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Solve : When choosing a CPU for your build how do you make sure it won't bottleneck your? |
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Answer» How do you make sure your CPU is powerful enough to support your GPU? What do you LOOK for to make sure the GPU won't be bottlenecked by the CPU? I'm trying to figure out what i7 CPU I'll need if I want 980M SLI in my laptop, instead of just a single 980M. Thanks! Laptop? You are building a laptop? Just like on Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, Intel has integrated a quad-core CPU, graphics, cache, a memory controller and PCI-Express connectivity into a single silicon die.You might consider a lesser CPU. Why Intel? Look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIT9uLDjZcg Quote from: Geek-9pm on May 15, 2015, 11:21:37 PM Laptop? You are building a laptop?"The manufacturers" also offer customization options before purchase. From the sounds of it that is what they are using. Quote How do you make sure your CPU is powerful enough to support your GPU? What do you look for to make sure the GPU won't be bottlenecked by the CPU? I'm trying to figure out what i7 CPU I'll need if I want 980M SLI in my laptop, instead of just a single 980M. Thanks!WHETHER your "CPU is powerful enough to support your GPU" depends entirely on the software you intend to run. In fact- they are almost entirely independent, it is simply more prevalent that more recent games that use more graphical capabilities also require more oomph from the processor for the other parts of the game. I'm not building a laptop. I'm looking at configurations from manufacturers. I know that I don't need an i7 or a super fast/powerful CPU for most games but I heard that even an i7 will bottleneck 980M SLI. I just want more opinions about it because I heard that even an i7 will bottleneck 980M SLI, although the benchmarks I've seen still show good performance gains between 980M and 980M SLI.The whole thing about "bottlenecking" stems from the "Gamer" crowd who have no understanding of what the term actually means but heard someone use it once so now totally go overboard about it. Bottlenecking is only an issue if you were to, for example, try to run a brand new, top of the range GPU with a very old CPU. Sure, if you are trying to run a 980 on a Core 2 Duo you'll probably have issues, but if you are running a modern CPU with a modern GPU, it will not "bottleneck". You should however consider whether you (a) actually need the machine to be a laptop and (b) are happy with the disadvantages of having dual GPUs in a laptop (much more heat, low battery life, high power consumption.etc). Quote You should however consider whether you (a) actually need the machine to be a laptop and (b) are happy with the disadvantages of having dual GPUs in a laptop (much more heat, low battery life, high power consumption.etc). I agree with this as for its a lot of money with a limited upgrade path and the only benefit of a laptop vs a desktop for a setup like this would be a space saver, but you would most definitely need to have a outlet near by as for when gaming it will drain out the battery fairly quickly. If you need a mobile computer which will have an outlet handy everywhere you go, then this is an ok setup, but if your looking to game for more than 30 minutes away from an outlet, adding another video card for SLI is going to greatly drain on the battery. I bought a low to mid-grade laptop that was able to game because it had an ok GPU in it 5 years ago and if web surfing the battery life was about 1 hr 20 minutes but when gaming battery life was about 40 minutes. So I had to have an outlet handy when using it for gaming. My laptop is mainly for when I travel the ability to game wherever I go, but an outlet is needed and it pumps out lots of heat to where you don't want it on your lap. I'd go with a gaming desktop if its a computer that doesn't really have to be mobile and your looking to stretch the life of your investment as for a desktop has a long upgrade path with the correct parts, but a laptops upgrade path is very limited and more costly.I need a new computer and unfortunately it must be a laptop. I've been allotted a $3000 budget for my new laptop so I'm trying to figure out what the best configuration would be to get the most that I can out of the specs for the budget. I'll be using it primarily for gaming so I'm considering SLI with a laptop cooler because it'll be plugged in all the time, and because I don't think I'll be getting more than 16GB of RAM or a massive SSD (even though I could). I don't know much about SLI except the increase in performance, heat and energy consumption though. How should I deal with the increased heat? I'm definitely getting a laptop cooling pad if I decide on dual GPUs but is there anything else that I could use to lower heat? I'd also like to try undervolting; is undervolting limited to only the CPU or can a GPU be undervolted or not used completely? If I got dual GPU would I have the option to use only one to lower temperature? Here's what I'm looking for (this is copied/pasted from my other thread.) " - Unfortunately due to my current living situation it MUST be a laptop - Preferably 18" screen with 1920x1080 resolution, or 17" screen - I know I don't need it for gaming but I'd still prefer an i7 - Minimum of 4GB RAM, preferably 8GB RAM but no more than 16GB - Weight is not an issue - SSD not required, but certainly welcome - Looking to play games on Max/High settings with 60fps with a GTX 980M or GTX 980M SLI -Must have a optical drive -Must have a built in mic -Webcam optional -Battery life is irrelevant because I will be plugged in whenever in use. $3000 budget I've done a little bit of research and I know I DON'T want an Alienware, ASUS, Dell, Acer or Lenovo. I've been considering a $3000 configuration of a Sager laptop from xoticpc.com but I'm open to recommendations (hence this thread). If anyone has any recommendations for a $3000 configuration of a gaming laptop that exactly or closely fits these requirements I'd appreciate them." Also, it's worth noting that I used to have an Alienware M18x. I loved it but I soon found out that Alienware is an overpriced rip-off brand...even though my own personal experience with my M18x was very good. I found out that I could've have gotten better laptops for cheaper even though my M18x was great. The specifications weren't worth the price tag as I found out that Alienware is guilty of. Dell doesn't offer any laptops I want currently and Dell has notoriously AWFUL customer service; the Dell Facebook is literally nothing but complaints about the customer service. I'm not tremendously interested in Acer's or Lenovo's gaming laptops, especially since I want to maximize the $3000 budget I've been alloted but I'll certainly consider any recommendation. The Acer VN7-791G-792A and the Lenovo Y series are okay but I think I can do better. As I've heard plenty of excellent reviews I may consider the ASUS G751JY-DH71 but I'm not happy about the laptop being difficult to take apart or the battery being impossible to remove. I also don't like the placement of the eject button for the optical drive. Quote I'd also like to try undervolting; is undervolting limited to only the CPU or can a GPU be undervolted or not used completely? If I got dual GPU would I have the option to use only one to lower temperature? Undervolting generally takes performance away. Your undervolting and under driving the hardware. If you bought into a laptop that was intended for SLI then it should be designed with adequate cooling. I have only seen CPU's undervolted to be green where the voltage and clock drops to reduce heat and power consumption, and then as a task is run that demands more processing power it steps up the voltage and clock to chug through it and go back to rest. I have never intentionally undervoltaged a CPU, RAM, etc. I always run either stock normal voltages or up the voltage a little bit when overclocking to drive it harder, but with adequate cooling to remove the extra heat that doing such produces. I wouldn't suggest undervolting anything from the BIOS level if able to do so as for it could destabilize the system not having voltages strong enough to power the components when they demand a heavier load. My recent desktop build has a stepping of Core voltage and Clock for my AMD FX-8350 4Ghz system. This is part of the AMD Cool'n Quiet settings that I have configured in the BIOS which is a safe configuration. If able to go in and lower voltages from stock to lesser voltages by .1 or .2 volts etc, its just asking for trouble with system stability. Intel CPU's also have a similar feature to slow the clock and step down core voltage etc. In my BIOS I can go in and push my voltages higher, but I have not gone in to do that as well as I haven't checked to see if I could lower the voltage as for I always run stock voltage intended for the components vs trying to drop a tenth of a volt or two which could spell disaster when running the computer with a heavy load and the voltage level not being their to back the power demand. Electronics can act up unpredictably when you get the voltage of the component too close to the minimum voltage to operate known as the drop out voltage when the component drops out of functioning as normal because its starved for power. SLI may not be what you want. Quote Scalable Link Interface (SLI) is a brand name for a multi-GPU technology developed by NVIDIA for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output. SLI is an algorithm of parallel processing for computer graphics, meant to increase the processing power available for graphics.So just NVIDIA can call it SLI, even if somebody else had something near equal. Here is a bit from Tom;s Hardware: AMD vs. Nvidia: Which is better for gaming? So you have to decide how to spend $3000? Wish I had your problem. You have eliminated 5 of the major laptop manufturers....sounds like your mind is already MADE up.He could buy a high end laptop from MSI. But getting the options he would like will be very expensive. Manufactures must set their prices to make a profit from every sale. Here is a MSI laptop on Newegg. MSI GT Series GT80 Titan SLI-009 Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7 4980HQ Maybe he should up the price a bit to get the best. $3,699.00I wouldnt buy an "MSI" product. Way too many problems with them from personal experience as well as others who have taken losses due to DOA and KIA's ( Killed In Action ). Just so you know Geek...and for future reference...there is no such thing as a "high end" MSI product...Period end. Quote from: patio on May 17, 2015, 02:29:27 PM Just so you know Geek...and for future reference...there is no such thing as a "high end" MSI product...Period end.Understood. I will print it out and stick it on the wall. Quote from: patio on May 17, 2015, 09:39:52 AM You have eliminated 5 of the major laptop manufturers....sounds like your mind is already made up. I just want to make sure I can maximize my specs for the budget I've got, which would be very easy if I got a Sager. From what plenty of people have said is that Alienware is a trendy, over-priced rip off brand and that Dell has AWFUL customer service (go to the Facebook page) and is over priced. Dell also does not offer any laptops that appeal to me. I'm also not a huge FAN of the high end Acer or Lenovo gaming laptops. So far I'm interested in Sager, MSI and ASUS. Is there any reason I should or shouldn't consider one of these brands? I've heard nothing but good things about ASUS, mixed opinions about MSI, and a few good things about Sager. Sager is the cheapest brand and would allow me to get the most out of my $3000 budget if I chose the NP8278 or the NP9377, which is why I'm interested in them. |
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