What's my PC's bottleneck?

NomNom

NomNom

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So I've been reading into the whole bottleneck thing recently on PCFormat and I was just curious, what in your opinion in my Pc's bottleneck? I would think that it's my CPU, but just interested to hear what you guys think. :confused:
 
Well it might help if you actually gave some idea of what your PC is....
 
Ja I would go with CPU, maybe RAM
 
Uhmmmm...A bit vague on the details there...

Your sig points out quite a decent PC (although i will not personally buy a Club3D graphics card)...

A bit more details when you experience any performance issues i.e. playing games and so on....??
 
Uhmmmm...A bit vague on the details there...

Your sig points out quite a decent PC (although i will not personally buy a Club3D graphics card)...

A bit more details when you experience any performance issues i.e. playing games and so on....??
 
Bottlenecking is dependant on workload.

You'd be CPU limited in something like Civ V (esp with AMD card) or maybe BC2, and GPU limited in something like Metro 2033.
 
hereticangel said:
your cpu, your cpu could do 3.6ghz+
Click to expand...

Now if I only knew how to go about doing that :D, I would first need to get a decent cooler, cause I'm using a stock one, any suggestions? I would like something cheap and quiet

killadoob said:
I cannot see a bottleneck anywhere
Click to expand...

That's good I guess :D

AcidT said:
Uhmmmm...A bit vague on the details there...

Your sig points out quite a decent PC (although i will not personally buy a Club3D graphics card)...

A bit more details when you experience any performance issues i.e. playing games and so on....??
Click to expand...

It's pretty decent hey, I just wanted to know what I could improve, cause I got some cash to splash, but not enough for a full upgrade. Club3D so far to me has been very good, this is my first Club3D card.

Tpex said:
Ja I would go with CPU, maybe RAM
Click to expand...

Thanks I thinking that, the ram spec in my sig is actually wrong, I have the kingstons and 4GB G.Skill ram, I can overclock both to about 1600, they are currently running at 1333.

Thanks guys for all the help, how would I o about overclocking my CPU the right way? Suggestions? Thanks in advance :)
 
Last edited:
If you're going to be playing on 1920x1080/2560x1600 with 16xAA + 16xAF and all the other settings on the highest, then your single GPU would be the component holding you back.
So ja, like Rudimental said: it all depends on the use.
I won't say that either one of your components in your PC is a bottleneck, but it won't hurt to overclock your CPU :)

I would only use "bottleneck" for when the single component would seriously limit the performance. eg. Running a C2D E6500 with an HD6970 / i5 2500k + HD6970 + 2GB RAM

If you want to OC your CPU, then you'll first need a decent aftermarket cooler. Please just make sure that your temperatures are still OK after you've installed it, before you start overclocking!

Here's a good overclocking guide: http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/

A safe/easy overclock configuration would be:
1) Disable EIST (Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology), Turbo Boost & C1E - I'm running my i7 940 @ 3.8GHz with EIST & C1E switched on, so it would downscale to 2GHz during idle.
2) Change your FSB speed from 133MHz to 160MHz. This would mean that your RAM will now run at 1600MHz and your CPU at 3.36GHz (if C1E & Turbo Boost is switched off)
3) Change your CPU voltage to like 1.25V, which is already fairly high, so the CPU would run hot but at least it shouldn't result in BSOD's (I think the maximum "safe" voltage is 1.40V with the i5 7x0)

I think you should actually be able to use the above overclocking settings with the stock cooler, but I would strongly suggest that you play with the CPU voltage settings, so that you can find the lowest possible CPU voltage that doesn't result in BSOD's.
The lower the CPU voltage, the lower the CPU temperatures would be.

I'm not sure, but I think like Nakedpeanut runs his i5 750 @ 4GHz with probably a voltage of like 1.31V? You might want to ask him for assistance.
 
Last edited:
Pada said:
If you're going to be playing on 1920x1080/2560x1600 with 16xAA + 16xAF and all the other settings on the highest, then your single GPU would be the component holding you back.
So ja, like Rudimental said: it all depends on the use.
I won't say that either one of your components in your PC is a bottleneck, but it won't hurt to overclock your CPU :)

I would only use "bottleneck" for when the single component would seriously limit the performance. eg. Running a C2D E6500 with an HD6970 / i5 2500k + HD6970 + 2GB RAM

If you want to OC your CPU, then you'll first need a decent aftermarket cooler. Please just make sure that your temperatures are still OK after you've installed it, before you start overclocking!

