Possible Video Card Bottleneck Results

[FastTurtle]

Just did a series of benchmarks on a new build where I could adjust the clock multiplier and noticed in the results that the video card performance did not scale with the CPU and I'm thinking this indicates the card is now the bottleneck.

Results from Performance Test 8
8x multiplier (system baseline)
GPU 2d = 231.8
GPU 3d = 962

15x multiplier

GPU 2d = 407
GPU 3d = 1109

25x multiplier

GPU 2d = 668
GPU 3d = 1118

35x multiplier (Max Stock)

GPU 2d = 830
GPU 3d = 1100

Other then the 2d scaling that I assume is the in the driver as recent video cards don't seem to even have the 2d support any longer, the 3d results being consistent indicates that the card has become the bottleneck.

The build is based on an E3-1230V3 Xeon (Haswell) and what I want is suggestions for cards that will scale reasonably without breaking a $300 budget (this includes a new PSU if needed).

[David (PassMark)]

Yes, the 3D test (unsurprisingly) depends on the video card to a significant degree. Ramping up the CPU speed will typically only slightly improve the 3D results. Especially if you have a slow video card to start with.

I would suggest working your way down this list of 3D benchmarks until you find a suitable card that is available locally and in your price range.

[FastTurtle]

So you're saying the system clock has minimal effect on the GPU performance?

My understanding is that the system clock (multiplier) impacts everything. If this is not the case with GPU's, then I have no reason to upgrade as yet since I can run my games at Max settings w/o issue.

[FastTurtle]

Had to think about it but David is right and my thinking was flawed. Turns out the multiplier I was adjusting was the CPU and not the system clock, so it would have little impact on the video card as it has its own clock. The variation seen was normal due to system load and other impacts and why the difference from the minimum 8x multiplier to the 35x was so small unlike the 2d performance.

There hasn't been a PCIe video card that does 2d on chip as they all quit doing that about the time the Geforce 2 was released.