Gaming cpu question: PhenomII/FX/i5/i7

[galacticfear]

If you have the money i5 4670K is the way to go in my opinion. At the high end of cpus AMD are just completely outclassed...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

http://gamegpu.ru/action-/-fps-/-tps...-test-gpu.html

GameGPU did some CPU tests,the engine seems to be only a modded version of the old one(not new) and uses around 3 to 4 threads heavily.

I suspect,the Phenom II X6 1090T with a reasonable overclock might be fine,but maybe selling it and getting an FX8320 for around £115 might do the trick:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX8320-E.../dp/B009O7YU56

However,the test uses a GTX690 or a Geforce Titan IIRC,so you are probably going to end up more GPU limited.

[Dooms]

All these tests are at 1080. Is upping to 1440 putting extra strain on the CPU and if so is the 8350 creeping up the stats at all? Anyone tested it?

[crossy]

GameGPU did some CPU tests,the engine seems to be only a modded version of the old one(not new) and uses around 3 to 4 threads heavily.

I suspect,the Phenom II X6 1090T with a reasonable overclock might be fine,but maybe selling it and getting an FX8320 for around £115 might do the trick:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX8320-E.../dp/B009O7YU56

However,the test uses a GTX690 or a Geforce Titan IIRC,so you are probably going to end up more GPU limited.

You seem to have a talent for picking just the "right" benchmarks - first BF4 and now Ghosts at 1080p (which is the highest my monitor is capable of). I really should send a "thanks" for that info (and the previous resell info - didn't realise the old Phenom's were worth owt). If you've got a favourite charity then PM me, or there's always a Alesela egift voucher if you'd prefer a brew instead.

As to the 8320 - STOP TEMPTING ME! Actually Christmas is coming up (and birthday too) so maybe I can look wistful and persuade SWMBO to get me an 8320 (or even 8350). That said if a 1100T (which is only a slightly faster/better 1090T) can get 44fps min then I'd be happy with that. As you rightly say, a modest overclock could probably add 10fps to that which is definitely in "acceptable" territory for me. And if the 1090T accidentally cooks during the overclocks then that means I definitely need a new one! (and no I wouldn't do that deliberately).

Interestingly enough, I came across a couple of forum postings suggesting that my current motherboard (M4A89PRO/USB) has "headroom" issues where it wasn't delivering the full capabilities of the cpu, memory, disk. Certainly those posters reported better benchmarks when they switched to more modern boards. The Saber seems to have a good rep, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

All these tests are at 1080. Is upping to 1440 putting extra strain on the CPU and if so is the 8350 creeping up the stats at all? Anyone tested it?

Surely that's more likely to stress memory and especially PCI subsystems than the processor per se. Definitely going to hassle your GPU though!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

AFAIK,the FX8350 and FX8320 seem to overclock a similar amount:

http://hwbot.org/hardware/processor/fx_8320/
http://hwbot.org/hardware/processor/fx_8350/

There is also the pre-overclocked FX9370 for around £170,but that is if you CBA to do it yourself. OTH,HWBOT supposedly it overclocks better:

http://hwbot.org/hardware/processor/fx_9370/

TBH,the FX8320 is the best value for money among the three CPUs by far.

Also,electronic free beer* - that sounds a good idea!!

*probably need one considering recent events!

[ik9000]

If you're buying a new ASUS board it will have the new DIMM fitting, so if you think thats causing your issues you need another manufacturer. Budget is a big consideration here. Given unlimited money then obviously the i7. If your budget is about £150 then a sabertooth + keep your current CPU is the best.

what is this new fitting of which you speak? Is it bad? I've always favoured Asus boards, but this may push me to look further afield if they've gone and stuffed up the ability to change RAM easily.

[kalniel]

what is this new fitting of which you speak? Is it bad? I've always favoured Asus boards, but this may push me to look further afield if they've gone and stuffed up the ability to change RAM easily.

Asus (and some other makes) have started to use DIMM slots with fasteners only at one side (rather than both, as usual). Some find it easier to insert RAM into these slots, and they give more room around the slots for other things, but some are worried about the firmness of connection. I've never had a problem with them personally.

[DanceswithUnix]

The RAM sockets feel nasty, but seem to work fine. My current build had dodgy ram shipped to me, so I was swapping sticks around making sure the diagnosis was correct. The slots performed absolutely fine, I just don't like them!

