GPU Research

[theturn]

So I have been doing some research on a new GPU with my mind on a 7950. I may be upgrading my MB and CPU depending on what ivy league brings. But for now I'm focused on the GPU. After reading http://www.overclock.net/t/1175823/a...d-my-issues/30 I started looking for a bottleneck. Now that thread was filled with alot of name calling and disagreement but they did seem to agree this was more of a crossfire issue than anything. So since I have a current crossfire I decided to go looking.

I decided to test BF3 since its new and the most graphically intense game I play. This was only in Multiplayer since its the only mode that matters. I tested 2 maps, Caspian Border and Firestorm since they were large open maps. I played on the same server for all these tests and did not use vehicles in the hope of keeping such a small sample size as consistent as possible.

Crossfire
FPS
Full Screen: 40-60
Windowed: 45-60

GPU
Full Screen: 50-69 (1)
Full Screen: 52-69 (2)
Windowed: 80-99 (1)
Windowed: 23-24 (2)

CPU
Full Screen: 92-98 Avg: 93
Windowed: 92-98

Single
FPS
Full Screen: 45-50
Windowed: 45-60

GPU
Full Screen: 100%
Full Screen: 99%

CPU
Full Screen: 83-93% Avg: 86
Windowed: 68-83% Avg: 79


I did 2 tests on each plus one test on metro for a more packed environment. And these numbers were fairly consistent. I was stunned by the lack of fps difference and since I'm a noob I really don't know what that means. It looks like the crossfire is a mess though. So if anyone can tell me what this means I will be happy to learn.

[Nellah]

If that's a table, your spacing is a bit off. Also, don't expect perfect scaling with Crossfire/SLI, especially since it appears from your numbers that your CPU is becoming a bottleneck when you enable Crossfire.

Might also help if you listed what resolution / detail levels you were using on those tests, in windowed and full screen mode.

[theturn]

If that's a table, your spacing is a bit off. Also, don't expect perfect scaling with Crossfire/SLI, especially since it appears from your numbers that your CPU is becoming a bottleneck when you enable Crossfire.

Might also help if you listed what resolution / detail levels you were using on those tests, in windowed and full screen mode.

Yeah I'm not sure what to do about the table, looks completely different in edit form than posted form. Resolution was 1920x1080. Graphics settings are a custom and range from low to high but I didn't touch them during my tests. Mostly medium settings with no blur, AA or anything like that.

---------- Post added 2012-02-12 at 04:36 PM ----------

Basically I want to know if I got a better GPU would I see any improvement in fps? Or would I get 5 more fps then see numbers like 70% GPU and 100% CPU?