Core 2 Duo + 5850

[jbz7890]

I'm thinking of buying a 5850 but am worried that it may be bottlenecked by my processor, an E7200@3.75ghz.

Do you guys think it's a bad idea to buy such a fast video card when I have a relatively poor processor? Does anyone here use a 5850 or similar card with a Core 2 duo? If so, please share your experiences.

 

[UtopiA]

It depends on the game.
I don't know how many games are utilizing more than two cores these days. GTA 4 is the only one I can think of, maybe a few RTS games as well.

In terms of raw processor power for the 5850, you're fine.
The E7200, at those clocks, is not a "poor" processor.

 

[fanboy]

As already stated about quad vs dual and the game you play.. the e7200 should do fine as when the 5850 was released i had only a e5200 @3875Mhz and i could play BC 2 in Eyefinity with the 5850 on moddest settings but playable..

Here is an old Vantage run for you as by the GPU score and FPS in test 1 and 2 ..the HD5850 is not bottlenecked by cpu but a game itself could be bottlenecked by the cpu if it's treaded for quad core..

http://3dmark.com/3dmv/1697570