CPUs and GPUs Confusion

[rolfcore]

Hello, so I'm building my first rig soon and aside from the many problems im having choosing components i've run into the issue of different brand CPUs and GPUs. This meaning i want a AMD CPU with a Nvidia GPU.

Will i suffer any loss in performance when using these together?

I'm wanting a AMD 6100 Six Core Processor (bulldozer) with a Nvidia GTX 660. If that helps.

[deejayburnout]

No not at all.

Don't think there is any benefit of having AMD components together in one rig.

Just personal preference I suppose.

[Willzzz]

You might suffer some loss in performance, but not because it's AMD mixed with Nvidia, but simply because the 6100 just isn't that fast for gaming.

You can get an i3 3220 for practically the same price.

[Troop]

People will say go for Intel but just weigh up what you can afford.

[deejayburnout]

Intel seem to be the best but a overclocked Phenom 2 can still kick ass.


I have always felt that if your frame rates are above 40FPS, that's good enough for smooth gaming.

[Willzzz]

However if he is serious about getting 660 SLI like he said in the other thread he might find the 6100 (or similar) more of a bottleneck.

[ik9000]

use the bench comparison tool on Anandtech for a direct comparison of two CPUs you are considering: www.anandtech.com/bench

[KeyboardDemon]

If you want to go with a new six core FX CPU spend the extra £15 and get the Vishera (Piledriver) version instead of the Zembezi (Bulldozer) version.

[Evans1234]

You should not have any performance loss, just make sure you power supply can support both the GPU and CPU as the CPU does also consume some power so always get a PSU with 50 - 100W more than you need

[deejayburnout]

You should not have any performance loss, just make sure you power supply can support both the GPU and CPU as the CPU does also consume some power so always get a PSU with 50 - 100W more than you need

On this note, do not buy a cheap PSU, get a good brand and spend £60+ on it. I fell foul of a cheap PSU and learned the hard way.

[SOOMRO]

You might suffer some loss in performance, but not because it's AMD mixed with Nvidia, but simply because the 6100 just isn't that fast for gaming.

You can get an i3 3220 for practically the same price.

Agreed with willzzz

[shaithis]

If you want to go with a new six core FX CPU spend the extra £15 and get the Vishera (Piledriver) version instead of the Zembezi (Bulldozer) version.

Yup, FX6300 would be a good choice and better then an i3 is most circumstances.

[Willzzz]

Better than an i3 in some circumstances, in gaming no.

[shaithis]

Better than an i3 in some circumstances, in gaming no.

Sure, if you only want to play old games. Going forward the FX is going to keep pulling away from the i3.

[Willzzz]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/far-cr...w-32584-7.html

Even the i7-3960X @ 4.25GHZ doesn't pull away from the i3 on a brand new game that supports multiple cores lie Far Cry 3.
And that isn't even an IB i3, that's the bottom of the range SB version. An i3-3220 has both faster clockspeeds and better IPC.

[scaryjim]

Is the OP building a computer just to play Far Cry 3? Are they getting a 7970?

If the answer to either of those questions is no, then a benchmark that shows Intel CPUs are GPU bottlenecked by a 7970 in FC3 is a bit meaningless. The OPs talking about a GTX660, which is a fair bit slower than a 7970, and we have no idea what games they intend to play, and what other uses they want to put their new PC to. That's all kind of relevant when it comes to recommending a CPU/GPU combination.

rolfcore: is it just a gaming PC you're building, or do you have other plans for it? What's your budget? What games are you planning to play?