cpu bottlenecking gpu ???

[Xxspd88xX]

hello, i just bought a 7800GS OC, and after installing it, the card doesnt seem to work to its full potential. i kno its a agp card, but the performance should be much greater than that of a 6600GT. however, running oblivion seems the same, only the 7800GS allows me o turn on a few more settings higher. and i know it cant be insufficient ram, as i have 2gb of it.

i just want to know, as i have seen ppl talk about bottlenecking. my current cpu is a Pentium 4 3.0ghz w/ HT. do you think that it's fast enough for the 7800GS? If not, what is a good cpu to upgrade to. id appreciate any advice.

 

[JSFLY]

No your not bottlenecking. Its just oblivion.

Even if you get a better proc, you still wont see much of an improvement in gameplay. Unless of course you spend 500+ on that proc.

 

[Luckyboy1]

533 MHz front side buss or 800?

 

[DaveSimmons]

HardOCP has an article on this, a 2.8 GHz P4 was only -slightly- bottlenecked so you should be losing little or no GPU power at resolutions of 1024x768 and higher.

allows me o turn on a few more settings higher

Adding the 7800 would let you have higher FPS or more visual effects, but each takes away from the other. Maybe with 7900GTX SLI you could max out everything at 1600x1200 and have a stable 60 FPS.

Check the Oblivion thread or the official website for tweak guides that might tell you which visual settings hurt framerate the most.

 

[Xxspd88xX]

according to aida32, my it is a 800mhz fsb.

do you think upgrading to a new motherboard and getting a amd 3700+ would do anything?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Oblivion Tweak Guide link

CPU scaling

If you also have the $550 for a 7900GTX then yes upgrading to an A64 3700+ will help.

 

[Luckyboy1]

If 800, then the answer is just slightly.

 

[Xxspd88xX]

the thing is.. upgrading to a 7900GTX is very costly. i barely afforded the 7800GS.

how much of a increase in performance would i c if i upgrade to a 3700+ without getting the 7900GTX and just stick with my 7800GS?

what im thinking of right now is buying my friend's uli board for $35, and then just upgrading my cpu to a 3700+ while keeping the 7800GS. since i just bought the 7800GS, i can return it and buy a pci-e card, like the 7900GT or something. i read a lot of ppl complaing about the 79xx series?

 

[DaveSimmons]

read a lot of ppl complaing about the 79xx series?

The only complaints I've heard are about supplies, which are low because they are so popular.

That, and 78xx owners who bought recently kicking themselves for not waiting for 79xx