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Upgrade needed? Bottleneck

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  • Bottleneck
  • CPUs
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June 9, 2014 4:29:56 AM

Have just ordered an R9 290 Sapphire Tri-X 4GB GPU for £285 for my rig, although i'm almost certain I am going to have a bottleneck as my cpu and mobo combination is a little old now and more than likely a little tired too.

Was looking to upgrade without breaking the bank, which combination could I go for that would allow me to compete with the big boys like the i7 haswell series?

I'm a little reluctant to go with AMD again and having never had an intel since my P3 a decade or so ago i've little experience with them besides what i've read.

Anyone with some info who could help or guide me with a decent purchase and reasons as to why would be greatly appreciated.

My specs:

AMD Phenom 2 X4 940 BE @ stock speeds 3.0Ghz (can OC to 3.3 but yield very little performance)
2 x 6870 reference cards @ stock speeds r9 290 saphire on the way
8GB DDR2 RAM
GS800 PSU 800watt
Antec 900 case
2TB Storage 1 x 1TB 2 x 500GB
Xigma stealth CPU cooler.

Was looking at the bulldozer series AMD chips but the Intel's have got some serious CPU's out there, only problem for me is the price.

More about : upgrade needed bottleneck

a c 84 à CPUs
June 9, 2014 4:33:14 AM

for that get if you want to stay amd you could go cheap and get an 8320 or for best performance get an i5 4670 or 4770/4790
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a c 103 à CPUs
June 9, 2014 4:35:15 AM

Well, a Core i5 is probably the gold standard for gaming these days. A Core i7 is rarely any better, despite the much higher price. So if you can afford a Core i5, that would be a great upgrade. Even if it's a cheap Core i5-4440 and a cheap B85 motherboard.

AMDs Bulldozer architecture was pretty disappointing, and there's no reason to buy it today. The updated Piledriver is available, and it's better in every way (even if it's still well behind Intel in single-threaded performance). The FX-6300 is good value, though not necessarily a big upgrade over your Phenom II.
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a c 403 à CPUs
June 9, 2014 4:37:04 AM

Yep you really do need to upgrade. At least cpu, mobo and ram.

AMD - at least FX8320, get an 990FX mobo

Intel - i5, H (if non OC cpu) or Z97 mobo - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mainstream-gaming-z...

You gotta work out a budget though. Include custom cooler if OC cpu.
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a c 103 à CPUs
June 9, 2014 4:41:59 AM

i7Baby said:
Yep you really do need to upgrade. At least cpu, mobo and ram.

AMD - at least FX8320, get an 990FX mobo

Intel - i5, H (if non OC cpu) or Z97 mobo - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mainstream-gaming-z...

You gotta work out a budget though. Include custom cooler if OC cpu.

Doesn't have to be an FX-8320 and a 990FX motherboard. A good 970 motherboard is just as good if you're not thinking about Crossfire. And an FX-6300 will be just as good as an FX-8320 in most games.

And on the Intel side, you can go for a cheap B85 motherboard if you don't need the extra features and upgradeability of H97 or Z97.
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June 9, 2014 4:48:48 AM

Wow, such a quick repsonse :)  I'll check out all of your ideas and see if i can see something financially viable.

Appreciate it.
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June 9, 2014 5:26:26 AM

What do you think of this one? CPU MOBO and RAM combo.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/H81M-PLUS-Motherboard-1600Mhz-C...

£309?

Or this one? Trying to find the best prices but don't really know what place to buy from besides Amazon and Scan, a lot of the US places offer cheaper prices but no shipping or a higher cost which makes it pointless to shop there.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-1150-Z97-Extreme4-Mother...

£107.30p MOBO

&

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-intel-core-i5-4670...

£168.18p CPU

&

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9-Vengea...

£58.99p RAM

----------------------------
£334.47

Again thanks for the responses.

I can maybe stretch the money side a little more if anyone else has any other ideas as to what could be better. This MOBO will take an i7 too afaik.

PS: Slightly off topic, with what I have already surely there would be a performance increase when i actually fire up the R9 290 right ?

UPDATE: I'm going for the 2nd option of the AS Rock z97 board with the i5 4670k and the corsair ram.

