Best processor for R9 290 Tri-X 4GB?

minkey · Apr 14, 2014

Hello, I'm looking for a new processor that goes very well with my R9 290 Tri-X 4GB and won't bottleneck it.

I'm currently using a FX-8350, but this processor really dissapointed me and is bottlenecking my gpu pretty hard in games like Skyrim and Diablo 3 which are cpu heavy games (can't get a steady 60 fps on highest settings when playing in cpu-heavy areas).

I'm thinking about buying an Intel processor, but which one is the best for my videocard?

patrick47018 · Apr 14, 2014

What do you think? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/24Nil

But I really don't see a 8350 having trouble with Diablo III or Skyrim, but perhaps it is the problem.

Romeru · Apr 14, 2014

Diablo 3? I could max that game out no problems with my gtx 660 + fx 8350. And about skyrim, I know that intel cpu's perform better there but you should not have any problems with that gpu.

wdmfiber · Apr 14, 2014

It's terrible with Skyrim and is a known bottleneck for high end GPU's, especially in crossfire/SLI.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-core-i7-3770k-gaming-bottleneck,3407-9.html

You won't find a 8350 in gaming recommendations:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-4.html
You don't really need help picking a CPU. Any Sandy, Ivy or Haswell i5/i7, you can't mess up if you go Intel.
But at this point in time, go new: LGA 1150 (any i5 or i7).

Gam3r01 · Apr 14, 2014

Funny, my rig(In sig) can run both games on ultra 60+ FPS.

bdiddytampa · Apr 14, 2014

An 8350 should be eating Diablo 3 for lunch... are we sure there isn't something else going on with this system? Can you list your entire system specs?

minkey · Apr 14, 2014

My total rig:

R9 290 Tri-X 4GB
Fx-8350 4GHz
DDR3 1333MHz 8GB RAM
Corsair 850M 850Watt
970 Extreme3 R2.0

I know my RAM and my motherboard a very poor compared to my other components. Could it be my RAM, because I only have DDR3 1333MHz 8GB, and I heard people telling me low RAM can be a real issue when it comes to the FX-8350.

Romeru · Apr 14, 2014

minkey :

Ram will barely affect performance as your gpu has it's own ram, which means that your cpu can use the ram for itself. The only reason why faster ram is good is if you had an APU.
1333mhz is not bad at all. I did start to have performance issues in skyrim. Framedrops in cities and such but not on landscape.

minkey · Apr 14, 2014

Alright my Skyrim performance is about the same as yours then, still doesn't explain why I'm having very huge fps issues in Diablo 3 Multiplayer games and I just feel like I can get a much better framerate with my GPU, if I replace my CPU.

What should I do? Buy a new cpu, or is overclocking a better alternative? Will my motherboard have problems with the FX-8350 being overclocked? Anything else I could try?

P.S. Also lowering the resolution in Diablo 3 from 1920x1080 to 800x600 has absolutely NO effect on my framerate

Gam3r01 · Apr 14, 2014

I would start overclocking it as far as you can. You should be able to OC a decent bit on that board, I went from 3.4 to 4.22 on my 970 board.

minkey · Apr 14, 2014

Gam3r01 :

Alright, let's give it a go and I'll come back to you tomorrow, first have to insall a new heatsink and then hopefully I can reach atleast 4.5Ghz, which might fix my problems.

bdiddytampa · Apr 14, 2014

Framerates in Diablo 3 can be affected by your internet connection as well, keep that in mind, so much of that game is done server side that often the performance drops are from the fact that it is always online. I've got a 3770k OCd and a GTX 770 and I still get stuttery when things get crowded. I think all that may just be Diablo and not your configuration.

Are you running a lot of mods in Skyrim?

minkey · Apr 14, 2014

bdiddytampa :

I'm running some mods, like SMIM and increase water resolution, but not a lot more. I'm also playing on High instead of Ultra. I don't have a huge amount of problems when it comes to walking around in landscapes and stuff, but when it comes to cities, my fps goes from 60 to 40~50 in some areas of the city.

Also, Diablo 3 almost runs 60 fps all the time in singleplayer, but in Multiplayer it around 55 fps most of the time.

Also Crysis 3 could run 60 fps on LOW settings almost all of the time, except for some parts it dropped to 50~55 fps, does this sound about right for this cpu?

bdiddytampa · Apr 14, 2014

minkey :

That is probably about right for Crysis 3, that game makes mince meat of a lot of systems. I'm kind of stumped, but I think buying a new processor would be a waste of money, that 8350 has plenty left to give you. Give a decent overclock a shot see if that helps man.

minkey · Apr 14, 2014

bdiddytampa :

minkey :

That is probably about right for Crysis 3, that game makes mince meat of a lot of systems. I'm kind of stumped, but I think buying a new processor would be a waste of money, that 8350 has plenty left to give you. Give a decent overclock a shot see if that helps man.

