What CPU speed will max the 9600/9800XT's?

[anthropas]

Hi all,

Like most others here, I'm considering up grading to a new video card, but I was wondering about something else that's related. I'm wondering how fast of a CPU do you need to max out the capabilities of a 9600XT and/or the 9800XT. I have a 2.4C that I can push to 3.0, but its not totally stable and I'm wondering if I'd even be loosing any performance in a 9600XT between 2.4 and 3.0. Can any of you OC'ers do a couple of 3Dmark 2001's/2004's if you have this combo to let me know the difference between a 9600XT and 9800XT at stock 2.4 versus 3.0? I know synthetic benchies don't do the whole question justice, but it will give me one more piece of info about whether upgrading is worth it as well as how fast I need to overclock to to max out the video card.

Thanks,

Anthropas

 

[laja]

There is no clear answer to this question. It all depends on

- the given game
- the resolution, AA and aniso settings you use.

Some games, mostly flight sims, are very CPU-dependent, while others require more video card power. An example of this latter case is Aquamark 3. (OK, I know it's a benchmark, but it's based on a game.)

Take my setup (see below in the sig). I play everything at my LCD's native resolution of 1280x1024. I also use at least 2x AA and 4x aniso. I believe that, at these settings, my 9800 XT is the bottleneck in most games. But if I didn't use AA and aniso, I think most games would be CPU-bound.

 

[Maxx]

You would probably notice a significantly greater difference in 3DMark2001 performance as compared to 3DMark03. Essentially, DX8 and older titles often rely more on the CPU and CPU-RAM subsystem, while more modern games rely on the CPU mostly on lower resolutions. This theory also applies to raw graphical power, that is with AA/AF the video card becomes more dependent, as laja stated. I personally feel that, on the whole, at 2.4 you won't get everything you can out of the 9800XT while you'd do relatively better with the 9600XT, it's something I call "system balance." Really, your CPU can never be fast enough, so it is an opinion-based discussion, but obviously there are exponentially diminishing returns.

It seems to me that DX9 titles rely on the GPU more than the CPU, at least with DX9-capable cards like the XT's. I suppose your best bet is to try and get more out of your CPU without it getting unstable.