It's my PC bottlenecking? GTX 970 gpu, AMD FX 4100 CPU

Jose Mojica

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Oct 22, 2014
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I just upgraded my graphic card to the Zotac GTX 970 (great card) but the games are not running as I expected. I'm playing next gen games. I will show the average fps I'm getting and the CPU and Gpu usage:

1. NBA 2K15
- fps 65, lot of drops to 35-45 during gameplay
- CPU usage: last 2 cores 100%, other 2 35-75%
- GPU usage: 50-70%
2. Ryse: Son of Rome
- fps 45, few drops to 30-35 during gameplay
- CPU usage: almost 100% all cores
- GPU usage: 70-95%
3. Shadow of Mordor
- fps 85, few drops to 50 during gameplay
- CPU usage: 70-90% all cores
- GPU usage: 70-90%

My Rig:
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
CPU: AMD FX-4100 Quad-Core 3.6 GHz
Memory: 16.00 GB RAM
Current Resoltion: 1920 x 1080, 60Hz
Nvidia Driver: 344.16
OS: Widnows 8 Pro
Display: Samsung Smart TV 55" LED 3D (240 hz)
Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS

Any help will be appreciated, thanks.
 
Solution
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-13.html

look at these battlefield 3 numbers. they are identical in performance

here is middle-earth: shadow of mordor, the just released game pushing 75 fps with a gtx 780

http://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/shadow-of-mordor-pc-testing-1080p-1440p-4k/

you really need to do a little research before calling out the AMD chips.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6934/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-single-multigpu-at-1440p/5

here is an anandtech article with CF r9 280x only 1 fps behind an i7 3770. this stays true well beyond that if you go through the anandtech website.

yes i agree the intel is a better chip but for the OP who already has a motherboard and only needs to...

fkr

Splendid
yep that is a bottleneck.

anytime that you are not using all of your GPU but are maxing out your CPU that is a bottleneck

this is where intel really excels. they have the best per core performance and in games that are not optimized for 4 cores like the NBA game it becomes an issue for AMD.

http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/M5A78LM_LX_PLUS/HelpDesk_CPU/

above shows all of the supported CPU's for your MB
fx 8350 is your best bet to get rid off any CPU issues.
 

Carl Blance

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Feb 15, 2014
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I agree with the above, but when you get a fx8350 you need to invest in a decent cooler, I have a friend running a fx8320 with a 212 EVO in a NZXT 410 mid, and theirs goes over 60 Celsius when playing games. So if you can afford it get a Noctura D14
 

Jose Mojica

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Oct 22, 2014
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Thanks for the quick replies.

Will the FX 8350 really make a difference? Or is better to get an intel CPU?

I want a future proof PC. If the Intel is better, what CPU would you recommend to me?
 

fkr

Splendid
the fx 8350 is your best bet it is 95% of everything the intel chips are.

you can upgrade to any of the intel i5 series and be pretty comfortable knowing that you will not have any bottlenecks although there will still be games that will max out that CPU so future proofing is not really possible. the closest thing to a future proof chip is one of the new 8-core chips that are out there now,however, you better be ready to drop a grand on a CPU for that and it is not worth it.

the AMD is also better for all of your productivity software as it has more cores.

 

fkr

Splendid
motherboard does not have anything to do with performance.

motherboard only has to do with features like, number of usb 3.0 ports, CF/ SLI compatible, number of sata ports, bluetooth, and things like that

the other thing a motherboard has are the voltage controls. this only really comes into play if you are trying to overclock.
 

Jose Mojica

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Oct 22, 2014
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Thanks again.

I have one last question. When the FPS goes over 100 the image start to look bad (I think is called flickering or something like that).

I hear that is because the refresh rate is lower than the FPS, but my TV has 240Hz (I can only go to 60hz on nvidia control panel or in game settings).

Is there anything I can do? (without turning on vsync)
 

fkr

Splendid
yes.

I use MSI afterburner for overclocking the GPU and with it comes the riva tuner statistics server. In that riva tuner is the ability to put a frame cap on there. I usually go for about 10fps over my refresh rate.

tvs do a post processing kinda refresh rate management. when you see 240hz allot of times it is just a software trick and of very little use in real life.

my LG has the same thing but i do not believe it because my overclocked monitor looks better at 120Hz than my TV that is for sure.
 

Jose Mojica

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Oct 22, 2014
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So you are saying that I need to go to the riva tuner statistics server and put the frame cap in like 70?