Here's a good overclocking guide: http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/

A safe/easy overclock configuration would be:
1) Disable EIST (Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology), Turbo Boost & C1E - I'm running my i7 940 @ 3.8GHz with EIST & C1E switched on, so it would downscale to 2GHz during idle.
2) Change your FSB speed from 133MHz to 160MHz. This would mean that your RAM will now run at 1600MHz and your CPU at 3.36GHz (if C1E & Turbo Boost is switched off)
3) Change your CPU voltage to like 1.25V, which is already fairly high, so the CPU would run hot but at least it shouldn't result in BSOD's (I think the maximum "safe" voltage is 1.40V with the i5 7x0)

I think you should actually be able to use the above overclocking settings with the stock cooler, but I would strongly suggest that you play with the CPU voltage settings, so that you can find the lowest possible CPU voltage that doesn't result in BSOD's.
The lower the CPU voltage, the lower the CPU temperatures would be.

I'm not sure, but I think like Nakedpeanut runs his i5 750 @ 4GHz with probably a voltage of like 1.31V? You might want to ask him for assistance.
Click to expand...



and i will back this up by saying LISTEN TO PADA !! :D one with wise words
 
"If you're going to be playing on 1920x1080/2560x1600 with 16xAA + 16xAF and all the other settings on the highest, then your single GPU would be the component holding you back"


1920x1080 with 2xAA/4xAA + 8xAF is really easy to run, even i do that with certain games using a 5770 1gb. no sane person would run 16xAA with 16xAF on a single GPU. must have had one to many !:D:whistle: unless you got it , then i thinks its ok to flaunt it
 
Last edited:
Pada said:
If you're going to be playing on 1920x1080/2560x1600 with 16xAA + 16xAF and all the other settings on the highest, then your single GPU would be the component holding you back.
So ja, like Rudimental said: it all depends on the use.
I won't say that either one of your components in your PC is a bottleneck, but it won't hurt to overclock your CPU :)

I would only use "bottleneck" for when the single component would seriously limit the performance. eg. Running a C2D E6500 with an HD6970 / i5 2500k + HD6970 + 2GB RAM

If you want to OC your CPU, then you'll first need a decent aftermarket cooler. Please just make sure that your temperatures are still OK after you've installed it, before you start overclocking!

Here's a good overclocking guide: http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/

A safe/easy overclock configuration would be:
1) Disable EIST (Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology), Turbo Boost & C1E - I'm running my i7 940 @ 3.8GHz with EIST & C1E switched on, so it would downscale to 2GHz during idle.
2) Change your FSB speed from 133MHz to 160MHz. This would mean that your RAM will now run at 1600MHz and your CPU at 3.36GHz (if C1E & Turbo Boost is switched off)
3) Change your CPU voltage to like 1.25V, which is already fairly high, so the CPU would run hot but at least it shouldn't result in BSOD's (I think the maximum "safe" voltage is 1.40V with the i5 7x0)

I think you should actually be able to use the above overclocking settings with the stock cooler, but I would strongly suggest that you play with the CPU voltage settings, so that you can find the lowest possible CPU voltage that doesn't result in BSOD's.
The lower the CPU voltage, the lower the CPU temperatures would be.

I'm not sure, but I think like Nakedpeanut runs his i5 750 @ 4GHz with probably a voltage of like 1.31V? You might want to ask him for assistance.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help, will have to grab a cooler first I guess, think something like a CM V6 or 212 should be good, my motherboard has overclocking features already, are they any good? Should I post pictures?

EDIT:

I think I'll get a Coolermaster Hyper 612S when it comes out.

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6727
http://www.ninjalane.com/reviews/cooling/hyper612
 
Last edited:
What do you understand by 'bottleneck'?

I all systems there is some process which runs slowest and wuold thus be defined as the bottleneck. Speeding that process up would simply make some other process the bottleneck.

So there will always be a bottleneck, whether it's worth addressing is a different problem.
 
Your 60Hz screen is always your bottleneck :p... either that or your eyes.

But seriously like everyones said, it depends on the application...

OC your GPU : if you don't get an FPS increase, then your CPU is holding you back
OC your CPU : if you dont get an FPS increase, then your GPU is holding you back.
 
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