GTX 460 OC vs. 8800 GTX performance

[vincentgustav]

Hey everyone!

I recently upgraded my pc from xp professional to 7 home premium. Along with the os I upgraded my 8800gtx to a 460 gtx. I am also getting another 4gb of ram.. waiting on delivery.

other specs.

2 gb sdram ddr2 800 hz (ordered another 4 gb's but it hasn't arrived yet)

m2n sli deluxe motherboard with amd athlon 6400+ dual core processor 3.01 ghz.

640 w power supply

hmm think that's it?

This is the first time I ran any game etc. since upgrading --

Anyway, I tested out crysis warhead on the highest setting (enthusiast) to see how my new 460 gtx would run and the game was pretty laggy. I dropped it to the second highest end setting (gamer) and it was running choppy still. In fact it only seemed to run seamlessly at mainstream (normal setting). Is that b/c of my lack of ram (2gb currently) or am I expecting too much of my new card (460 gtx)? If I recall my 8800 gtx ran the game at gamer (2nd highest setting) so it seems odd that the 460 gtx couldn't do the same?

IS there a reason that the 460 gtx would be out performed by an older 8800 gtx.. or is that just my brain being delusional. Also, I haven't had the chance to look for a patch for warhead yet.. I am at work and my work computer was made about the same time that the spinning jenny was invented :P haha, I'll check for a ptach at home tonight

Thanks,

V

[nickslick74]

Couple of things... Did you uninstall the old 8800's drivers and the install the latest drivers for the 460? Also, are your BIOS and chipset drivers updated to their most current version? The bios update might not make any difference, but the motherboard chipset drivers can, as well as having the later gpu driver.

Also, it seems that Crysis Warhead is fairly demanding of your CPU, which is somewhat old. Check out this article from HardOCP for more: Crysis Warhead - Real World Gameplay CPU Scaling | [H]ard|OCP

[vincentgustav]

Thanks for the quick reply,

As for uninstalling the 8800 gtx drivers, I did a clean install of windows 7 on all partitions -- would this uninstall the 8800 drivers or would I still need to do this manually? I just finished upgrading last night and haven't yet updated all the drivers -- I will get on this as soon as I get home. I got so excited about the new card and os that I clearly forgot the important stuff before I started testing it out :P silly me. Also, that article was really interesting -- I had now idea that the cpu had such an effect in game, especially with these new more powerful gpu's. I guess I should really upgrade my cpu and mobo, I just can't afford it right now Hopefully a combination of patching the game and updating the respective drivers will help out -- do you think my cpu could be overclocked as mentioned in the article? I'm not really sure how one goes about doing that. I don't really understand the whole overclocking thing. The gtx 460 came with the precision tool for overclocking the GPU but I am not really sure what is a safe level to go to. The last thing I want to do is break it. Do you require software do oc the cpu?

Thanks for the help

V

[nickslick74]

Heh, I guess I overlooked the part about the fresh install of Win7. Yes, that would get rid of your old 8800 drivers. It would also get rid of any motherboard driver updates you've done, so you'll still want to look into that. The game patch for 64bit might help as well.

Overclocking your cpu will depend on the options available in your bios. If this is a prebuilt system (Dell, HP, etc...) then you probably can't overclock. Even if you built it, if the motherboard doesn't have the options, you're out of luck. Also, if you aren't comfortable doing it, I wouldn't try it.

[vincentgustav]

I did build my pc but I'm not sure about the motherboard so maybe I will stay away.

Anyway, I've noticed that crysis and warhead are hogs for pc specs even comparing to games that look similar. I've played mass effect 2 (which looks beautiful) on highest settings and never had any lag. I am hoping that the aging CPU won't impact games too much. Hopefully the extras 4gb of ram I ordered will help out.

Given my specs above what do you think a reasonable OC would be for my GPU. I have the Nvidia precision tool? I don't really understand overclocking that much but I am pretty sure my computer could handle it, I just don't want to max it out and break something by being stupid. haha

Thanks again for the help,

V

[electric]

hi,i also have that board and you can OC to your heart content.
but i would leave the video card alone ,no need to over clock it

my video card is a 8800gts

i replace the old processor with a AMD Socket AM3: X2 550 Black

[ need to upgrade the BIOS to 5001 ]


AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Review

[nickslick74]

Unfortunately I can't speak towards how much you can overclock your gpu. Perhaps ShyGuy or KarmaKiller will chime in, they have a whole bunch more experience with that. However, with your current setup, you may not see much of an increase.

Download the patch and the drivers, hopefully you will see enough of an improvement that you don't feel the need to overclock.

[vincentgustav]

Hmm, I'll check it out

I'm not going to lie, I have no problem switching ram, GPU etc. but I have never replaced my CPU before. Is it a challenge? I was under the impression that some sort of glue was used or something? I am at a complete lack of knowledge in that category... any help would be much appreciated

Thanks,

V

[stroyal]

In general, the only glue like substance is the dreaded pad.
Other than those it is pretty easy, just be careful of the pins. (if it is a PGA).

Running the computer, so it is hot, helps with the pad sticking.

If the computer won't run, use a hair drier to heat the heat sink.

Applying the proper amount of paste is important, as too much of some types, will cause overheating.
Follow the paste makers instructions, or check back here.
Always remember, the parts of the heat sink, and the CPU that can touch directly (metal to metal) should touch, the paste is only for the almost microscopic gaps, that don't touch.

[nickslick74]

Yep, like stroyal says, changing the cpu is pretty easy. You'll want to make sure the cpu is compatible with your motherboard and that the bios supports it. Otherwise, just carefully unlatch the hsf (heatsink & fan - no need to remove the fan from the metal heatsink), carefully peel ithe hsf from the cpu (the pad/paste my be sticky), the unlatch the cpu and remove it.

Drop in the new cpu in the correct direction and relatch, apply a small amount of thermal paste, reinstall the hsf (be sure to clean the old gunk off with some rubbing alcohol), and you should eb good to go.

However, you are running an AM2 system, so you're SOL unless you get a new motherboard, in which case your DDR2 RAM would be useless.

[vincentgustav]

Thanks for all the help everyone,

This is such a wonderful forum. I feel bad not being able to contribute much of anything but at least I can keep you guys from getting rusty with all my constant question asking :P

Anyway, I'm not in the financial position to purchase both a new motherboard and a new cpu right now (curses to university!). So hopefully the added ram and patches/driver updates keeps my system going until I can work full time again

It is useful to know about the cpu, I've always been wondering about that -- maybe I can scrounge up some extra cash and get one in a couple of months!

Doesn't really sound like my GPU needs to be overclocked which I can't really complain about.

I'll keep you updated as to performance improvement post driver upgrading.

Thanks,

Christopher

p.s. someone sent me an article that showed how Crysis and Warhead heavily use the CPU as well as GPU in comparison to some other games. So I think it might be my CPU that's slowing it down

[nickslick74]

Theoretically, you could get an AM2+ processor that may work on your AM2 motherboard. AM2+ is a little bit newer, though AM3 has supplanted it. You would need to check with your motherboard manufacturer to see if it will support (and has a bios available) to support AM2+.

Socket AM2+ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If your board will support AM2+, then you could get something like this: AMD Phenom II X4 920 2.8GHz 4x512KB Socket AM2+ Quad-Core CPU AMD HDX920XCJ4DGI Phenom II X4 920