Alright, let's hope an overclock might give me those extra few frames I need to get a stable 60 fps, I'm gonna sleep now and try overclocking tomorrow, I'll post results when I'm done.

ezskills · Apr 15, 2014

I don't think it's the fx-8350 it might be something else because I saw a video of someone playing Diablo 3 using the 8350 at 60 fps no problem at all.Recording stable at 60 FPS. Combination on average runs game between 150 - 200 FPS and 120 - 150 FPS while streaming the person says.But the person is using a 7970 so maybe your R9 290 is down clocking which it is known to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iao5ni4_7Pw

Well i don't know whether you read the review of the R9 290 series on tom's Hardware or not. But they also found this downclocking problem with the R9 290. Check the link out

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-driver-fix,3666.html

Romeru · Apr 15, 2014

ezskills :

I don't think it's the fx-8350 it might be something else because I saw a video of someone playing Diablo 3 using the 8350 at 60 fps no problem at all.Recording stable at 60 FPS. Combination on average runs game between 150 - 200 FPS and 120 - 150 FPS while streaming the person says.But the person is using a 7970 so maybe your R9 290 is down clocking which it is known to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iao5ni4_7Pw

Well i don't know whether you read the review of the R9 290 series on tom's Hardware or not. But they also found this downclocking problem with the R9 290. Check the link out

I Doubt it will downclock itself, this is not the reference model.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-driver-fix,3666.html

ezskills · Apr 15, 2014

Hmm try to increase the power limit to 20% in CCC I say that because my brother had the same problem with bf4 and he Say's that his use to throttle and he has the same card as you when I asked him today he says " The sapphires are the best. If they're throttling well use MSI afterburner. They shouldn't have any problems ever of staying at 1000 core. If they're downclocking usually it's because you didn't increase the power limit. That happened to me until I realized I needed to boost the power limit to 20% and then they stopped doing that."

minkey · Apr 15, 2014

Hello everyone, I think I fixed my problem by ocing a little bit and reinstalling drivers. This is what I did:

- Did a driver sweep and reinstalled drivers.
- Overclocked CPU from 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz (my motherboard is not very OC friendly, OCing higher makes my system unstable).
- Changed CPU voltage from 1.3V to 1.3375V.
- Overclocked HT Link from 2000MHz to 2200MHz.
- Overclocked NB Frequency from 2200MHz to 2400MHz.
- Changed GPU power limit from 0% to +20%.

Results:
- Diablo 3 act 1 - 250~300 fps (smooth 60 fps with vsync on).
- Diablo 3 act 5 - 120~170 fps (smooth 60 fps with vsync on).
Max CPU temp after playing Diablo 3 for 1 hour straight: 58 degrees.

Thanks everyone for your help and comments. My system is a lot smoother now when playing games, skyrim is also running smooth on High settings with various graphical mods installed. I also haven't run into any problems yet after having my computer on and gaming for 3 hours. If you see anything strange in my OC, just tell me and I'll see what I can do.

Even though my system is running smooth, I still need a new CPU when my FX-8350 gives up. What is a good upgrade from the FX-8350, which is worth my money and will increase my FPS by a very nice amount?

Joseph DeGarmo · Apr 15, 2014

minkey :

i7-4770k

minkey · Apr 15, 2014

Joseph DeGarmo :

Glad to see you had the same thoughts as me, thanks everyone!

wdmfiber · Apr 30, 2014

Go for the Haswell refresh(Devil's Canyon), to be released in a month or so.
It will very likely feature a soldered 4770K(renamed 4790K), sure to be an overclocking dream like the 2700K(best i7?) was.

FPSmadMEDIC · Feb 14, 2017

I have no issues with BF4, Battlefield Hardline, Skyrim, Payday 2, Shadow of Mordor, Diablo III, Starcraft II, (DOOM on Ultra Settings Vulkan or OpenGL) and so on and here is my rig specs.

CPU: AMD FX 6300 (3.5Ghz @ 1.32v Base) - (4.4Ghz @ 1.4v Daily OC) - (4.7Ghz @ 1.54v Peak Stable Overclock)
CPU Cooling: Corsair h100i
GPU: AMD XFX R9 290 DD 4GB
RAM: 8GB OCZ 4x2GB @ 1600Mhz 1.65v
Motherboard: MSI 970 Gaming AM3+ (942)
Primary Drive: SSD (OS Primary) Crucial M4 64GB
Secondary Drive: (Games SSD) SanDisk Plus 240GB - (Games HDD) WD Blue 1TB 7200rpm 64MB Cache - (Productivity) Segate 1TB 7200rpm 64MB Cache
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 EPS12V 750W
Case: NZXT H440 Black and Red
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64bit
Display: 24" ASUS ProArt PA248Q Professional Monitor 1920x1200

Best processor for R9 290 Tri-X 4GB?

Honorable

Splendid

Honorable

Honorable

Titan

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Titan

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Share this page