fx8320 bottleneck r9 280x crossfire?

Yes, your FX8320 should be ok. You can consider overclocking it as well for a little more processing power if needed.

it can yeah. You won't get the same fps as an i7 4790k but close.

No issues with that combo

Not really no but anything higher than the 280x and you will be so if you plan on upgrading you might wanna keep that in mind.

dual card xfire should be fine.

amd chips only really start to bottleneck xfire/sli setups when you get up to 3 or 4 cards.

Guys what about this old article testing 7970(280x) xfire with the FX 8350 vs the i7 3770k? http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-core-i7-3770k-gaming-bottleneck,3407-9.html

Especially this quote from the conclusion: "From now on, we'll need to limit the use of AMD's flagship to systems already bottlenecked by their graphics cards. A less expensive CPU is more attractive when it isn't affecting performance negatively."

From the tests that were run, it appears that the 7970(280x) xfire is too much in CPU limited games for the FX to handle. The i7(and I suspect the i5 as well) allowed for the combo to stretch its legs.

This article was the main reason I switched to Intel from my old Phenom II x6 @ 4.0ghz. The FX chips were not enough of an upgrade to justify spending the money. I basically had 7950 xfire and the FX was going to hold it back in certain titles. I went with the i5 4690k just to be safe, and couldn't be happier.

yes, because tested 2 out of 3 games that are seriously cpu limited will tell you if an fx cpu will bottleneck a xfire setup.

all they "really" benched in that article was the two cpus. Sloppy writing. We know a 8 core fx isn't as fast as an i7/i5... this isn't for debate. The question was "will it bottleneck a xfire setup", the answer isn't 100% (because there are always cpu bottlenecked games out there) but generally the answer is no.

The batman games, and code masters titles show the same as well. I also suspect that MMOs and RTS games would show the same situation, since they usually are optimized for 2-4 cores only and would run better on a cpu with higher per core performance. IMO if you want to see the most out of xfire/sli you need an Intel chip. If someone is going to spend so much money on xfire/sli why would they want performance gimped in some titles by buying a cheaper cpu? It would be better to buy a single faster GPU to run with an FX chip IMO.

i think you're turning this conversation into an intel vs. amd debate, where there was none to begin with.

I will not engage in that debate, because it's a silly conversation. No one in their right mind will argue an AMD cpu has even close to the IPC of an intel cpu (currently haswell has approximately 60% faster IPC then piledriver).

That wasn't the OP's question. the question was would the FX cpu bottleneck a xfire configuration. The answer is predicated on what you mean by "bottleneck" however allow me to specify exactly what my answer means.

An FX cpu will do no significant damage to the xfire potential of 2 gpus. ANY 2 gpus. That said, any title cpu limited will see no real FURTHER benefit from a xfire setup. the point in which a 8 core fx becomes a bottleneck is the same before and after the xfire setup. If the 8 core is bottlenecking in skyrim and keeping you at 70fps then adding a second gpu wouldn't improve anything. However in situations where the cpu isn't the bottleneck that additional gpu will add it's power just as smoothly as it would xfired on an intel.


BTW: all those titles you spoke about are typically 1 or 2 cored... nothing as extravagant as 4 threaded in that whole mess. in theory an i3 would do just as good a job as an overclocked i5 in those titles.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-fx-8320e-processor-review,20.html

According to this, it may bottleneck it...

again, i'm going to say this as clear as possible.

Every computer at every moment is ALWAYS bottlenecked by SOMETHING. Technically your computer is only as fast as it's slowest part at any one time. Even with a mighty intel cpu there will be times when the intel cpu will bottleneck your rig. So saying it "may" bottleneck something is like saying the sky is blue.

There is a structural weakness to the AMD northbridge that makes 3 or 4 card xfire pointless on a piledriver cpu, there will be significant performance degridation, unless you do some significant ram/northbridge overclocking... and even then you'll only limit the performance loss. This is something that does not affect intel systems overmuch, and certainly is the basis of any rumor about xfire/sli being a poor experience on a piledriver cpu.

Dual card setups however will work as designed and intended with no significant loss in performance.

That said, the "bottleneck" rules of a computer still apply. If you're playing a game like Rome: Total War, your cpu will be a significant bottleneck wether you're using a FX cpu or an i7... it's just not a well coded game. As a result adding more gpus won't help you in the end at all. The only thing that will help you is overclocking or getting a faster cpu.

btw: When talking about bottlenecking, understand that your monitor is probably the biggest bottleneck in your system, anyone on a 60hz monitor is effectively capped at 60fps which means that your piledriver cpu will probably give you just as good an experience as a high end intel cpu. (any piledriver holding a 4.4ghz overclock will hit 60fps on ultra settings in pretty much any game). It sometimes makes me laugh when people come onto these forums with a 720p 60hz monitor and people start telling them to upgrade to an i5 over their perfectly serviceable fx6 core. what people should be telling him is to overclock it a little bit (any fx cpu will hit 4.4ghz, even the worst overclocking ones will do it) or maybe trade up on the gpu and monitor for a better gaming experience.