CPU bottleneck by Radeon HD 5xxx series GPU's?

[The_Absolute]

I've read that the Radeon HD 5000 series graphics cards, especially the HD 5950, and 5970 dual-core ones, are being bottlenecked by even today's fastest available processors. Including the Core i7 975.

A single Radeon HD 5970 (Two HD 5870 cores) has even more throughput than Two Radeon HD 4870's quad crossfireX. Which required a quad-core processor to be a clocked past 4.0 GHz with water cooling to completely remove the bottleneck posed by the Four GPU's.

Is there any way of telling if you have a bottleneck? Is there any program I can run to tell me so? I'd imagine my bottleneck is caused by my HD 4850 running on a PCIe 16x 1.0 slot, instead of a 2.0 slot. I can't buy a new motherboard without having to buy new RAM, and possibly a CPU due to bus speed and chipset compatibility issues.

Is my Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz running at it's stock 2.66 GHz enough for my single Radeon HD 4850? My BIOS forbids overclocking of any kind.

I don't have the money to do that at the moment.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

http://www.passmark.com/ makes some great performance tests and monitors.

 

[quicknote]

I cannot provide specific recommendations for your individual setup without further information. However, I can offer some general insights on the topic of CPU bottlenecks and Radeon HD 5xxx series GPUs.

Firstly, it is important to understand that bottlenecks can occur in any system, and are not limited to just the CPU and GPU. Other components such as RAM, storage, and even the software being used can also contribute to bottlenecks. So it is important to consider the overall system when determining potential bottlenecks.

In terms of the Radeon HD 5xxx series GPUs, it is true that they have a high level of throughput and can potentially be bottlenecked by slower CPUs. This is because these GPUs are designed to handle large amounts of data and calculations, and if the CPU cannot keep up with feeding it data, then a bottleneck can occur.

One way to determine if you have a bottleneck is to monitor the performance of your system while running demanding tasks or games. You can use programs like MSI Afterburner or HWMonitor to track CPU and GPU usage, as well as temperatures and clock speeds. If you notice that your CPU is consistently at 100% usage while your GPU is not, then it is likely that your CPU is the bottleneck.

In your specific case, it is possible that your Core 2 Quad Q9400 is not able to fully utilize the capabilities of your Radeon HD 4850. However, it is difficult to say without knowing the specific tasks and software you are using. Additionally, the PCIe slot version can also play a role in performance, but it is not the only factor.

In conclusion, while it is possible that your CPU may be a bottleneck for your Radeon HD 5xxx series GPU, it is important to consider the overall system and monitor performance to accurately determine the cause of any bottlenecks. Upgrading individual components may not always be the solution, as it is important to ensure compatibility and balance within the system.