Too much of a CPU upgrade?

TheCPH

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Oct 9, 2013
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Hello Everyone,

I have saved up the funds to purchase a new CPU, but I think the one I have in mind is going to be a little too extreme and cause my graphics setup to bottleneck. I was looking into getting an AMD FX-8350 primarily to game on, but am almost positive that it will max out my 2x EVGA GTX 650 Ti BOOST "Superclocked" 2GB cards in SLI. What are your opinions? Are my suspicions correct? And if they are, could you recommend another CPU for less to give me a balanced setup? My current CPU is the AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition but this old dog is getting a tad outdated in games like BF4. Finally, if the FX-8350 is a viable option would water cooling be a must? Because I really don't trust myself enough to water cool but would surely be willing to buy an aftermarket cooler. Thanks for any suggestions or feedback. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
 
Solution
Having the graphics card bottleneck the CPU isnt much of an issue. It simply allows for more upgrades later on. The 8350 is a great upgrade, and I would recommend it.

Xexoxix

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Oct 24, 2012
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I have an FX-8350 in my system and an HD 7850 and my games run great. Currently I am running a Hyper 212 EVO in my setup and I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND GETTING AN AFTERMARKET COOLER. Sorry for the caps, but it's important! This CPU idles around 31C and during gaming it can get up to around 56C. So maybe a better cooler is in place for the FX-8350 but it is not necessary to water cool (unless you are going to overclock a lot). I am not getting any bottlenecks in my games. No loss of framerate and I'm running a single GPU setup. If anything the SLI will bottleneck the CPU (maybe) because of how much power SLI draws compared to a CPU. However there should be little bottleneck for you. What motherboard are you using? Make sure to research what results other people are getting with your motherboard and the FX-8350, and check to see if it's on the supported CPU list. If there was a BIOS update that added support for it, update your BIOS. All in all, the 8350 is an excellent upgrade and I do not regret it! Hope I could help!
 

TheCPH

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Oct 9, 2013
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Thanks for such a quick reply! I like the sound of that. So what do you think about cooling? Reviews say the CPU runs a bit hot, but I'm using a Sentey GS-6410 as my case which is huge and has 6 fans. I REALLY dont want to have to resort to water cooling if I can avoid it. Thanks in advance.


 

Xexoxix

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Oct 24, 2012
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Yes, that is perfect! You can OC on it too, if you want because of the 8+2 power phase. Cheers!