When games support dual-core better, will my 3800x2 be fine for my 7800gtx or higher?

When games support dual-core better, will my 3800x2 be fine for my 7800gtx or higher?

I'm curious at what point my 3800x2 will become a "bottleneck" and therefore, when I should start OCing it.

I'm just a little hesitant changing the heatsink/fan of the CPU, then having to OC both of them and let them run for what, 8 hours at full speed to check for errors, I think?

So when will this 3800x2 become a "bottleneck" you think? Not planning on upgrading my video card until some DX10 cards are out

Well, there is no way to predict this stuff, but when you hear that a video card is bottlenecked by the cpu, it usually happens when the settings on the game is turned way down.
So if your playing a game with the settings as high as possible there is no risk of bottleneck with current cpus.
Seriouly most people don't overclock because they need that extra power, it is mostly for the fun of getting more then what you paid for. I mean, I've noticed that there is little difference between running my x2 at 2.0 or 2.8ghz, that I can feel, but I keep pushing it higher because I like the challenge of squeezing that last bit of performance out of my chip.

hardOcp has written an article about CPUs & Real-World Gameplay Scaling , it might interest you.

I used to say the same thing about not noticing the difference... until I was having driver issues so to isolate the issue I returned to stock settings...

I completely forgot that I was running stock 2 days later... although I did occasionally say to myself "Man something is screwed up it should not take this long ...."

Then I reallized I was not running the 4200 at 2.6GHz anymore.

So at first glance its not noticeable but over the long haul it is...

the x2 3800+ is a bottlenecked cpu period.

imo anyhow, but you have a GTX which means you're probably bottlenecked. I guess its safe to say if your cpu oc raises your fps in games after ocing a bit, then you have a bottleneck.

Because this is what i think, i just decided to oc as far as the stock voltage would go and i got some impressive results a free 600 mhz. Did i notice an improvement in games? yup. More than 25% free speed XD and no voltage increase.

for sure, the x2 3800+ should hit 2.4ghz on stock voltages and whether you notice a boost or not in gaming is all on you. some people notice nothing above 60, i prefer above 100 for the feel.

And when you spend so much money on performance parts but get the lowest cpu, i feel like you kinda owe it to your system to have it overclocked and blazing fast. Of course, thats what these forums are all about, aren't they? XD

[with the 600mhz oc, i intend on having this computer live for 3 years XD by then its time to upgrade anyway, soo why not ^^ i got a pretty big boost from a cpu whose life just got shorttened a little more. i think you should go for it. its fun ^^ although.. becareful not to kill lol]

I got the 3800x2 for several reasons. Many had mentioned (TomsHardware and also some people on CGtalk.com) that the 3800x2 has the potential to be overclocked more than than 4200, 4400, etc. I'm not saying the 3800 can be overclocked more than the 4800, but rather that the 3800 has more "overclockability" due to the low voltage it runs at, at stock.

or its the fact that they all overclock to t he same height. [supposively]

[H] has a good review now about cpu bottlenecks, check it out.

Hey, hey, hey!

The "world record" for the AMD dual cores is being held by a 3800x2, woot!
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59753
That's right, 3.6hz and the 4400x2, 4800x2, etc. are doing 3.5ghz or so, just check the stats

Spoudazo said:

Hey, hey, hey!

The "world record" for the AMD dual cores is being held by a 3800x2, woot!
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59753
That's right, 3.6hz and the 4400x2, 4800x2, etc. are doing 3.5ghz or so, just check the stats

Click to expand...

That doesn't matter, what might matter is the average and even then it isn't a sure thing.