Thanks for you input all :) 
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June 9, 2014 5:52:34 AM

Thanks everyone, appreciated :)  Will see you soon when I build it, hopefully i'll have a nice big smile on my face when I do.
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a c 403 à CPUs
June 9, 2014 8:01:52 PM

The 309 pkg is strange - oc cpu but not oc mobo

the asrock z97 extreme 4 mobo is a good one
the i5 4670k cpu is good too. A slightly better i5 4690k should be out soon
that ram is ok. See if there's 1866 cl9 ram for about the same price.

the i5 4670k will let the r9 290 run free - no bottlenecking.


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June 10, 2014 12:41:21 AM

i7Baby said:
The 309 pkg is strange - oc cpu but not oc mobo

the asrock z97 extreme 4 mobo is a good one
the i5 4670k cpu is good too. A slightly better i5 4690k should be out soon
that ram is ok. See if there's 1866 cl9 ram for about the same price.

the i5 4670k will let the r9 290 run free - no bottlenecking.




Cheers m8, I thought no one was going to come back here. Can't believe that the i5's have such a strong set of processors, times have changed. Was thinking of rebuilding a new PC with what I had left over an giving it to someone in the family. Mum or someone, might need a PSU, got everything else.

I'm also guessing that the 4690k will be a fair bit more expensive right? and cheers for the suggestion on the RAM, i'm used to DDR2 up til now so I was clueless, a lot of what I read suggested that the gains weren't all that but i'll definitely check the ones you suggested out.

Thanks again man, any suggestions of shops over what i've already said? Amazon, Scan ?
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a c 403 à CPUs
June 10, 2014 12:48:57 AM

The i5 4690k is now in Newegg. The same price as the 4670k I think.
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June 10, 2014 1:00:19 AM

i7Baby said:
The i5 4690k is now in Newegg. The same price as the 4670k I think.


Lovely, i'll check that out. Haven't ever bought from Newegg before, be a first. :) 

Ah it's actually cheaper on newegg, might look for some other stuff on there if it's cheaper instead.

Cheers man.
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June 11, 2014 6:54:25 AM

i7Baby said:
The i5 4690k is now in Newegg. The same price as the 4670k I think.


Ok so ended up going with this lot.

As- Rock Extreme Z97 £114.31 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K6JKTDI/ref=oh_de...

i5 4670k £168.04 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CO8TBOW/ref=oh_de...

8GB Corsair Pro Vengeance CL9 2133MHz £80.27 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00D6Y8DAQ/ref=oh_de...

As well as the R9 290 Sapphire Tri-X GPU, can't wait to fire up a game that I simply hate because i'm on low settings, the new wolfenstein for example or COD Ghosts which my missus bought me an i've been unable to play because of the hardware limitations, not to mention watch dogs, although even on low settings that still looks good.

thanks again man.
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a c 403 à CPUs
June 11, 2014 4:30:06 PM

No worries. Happy gaming!
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a b à CPUs
June 11, 2014 9:38:38 PM

dlads said:
i7Baby said:
The i5 4690k is now in Newegg. The same price as the 4670k I think.


Lovely, i'll check that out. Haven't ever bought from Newegg before, be a first. :) 

Ah it's actually cheaper on newegg, might look for some other stuff on there if it's cheaper instead.

Cheers man.


Newegg does not ship to the UK though.
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June 14, 2014 8:28:39 AM

sora said:
dlads said:
i7Baby said:
The i5 4690k is now in Newegg. The same price as the 4670k I think.


Lovely, i'll check that out. Haven't ever bought from Newegg before, be a first. :) 

Ah it's actually cheaper on newegg, might look for some other stuff on there if it's cheaper instead.

Cheers man.


Newegg does not ship to the UK though.


Any idea why they have UK pricing then?

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/ProductList.asp...

Seems silly to involve the pound if they don't ship to the UK.

Infact i'm pretty sure they do ship to the UK as I was 2 steps away from ordering the chip from them.
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June 14, 2014 9:13:55 AM

i7Baby said:
No worries. Happy gaming!


cheers m8.
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