4850 bottleneck question

Onager1286 · 10-02-2008, 01:11 PM

Wow I haven't frequented these forums in a while.

Anyway, I have a socket 939 system with an athlon 3800+ X2 running stock at 2.0 Ghz (not OC'ed because I'm unfamiliar with the process and also my ram is running at 2T right now, which I hear severly limits Athloc OC'ing). My video card is a radeon x1950xt 256 GB. The monitor is a 1280 X 1024 right now, but soon should be using one at 1680 X 1050. I've been confused for some time now about how much the cpu and gpu are dependent upon one another, and so I've held off on getting a better GPU, like a 4850 in particular.

I play games like Bioshock, Team Fortress 2, and am interested in Far Cry 2, Fallout 3 maybe, World in Conflict... newer games in general.

To get to the point finally: although I know that a 4850 would be held back by some amount due to my CPU, for one thing I'm not sure by how much it would be held back, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, even if I could gain 20 FPS in most games compared to the x1950xt I have now, that would be fine with me, and probably worth the upgrade. But if I'm going to see no significant increase in frames per second, obviously that $150 would be going to waste. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for your responses!

Onager1286 · 10-02-2008, 07:34 PM

Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks again.

Onager1286 · 10-03-2008, 06:33 PM

Seriously, no one has the slightest idea as to what the gains could be?

**wrench97** · 10-04-2008, 04:00 PM

On your system I don't think you would see a large gain with the video card change you may get 10-15 but most likely you will also need to upgrade the Power Supply to go with the HD4850. All of the charts I've seen compare the cards on newer hardware so on a 939 system it's to knew unless someone here has done it before.

**FreoHeaveho** · 10-04-2008, 08:57 PM

The 4850 will thump your current gpu even with the fact that you will be starting to be limited by your cpu. It will defiantely be worth the upgrade with that increased resolution, you should see about 50fps increase.

Onager1286 · 10-04-2008, 10:56 PM

Hmm, two different answers completely. I do have an Antec 650W PSU so I don't think that should be a problem. Also I recently starting OC'ing my X2 3800+. I went from 2.0 Ghz stock to 2.5 Ghz overclocked, and it seems to be reasonably stable - so perhaps that would bottleneck it less.

Has anyone heard anything about the next generation of video cards? I wonder how soon the 4850's would go down to near 100 after rebates...Thanks for your input guys!

10-02-2008, 01:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
Onager1286 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 75 OS: XP	4850 bottleneck question Wow I haven't frequented these forums in a while. Anyway, I have a socket 939 system with an athlon 3800+ X2 running stock at 2.0 Ghz (not OC'ed because I'm unfamiliar with the process and also my ram is running at 2T right now, which I hear severly limits Athloc OC'ing). My video card is a radeon x1950xt 256 GB. The monitor is a 1280 X 1024 right now, but soon should be using one at 1680 X 1050. I've been confused for some time now about how much the cpu and gpu are dependent upon one another, and so I've held off on getting a better GPU, like a 4850 in particular. I play games like Bioshock, Team Fortress 2, and am interested in Far Cry 2, Fallout 3 maybe, World in Conflict... newer games in general. To get to the point finally: although I know that a 4850 would be held back by some amount due to my CPU, for one thing I'm not sure by how much it would be held back, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, even if I could gain 20 FPS in most games compared to the x1950xt I have now, that would be fine with me, and probably worth the upgrade. But if I'm going to see no significant increase in frames per second, obviously that $150 would be going to waste. What are your thoughts? Thanks for your responses!

10-02-2008, 07:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
Onager1286 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 75 OS: XP	Re: 4850 bottleneck question Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks again.

10-03-2008, 06:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
Onager1286 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 75 OS: XP	Re: 4850 bottleneck question Seriously, no one has the slightest idea as to what the gains could be?

10-04-2008, 04:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,616 OS: Win7	Re: 4850 bottleneck question On your system I don't think you would see a large gain with the video card change you may get 10-15 but most likely you will also need to upgrade the Power Supply to go with the HD4850. All of the charts I've seen compare the cards on newer hardware so on a 939 system it's to knew unless someone here has done it before. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

10-04-2008, 08:57 PM	#5 (permalink)
FreoHeaveho TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 3,213 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 SP2, Windows XP Professional SP3, Mac OSX Leopard My System	Re: 4850 bottleneck question The 4850 will thump your current gpu even with the fact that you will be starting to be limited by your cpu. It will defiantely be worth the upgrade with that increased resolution, you should see about 50fps increase. __________________ PC Wizard-VGA 2009 Charts-Power Supply Info-Multi/Single Rail PSU?-Speedfan-Driver Sweeper

10-04-2008, 10:56 PM	#6 (permalink)
Onager1286 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 75 OS: XP	Re: 4850 bottleneck question Hmm, two different answers completely. I do have an Antec 650W PSU so I don't think that should be a problem. Also I recently starting OC'ing my X2 3800+. I went from 2.0 Ghz stock to 2.5 Ghz overclocked, and it seems to be reasonably stable - so perhaps that would bottleneck it less. Has anyone heard anything about the next generation of video cards? I wonder how soon the 4850's would go down to near 100 after rebates...Thanks for your input guys!