I would prefer a better ram socket, but the last couple of Gigabyte boards I bought pushed me back to Asus and the iffy RAM connectors may take the edge off the product but I still think I made the right call.

[DanceswithUnix]

AFAIK,the FX8350 and FX8320 seem to overclock a similar amount:

http://hwbot.org/hardware/processor/fx_8320/
http://hwbot.org/hardware/processor/fx_8350/

That is very interesting, I bought the 8350 as I wanted the top bin/passed all the tests silicon, very interesting to see there really is a difference in what overclocks people can manage.

Unless that is because more 8350 cpus go into the really expensive motherboards, and 8320 cpus go into the cheaper ones like mine

[crossy]

Interesting times. Installed Sabertooth board and slapped in PhenomII. Perfectly stable at stock (as expected) - even with the "el cheapo" Vengeance RAM rather than my fancy Ballistix. Switched to auto overclock and it - the board - decided that 3.2GHz was for wimps and 3.6GHz (18x ratio) was more like it. I know that the PhenomII can easily do that because the old board would sometimes autoselect a 19x ratio.

Did a 30 minute Sleeping Dogs "test" and no issues - in fact the game seemed to play smoother - perhaps down to the Saber's fancy voltage circuits?

Interesting though was the temperatures. No sign of any obvious spool up of the 7970's fan, and post game temps were 55C. Processor was reported at 36C and memory at 39C, (ambient was 21C). The 7970 I was kind of expecting because the old board had the graphics card mounted low in the chassis, whereas the Saber moves it close to the processor. The new position obviously also benefits from the additional airflow put in for the cpu.

Given those temps, there's plenty of headroom left to explore, and I've left it on all day - doing a backup - in overclocked mode with no issues. If it wasn't for the fact that Windows Backups are now taking a LOT longer than before then I'd be ecstatic.

what is this new fitting of which you speak? Is it bad? I've always favoured Asus boards, but this may push me to look further afield if they've gone and stuffed up the ability to change RAM easily.

ASUS changed the design so that there's only one "leg" on the slot and the other leg replaced with a fixed slot and - to me at least - it feels like you've got to put a LOT more force to get that DIMM "home". Interestingly the old board I had installed had the fixed portion at the bottom, but the new Sabertooth board has the slot flipped around. I ... still ... don't ... like ... this ... design! (but YMMV)

[scaryjim]

Must vary from board to board - my F1 A55-M from the hexus competition had the standard clips at both ends...

I'm pretty sure I've done one or two builds on ASUS boards like that, though, and I've never had any bother with them personally. Each to their own, I guess

[james111333]

I went from a 1090T @ 4.1GHz to a 4770k @ 4.7GHz and will never look back, yeah in some games there is little to no difference but on a macro scale, the entire computer experience has transformed, not to mention some games really do benefit well from the upgrade.

[crossy]

I went from a 1090T @ 4.1GHz to a 4770k @ 4.7GHz and will never look back, yeah in some games there is little to no difference but on a macro scale, the entire computer experience has transformed, not to mention some games really do benefit well from the upgrade.

Hmm, I'm not far behind you there - my 1090T is perfectly stable AND COOL at 4GHz. In fact, even an extended game playing session (CoD:Ghosts, BF4 or Sleeping Dogs) don't push it beyond 14C over ambient.

Lot less BSoD's than before too - which is great news. Only downside is still Windows Backup taking an ice age - which is very strange since it's not stressing the system at all. Sure the destination drive is "only" Sata II, but I'm very sure that's not the restricting factor.

[ik9000]

how full is the drive?

[sqwerty]

However,the test uses a GTX690 or a Geforce Titan IIRC,so you are probably going to end up more GPU limited.

ARES II is a dual 7970.

[MrRockliffe]

Yes, BF4 eats cores, and that's good if that's all you play, but most people don't. I would actually get an 8320 and over clock that - the only difference is stock clock speed really. You will most likely be able to get it to 4.7 on air, and maybe 5,but that would mean power consumption won't be far off the sun. If you want the features of a Z87 board, go with that, however I've noticed that gigabyte have started to release some new AM3+ boards with new features, including PCI E 3,so that might be worth taking a look at