agbyrne :
Hey Guys,
I am about to build a new gaming rig at the start of October.
All my past machines have been AMD/ATI but i have not build one in about 4 years.
So i have a few questions.
1.Would a AMD x4 965 BE / 1090T Bottleneck either GTX 580, AMD 6990, CF 6950?
I would start with the 965BE / 1090T and then move to BD after it drops in price.
2. I am going to play on 24'' 1080P monitor but i want to make sure i can max BF 3 and future proof my pc as much as possible.
I know the specs have not been released for bf3 but i would like to put as much power as i can into the build.
I am looking at the Asus Crosshair V Formula.
Cheers!!
A few thoughts:
1. "Bottleneck" is a very deceptive term. You can bottleneck the world's fastest CPU with a decent GPU if you run your game at some terribly low resolution like 640x480. You'd be running at 1000 fps, but you'd be "bottlenecked" since you could get a higher framerate if you had an even faster CPU. What you should really be concerned with is playability at normal resolutions. That means a minimum framerate of 30-45 fps, rather than getting overly upset if your maximum framerate is 110 instead of 115. You have a 1920x1080 monitor and are looking at two very appropriate CPUs; you will NOT have a problem with the CPU adversely affecting game play. You will need to upgrade the GPU well before your CPU really does start to result in an unplayable framerate on modern games. People play games perfectly fine with CPUs like 2007-era Core 2 Quad Q6600 coupled with a modern GPU. However, a 2007-era Radeon HD 2900 or 8800 GT would certainly require you to reduce the detail and resolution a good bit and can't run Direct3D 11 games at all.
2. "Future-proofing" is also impossible. Buy a decent setup today and then upgrade with NEW parts as needed. Upgrade paths are very limited for CPUs- AM3+ is going to go away after about a year and will be replaced with FM2, so the best CPUs you could put in your system are the upcoming Orochi units- that's it. An absolute top-end GPU today will be upper-midrange next year and lower-midrange in two years. Yet if you bought a decent midrange or upper-midrange card now and then again every 12-18 months, you'd have a much better gaming experience over the years compared to dropping $600 on the uber-card today and then not upgrading. However, parts that are reusable between builds- cases, monitors, keyboards, mice, PSUs- ARE something that you should get a very nice one of now rather than buying new inexpensive ones with each build. A good monitor is much better to use than a crappy one at any point in time and it always stays nice. Ditto with the other reusable parts. A super-stout GPU may not really provide a better user environment than a solid midrange one now, and it will be mediocre in short order. So don't overspend on the things that go out of date quickly, put your money towards the reusable parts instead. You'll be happier if you do that- I know from a lot of personal experience.
3. Overall, your CPU choice looks fine. Any of the L3-containing triple-core, quad-core, or six-core AMD CPUs would do well for gaming. They work well and are not overly expensive. You'd be better off in buying an midrange/upper-midrange GPU like a Radeon 6850 or GF550 Ti rather than a top-end unit like the GTX580 or Radeon 6990, and then replacing it with newer midrange parts in a year or two. The Crosshair V is an extremely expensive motherboard and IMHO doesn't really offer anything of real value more than a more-midrange AM3/AM3+ board. Something like the M5A99X Evo is less expensive and offers essentially the same feature set as the Crosshair. Add two 4 GB modules of DDR3-1600, an SSD, and you'll be good to go.
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