Bottleneck?

[DiogoCDS19]

Hello,
I'm having problems with some games, for some reason my graphic cards are not being used to their max (SLI) also even if im not using SLI the graphic card usage stays at something like 40-50% usage and then i get low fps.

Could this be because of my CPU?

Thanks

 

[Flibolito]

The CPU architecture is getting pretty old and I can definitely see it holding back 2 GTX 460. Which games slow down the most? Some are more CPU heavy such as BC2. Try running Stone Giant Benchmark it's fairly easy on the CPU so we can see how it runs on a not very CPU dependent app. For SLI/crossfire on modern cards its best to have a high clocking quad+. i7 1366 are very strong in this department.

 

[DiogoCDS19]

I did that bench and i got 114 average fps (1360x768).
Also i forgot to mention when the gpu usage is low the cpu is always 90%+ usage.
In crysis 2 i get constant 60 fps in advanced graphic settings.
Being said that i really think that there is a bottleneck.

 

[Flibolito]

Either a 45nm Quad with a overclock or a new mobo/proc/ram would really let those 460s fly. What games do you play? Starcraft 2 is also very cpu heavy so if you like that I would spend a little and sell of the older mobo/proc/ram.

 

[Xaser04]

What resolution are you running?

Looking at your specs it says a Bravia 32", is this 1366x768?

If it is I would question the requirement for SLI at all, a single GTX460 can handle that resolution without a problem.

This resolution would also cause quite a large CPU bottleneck as essentially your graphics cards are not being pushed at all.

 

[Dent1]

You are definitely experiencing a CPU bottleneck and a modern CPU architecture would increase the FPS.

But thats is not entirely your issue.

At such a low resolution of 1366x768, your SLI configuration is not even being pushed. I would remove 1 video card and sell it and run a single configuration or buy a screen that can handle atleast 1920x1080p natively, that is the type of resolution SLI is intended to push! Bear in mind a higher resolution might also make your CPU bottleneck more apparent.

 

[silkstone]

as the others have said., your cpu is defenitelly a bottleneck, along with your resoloution. My card only works to it's full effect when i set all options to very high (1440*900) my cpu would definetly be a botteneck for higher res' with another card.

You only need 1 of those 460's for that res and on your cpu, you have 2 option really, sell one of the 460's and buy a better cpu, maybe a 9550 if you don;t want to upgrade to i7.

keep both cards and get a screen capable of higher res', but then expect to have to tweak the settings of different games.

 

[DiogoCDS19]

The screen can handle 1920x1080p although i get even lower fps, for example on crysis 2 it runs constant 60 fps till 1680x1050 after that the fps just decrease

 

[ShiBDiB]

sell a 460 and buy a new cpu/cpu&mobo

 

[Xorgetra]

Yes u will be bottleneck !! , Just play Starcraft 2 and see

 

[silkstone]

The screen can handle 1920x1080p although i get even lower fps, for example on crysis 2 it runs constant 60 fps till 1680x1050 after that the fps just decrease

Then you just need a new CPU then
Your SLI is far too overpowered for your system

 

[Xorgetra]

if u want to stay in LGA775 , then get a C2Q ( Q9450 or better ) and u will see that the SLI will work just fine

 

[DiogoCDS19]

Yeh im working on that right now.

Thanks for the help guys