Is the GPU the cause and would my processor bottleneck the latest gen of cards?

[Joeyboy]

Right two quick questions here.

Crysis is obviously very demanding. However on high detail it actually plays surprisingly smoothly, obviously though more is better and I was wondering if it's my processor or GPU which is the weakest component, basically would a GPU upgrade make a difference or is it the processor which is struggling, I assume the it's the GPU, which is a HD4870, not at all bad but obviously I didn't expect it to max out Crysis.

So onto the other question. I'll consider a GPU upgrade this Christmas as a few games are coming out next year and I like to be sure I can play them on the highest settings possible. However I know CPU's can bottleneck a card, would a Q6600 oc'd to 3ghz bottleneck some of better cards?

I was thinking of getting a HD4890 and OC'ing it quite a bit? Do you think an OC'd 4890 would give me a noticeable difference compared to my slightly OC'd 4870(it isn't playing nice with OC'ing).

If it isn't a noticeable improvement I'll hold off for a while and wait for the next lot of GPU's I assume some will come out next year, but again I'd like to know if my processor is up to scratch?

 

[b1gapl]

I'd say overclock the Q6600 a little more, if you can. The Q6600 is not that weak.

And yes, wait for the next gen cards. They'll be coming out in a few months.

Actually I think the HD 5870 is due this month.

 

[meat_helmet]

It depends what games you are playing as well. Crysis is very GPU dependant so you can get away with having a quad core thats a bit older. Something like ARMA2 or GTA4 on the otherhand are pretty CPU intensive and that Q6600 might start to hold you back. You could make it last a year or more if you get a new GPU though, but with the i5 out its not so expensive to get a good CPU performance jump.

 

[Joeyboy]

It depends what games you are playing as well. Crysis is very GPU dependant so you can get away with having a quad core thats a bit older. Something like ARMA2 or GTA4 on the otherhand are pretty CPU intensive and that Q6600 might start to hold you back. You could make it last a year or more if you get a new GPU though, but with the i5 out its not so expensive to get a good CPU performance jump.

ok then thanks. Well usually I only play RTS games, where the HD4870 obviously has no problems maxing anything in that genre. I bought Crysis mainly as a novelty, I usually buy shooters for the console..although seeing how much better they can look graphically on the PC might make me change my mind.

I suppose I'll have to wait and see if Mafia 2 is too demanding, as I imagine it'll have a big world like GTA 4.

 

[Slaymate]

Your Q6600 is starting to get a little old but I don't think your bottlenecking your 4870. You could probably run any of the present day cards pretty well. But the next generation of cards is still questionable, none of us will actually know until they arrive. But if you buy one I'm sure you'll see a big boost in performance, but your Q6600 (in my opinon) will probably be a bottleneck.

 

[Joeyboy]

ok thanks everyone. I'll wait until next year and see what's out there, then look around and find out if my CPU would bottleneck any which are in my price range.