guys weren't kidding.
    lol i know the really do suck

  15. #15
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    62
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    So apparently I have a crappy monitor that supports 1024x768 max. That really sucks. New first on upgrade list!

    In any case I compared Doom 3's low graphics 0AA with ultra graphics 2xAA on 1024x768 and noticed only a small decrease in FPS. Doesn't that invertly proove the same point Rohan was making? It makes sense to me, no FPS compromise with Low Graphics vs Ultra Graphics = GPU not bottleneck. Although any more than 2xAA on Ultra caused hiccups, but I think that's to be expected on an X800, right?

  16. #16
    Banned
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    688
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    dont worry bout your monitor for now you se my spec im usingf a 15 inch crt who hcares,just get the fastest chip you can on the socket do you know what that is?

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. CPU Bottlenecking at which range of GPU? (P4.266)
    By Ashrym in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 18-03-2006, 05:59 PM
  2. CPU Bottlenecking
    By Ashrym in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 18-03-2006, 05:48 PM
  3. Overclocking Question
    By planetgong in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 12-12-2005, 09:29 AM
  4. CPU bottlenecking my Graphics Card?
    By tkh in forum Graphics Cards
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 08-08-2005, 10:54 PM
  5. CPU TIM Guide
    By Steve in forum Help! Quick Relief From Tech Headaches
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 30-05-2004, 02:59 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •