CPU VS GPU

The CPU to GPU Relationship


There is a relationship performance wise between
the CPU and GPU. Currently most advances are limited by the GPU and not
the CPU. With the advent of multiple cores, the processing power of the
CPU has increased to the point where games are barely ever held back by
the CPU. Also as the previous poster said, most games are not designed
to take advantage of more than 2 cores, so quad cores aren't quite as
effective with games.

However the extra cores will still help when you
are doing a lot of multi-tasking. Most of the time the CPU is a
limiting factor when using more intensive applications like video and
audio encoders, design applications, and heavy computational programs.
This is the reason why the graphics card companies are coming up with
GP-GPU solutions to try and win some of those markets.
The line is starting to blur between CPU and GPU and I think we will
find in the next few years a combining of tasks between the two. Also
you will see more and more games and applications utilizing multi-core
and multi-thread processes.

What does all this mean for your systems now?
Right now your main bottleneck will be the GPU. It is generally better,
especially for a gaming system, to get a more powerful GPU and an
adequate CPU. For instance the latest PC builds I have recommended for
people don't even involve Core i7 chips.
I do recommend quadcores, but generally I prefer the Q9550 and an
nVidia GTX260 core 216 card. If you want to save some money you could
get an e8500 instead of the Q9550, the e8500 is an excellent performer
for gaming. As for why I would chose an nVidia GTX260/216 over the ATI
HD4870, it seems that the nVidia cards just generally do better in
games than the ATI cards. But honestly, either of those cards would be
a good buy.
If money is a concern you can always go down to the HD4850.

CPU vs. GPU

Questions we ask ourselves quite often when buying a new PC are:
“Should I take a cheaper processor and a slightly more expensive
graphics card or vice versa?”, or the legendary one, “Will this new
processor choke on my graphics card” etc. Variations to these questions
are without number and we would need at least a page to write them all
down, but we are sure that you found yourselves in such a situation at
least once.
...

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