Well, the CPU limitation is something that we always talk about when it comes to high-end graphics cards. When we say this, we mean that the CPU is holding back the frames that the graphics card is capable of putting out. Now the less intensive the game, or the lower resolution you play at, this really increases the chances of hitting that bottleneck. There are ultimately three ways to remove the bottleneck on a high-end graphics card. First, increase the settings in the game, things like turning on anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering help. The problem is that this might put you at an unplayable game play level. The second option is to buy a new monitor that offers a higher widescreen resolution. - TweakTown

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 Video Card Unleash Review

The third and best option which doesn't have a negative impact on performance is by overclocking our processor. This not helps remove, or at least make the frame rates limitation higher. Now unlike the other two methods, this process will give you an increase in performance, which is ultimately what you want. Though what exactly have we done today? With our trusty Core i7 920 on hand, we've taken the time to overclock the processor to 3.80GHz and find out just what kind of performance increase we get with the extra MHz on offer. Instead of just moving from 2.67GHz to the higest possible we will check it at each single step we take.

Overclocking is always a great way to gain some extra performance and when you have a video card that is as powerful as the GeForce GTX 295, the increase in MHz can really give some excellent gains. And if you find yourself with a Core i7 series CPU sitting at around the 3.40GHz mark, you are going to have some pretty nice performance numbers at all resolutions. The main thing we want to see when we benchmark is that we have a minimum of thirdy frame rates, a few extra frames is always appreciated though. That is also exactly what we are all looking for, that little extra to make it just the fastest system you have ever built.

What you will find is that with no overclocking you might be able to play a game at high settings, while running at stock clock speeds and a medium widescreen resolution. Though the extra MHz on offer when you move to speeds in excess of 3.00GHz will allow you the ability to move those settings to very high. So just because someone has the money to buy a GeForce GTX 295, it hardly means that they also have the funds needed to buy a CPU like the Core i7 965 which carries a stock speed of 3.20GHz and a massive price tag of $999 at Newegg, versus the Core i7 920 at $279 which is capable of offering greater performance.

While you don't need to overclock your CPU to get good use out of the GeForce GTX 295, if you do you are able to get the most use out of it. For some people good is simply good enough, but for others they will want the most and that is where overclocking comes in handy for a card like this.