And as we are talking overcloking, do you know the best overclock setting for my card (zotac gtx 970)?
 

fkr

Splendid
http://prntscr.com/4yz3oz

these are my settings for the gtx 970. i am using an evga acx 2.0 but there is no difference.

on the right you can see the riva tuner program you can see a category called framerate limit. mine is set at o or unlimited right now. borderlands has a built in frame cap that i was using.

as far as the over clock goes raise that power limit to 110 then move the core clock to +130 and memory to +50 and that will be a very safe and probably stable overclock

you can add a quick +25 mV for if things crash
 

HeLLpRoxXx

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Nov 25, 2013
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I wouldn't go with the fx 8350,the cpu have 8 cores with 8 threads yes but when comes to gaming the i5 is killing him in gaming.I will suggest you to buy the i5 4690K or if you have money go with intel i7- 4770K 3.5ghz turn turbo on and you have 3.9ghz..btw with this i5 or the i7 you won't have bottleneck with gtx 970.With this two i think you will play every game on ultra settings 1080p 60+fps never below 60fps.
 

fkr

Splendid
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328-13.html

look at these battlefield 3 numbers. they are identical in performance

here is middle-earth: shadow of mordor, the just released game pushing 75 fps with a gtx 780

http://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/shadow-of-mordor-pc-testing-1080p-1440p-4k/

you really need to do a little research before calling out the AMD chips.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6934/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-single-multigpu-at-1440p/5

here is an anandtech article with CF r9 280x only 1 fps behind an i7 3770. this stays true well beyond that if you go through the anandtech website.

yes i agree the intel is a better chip but for the OP who already has a motherboard and only needs to upgrade a chip the difference that you are asking is for him to spend an additional $70 for a CPU and then another $150+ for a motherboard that can overclock the CPU you recommended. that $230 plus $100 he can get for his old CPU is almost getting the OP another gtx 970.

that i5 or i7 is not going to outperform a 8350 and SLI gtx 970, not even close.

not to mention that most people that are going to upgrade their entire system are waiting for Intels next release and the cheaper 6-8 core chips.
 
Solution

fkr

Splendid
if you had a intel motherboard and some kind of i3 or gxxxx then absolutely you should go for an i5 or i7.

allot of people are still hanging onto the idea that games are not multi threaded. it used to be that intel destroyed amd since games would literally only use or two cores. now that we are getting better threaded games the gap has decreased exponentially.

just look what a $75 intel can do.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g3258-overclocking-performance,3849-4.html

look at the i3 in this link it does really well also and the 8350 is at absolute worse equal to the best i3's
 

nizaroot

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Nov 2, 2014
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Bottleck is a dirty word to use & wrong IMO.
What you are is 'CPU limited' ;-)
The 4100 is not a strong CPU - the bulldozer architecture is severely stunted - piledriver improved this somewhat but not to the point where it really makes it a great pairing with something as powerful as the gtx 970.
& this is coming from someone running a gtx 970 with a fx 6300 on a very similar board (m5a78l/usb3)
Mine is a somewhat bastardized build which originally started life as a htpc in a Silverstone case - its been upgraded incrementally on the GPU side from a 7850/7870/7870xt/r9 280x with ex mining cards I got cheap when the bitcoin market crashed.
The main reason running from the 280x to the gtx970 wasn't for a performance increase but to get lower temps & noise at the same type of performance.
Which has worked out well.
I have the 6300 oc to 4ghz & most 'bottlenecks' are gone.
Setting vsync to 60 gives me a locked 60fps on the below titles.
Ryse son of Rome
Grid autosport
Watchdogs
Sleeping Dogs definitive edition
Alien Isolation
N4S Rivals
Titanfall

Not tested much else as the card has only been installed 48 hours or so.
Temps max at 62c - fan noise non existent which is what I wanted.

To sum it up - your cheapest option is a fx6300,a semi decent cooler & a 4ghz over clock & you should get much improved performance.

I personally wouldn't use a 8320/8350 on one of these boards as there's no room for any kind of over clocking due to the lowish tdp of the board.

BTW - your 240htz spec on your TV is just a fancy processing option - the screen really has a max of 60htz irregardless of fps - hence letting games run at higher fps than 60 has no benefit to you at all apart from pushing the GPU load & temps higher.
If you can pull 60 fps on a game lock vsync at 60fps,if you pull fps between 50-60fps then lock it at 50fps for that particular game in nvidia control panel.
This will give you optimal performance for your particular setup.
 

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