What is causing the bottleneck on my system?

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Ewhitaker0020

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I'm wondering if anybody can help me determine what if anything might be bottlenecking my system. Some components are 4-5 years old but were considered very good at the time and other components are recently upgraded. I don't know what the best way to list my components but I will try to do so as plainly as possible so it's easy to read and look through.

I can play any game that I've tried but not on as high of settings as I hoped that I would be able to. On fallout 4 I have to lower the settings to medium-high to be able to get a decent 40+fps frame rate. I don't know if it's because I haven't upgraded my cpu or ram in about 4-5 years. I only have 1- 8 gb stick of ram, would it make a big difference if I were to get a matching stick and dual channel my ram?

Motherboard- Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0 4-5 years old
CPU- AMD fx 8320 3.5GHZ 4-5 years old
Ram- 8gb single stick of DDR3 ram at 1600 MHz 4-5 years old
500 gb samsung ssd < 1 year old
Hypo 212 Evo CPU cooler 3 years old
MSI RX 580 4 GB New
550 watt power supply 3 years old

That's everything that I can think of mentioning. If you need more info or have questions just let me know. All drivers are up to date and my motherboard has been updated with the latest bios.
All my games are perfectly playable and look pretty good, but I just think with the graphics card I just got that it could be a bit better and something could be holding back my system.
 
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Thanks for the congrats you all! I went back and pieced together the components that you recommended and got a much cheaper price that might actually be doable in the near future. I picked a board that was very in close in price to what you suggested and I found some g-skill ram that came in a 2x4gb kit that was only $10 more than what you showed me.

I might possibly go with a single stick like you picked with the plans on adding another stick later. That's what I did with my current system and here I am 5 years later with the same 8gb stick of ram lol. I never found a need to add more.
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Ewhitaker0020

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Will I get a huge boost out of upgrading to either of those platforms? Which would you recommend? I'm more familiar with the Amd series products and know basically nothing about Intel products.
 
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Ewhitaker0020

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Thanks for your help! I will look into this cpu.
 
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maxalge

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the ryzen 1600 is only good if it is a lot cheaper than the i5 8400

if it is not cheaper where you live, go i5 8400 build
 
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drkatz42

drkatz42

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i5 8400 is slightly faster than the ryzen 1600 and the cost for those cpu's is similar. however, the MB for Ryzen is going to cost $50 dollars or so less. and, the faster i5 8400 doesn't really translate into a better gaming experience. either way you go, you're going to have a good gaming experience.
 
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maxalge

maxalge

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???

The i5 8400 DOES absolutely and irrefutably give a better gaming experience...
And EASILY gives you better performance even if the 1600 is overclocked to 4ghz ( which most likely is NOT going to happen on a cheap ass $50 mobo )

XD


That $50 mobo is going to have POOR vrm and is most likely going to cause you issues, probably completely screwing over any hope of updating to ryzen 2 down the line mod edit for language



Right now, as things stand if the i5 8400 is anywhere near the same price - and most likely cheaper - then it is absolutely madness to go ryzen for gaming
 
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Ewhitaker0020

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The i5 8400 and ryzen 1600 are both $199.99 for me to buy. I haven't looked at a motherboard for the Intel chip yet, buy on Newegg a mobo for the ryzen chip is going to cost me around $100 or more.

I found a combo for the ryzen 1600X which is clocked at a turbo speed of 4GHz and a mobo for $309 on Newegg. The cheapest I can find a combo motherboard and i5 8400 is going to be right around the same price.
 
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maxalge

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then the i5 8400 is a no brainer, much better upgrade path as well

 
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Ewhitaker0020

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what do you mean much better upgrade path? I know nothing about intel sockets and what processors fit which sockets.
 
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drkatz42

drkatz42

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Did not say $50 MB, rather $50 less expensive. Obviously the Intel provides higher frame rates, however higher frame rates not always translate into a better experience. Are the frame rates high enough to translate into higher settings for eye candy? Please show us that data.
 
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maxalge

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you can get good z370 mobos for ~$100, so yes $50 cheaper would be ~$50


higher frame rates are OBJECTIVELY better, its not a discussion of taste

since the i5 8400 is stronger you can maintain BOTH higher refresh rates AND better settings if it is paired with a strong enough gpu

>.>

the i5 8400 would be LESS affected by higher cpu heavy settings BECAUSE it is stronger...


This is why you benchmark at low resolutions. You cannot hide weakness by swinging into gpu bound situations to mask it
 
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maxalge

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slay?

its an option to be sure, BUT only when the price gap between them is big enough

The i5 8400 is just too good otherwise


Really read all my posts again, I make this point quite a bit


in fact let me quote myself:

"Right now, as things stand if the i5 8400 is anywhere near the same price - and most likely cheaper - then it is absolutely madness to go ryzen for gaming"
 
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maxalge

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not in comparison to a i5 8400 at the same price range

you need to be objective
 
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Ewhitaker0020

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I think they both sound like really good CPUs and I think I would be happy with either one. That being said, it sounds like the i5 8400 might have an edge over the 1600 and even a little over the 1600x. I'm usually an AMD guy and I want to pick the ryzen 1600, but based on what I've heard here and the reviews/benchmarks I've seen on the internet I think I'll go with the i5 8400 because it usually got 10-20 fps better in the same games and that was compared with the 1600x.

Again I want to say that they both seem to be fantastic cpu's and I know I would be happy with either one. This will be my first Intel chip since my pentium 4 way back. It'll take a little while for me to save up the extra cash to buy everything, really wish ddr4 ram wasn't so dang expensive, because I just found out yesterday that my wife is pregnant and I don't feel like $500 for PC parts is the best way to spend my money right now lol.
 
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drkatz42

drkatz42

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Congrats on the new baby! I've assembled some parts below that weigh in around $320 and will give you much better performance than your current system. Obviously baby needs come first though lol


i3 8100 $129
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117822&cm_re=i3_8100-_-19-117-822-_-Product


GIGABYTE Z370P D3 (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 $114
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813145048


Crucial 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 $86
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820156131
 
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Ewhitaker0020

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Sep 10, 2013
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Thanks for the congrats you all! I went back and pieced together the components that you recommended and got a much cheaper price that might actually be doable in the near future. I picked a board that was very in close in price to what you suggested and I found some g-skill ram that came in a 2x4gb kit that was only $10 more than what you showed me.

I might possibly go with a single stick like you picked with the plans on adding another stick later. That's what I did with my current system and here I am 5 years later with the same 8gb stick of ram lol. I never found a need to add more.
 
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