AMD Worth The Upgrade?

[iFaymous]

Right now I have a AMD Phenom II x6 1055T which I can sell for around $70 and use 40 of my money to get this.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5312392&CatId=4431

People say its a "Sidegrade" but I cannot do anything else. I cannot overclock my CPU right now due to my Mobo not supporting it. So I was thinking I would rather get a new CPU instead of a Mobo and CPU Cooler.

I mainly want to do one of these options to get better performance in open areas of the map in multiple games. But anyways, any suggestions?

 

[rolli59]

For gaming it is an upgrade, anything else sidegrade at best.

 

[iFaymous]

For gaming it is an upgrade, anything else sidegrade at best.

Well when im playing a game like Skyrim or Battlefield 3, I lag more when I look into open areas of the map. I tested to make sure it was my CPU by underclocking it while playing and found it decreased performance in open areas a lot. Would this fix this problem when I am gaming? That is my main concern because I know that it is not supposed to be doing this.

 

[Z1NONLY]

Upgrade for gaming. It will improve things, maybe even enough to "fix" your problem. (But that will depend on how much extra clock speed you need to fix it)

 

[jaguarskx]

Are you saying that the motherboard cannot overclock at all, or cannot overclock the Phenom II x6 1055T?

Buying a Phenom II X4 965 will increase your gaming performance because each core will be operating at 3.4GHz rather than 2.8GHz. That's a little over a 21% gain in clockspeed. Skyrim's performance is dependant on both CPU and GPU so you will see better performance with the X4 965. Like the vast majorirty of games, Skyrim only uses 2 cores.

Not sure if BF3's performance is dependant on the CPU as much as Skyrim is though.

 

[iFaymous]

Are you saying that the motherboard cannot overclock at all, or cannot overclock the Phenom II x6 1055T?

Buying a Phenom II X4 965 will increase your gaming performance because each core will be operating at 3.4GHz rather than 2.8GHz. That's a little over a 21% gain in clockspeed. Skyrim's performance is dependant on both CPU and GPU so you will see better performance with the X4 965. Like the vast majorirty of games, Skyrim only uses 2 cores.

Not sure if BF3's performance is dependant on the CPU as much as Skyrim is though.

I have a stock motherboard from a prebuilt computer so there is no option to overclock without buying another motherboard. The thing is, I can either spend more money buying a new mobo and cooler, or I can just get a higher clocked CPU. The mobo and cpu cooler will be more expensive so I have to make a choice and was asking people what they would think about it. I tested it again and was getting 40FPS in cities of skyrim and 62 (locked fps) everywhere else. Also this is the same for Battlefield 3. 21% gain seems like a good number considering I would only be spending around $30 of my own money. Also all I am looking for in a PC is one that will be able to play games at constant 60fps.

 

[iFaymous]

Also, what is better for gaming? AMD Phenom x4 965BE or AMD FX4100?

 

[quilciri]

The 965 is slightly better.

...*But* You will get better performance overclocking your current CPU. This mobo + cooler are cheaper than the going price for either a 965 or a 4100 and will serve your overclocking well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157323
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118128

 

[jaguarskx]

If you can wait then PileDriver may be a viable option. At least most people hope it will not be a flop like the FX series which is more or less a "side-grade". You get a little less performance in games, but better performance in certain multi-threaded apps like video encoding, file compression and 3D rendering (I think). And you get a slightly higher electricity bill since FX consumes more electricity.

AMD have stated they plan on between 5% - 15% increase in performance with every newly released CPU. 5% is a bit lame, but better than another "side-grade". 15% is just a bit too high, especially if you expect that to happen consistently. 10% sounds just about right. Not too low to be somewhat disappointing, not too high to over promise on performance (a.k.a. FX series).

A 10% increase in performance means they can more or less compete with the 1st generation of Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs.

 

[quilciri]

A 10% increase in performance means they can more or less compete with the 1st generation of Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs.

Sad but true. [insert guitar riff here]

 

[iFaymous]

Sad but true. [insert guitar riff here]

I might just wait a little until I get money from Youtube and stuff and just get myself a i5 3570 with a new mobo or somthing. Thanks for the help. The main reason why I posted this was because my Radeon 7850 is struggling in large areas of the map on games and is seeming to stutter a lot. I've had a 550ti that got better performance on some settings than the new card.

 

[quilciri]

I might just wait a little until I get money from Youtube and stuff and just get myself a i5 3570 with a new mobo or somthing. Thanks for the help. The main reason why I posted this was because my Radeon 7850 is struggling in large areas of the map on games and is seeming to stutter a lot. I've had a 550ti that got better performance on some settings than the new card.

Unless you're gaming @ 2560x1440, it's probably not the 7850 that's struggling. I dunno about BF3, but Skyrim is a CPU intensive game.

If it *is* your 7850, that's a fairly easy fix. 7850's "are overlocking beasts."
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2239216

good luck!

...p.s. "Mmmm, Youtube money" - epicmealtime

 

[nekulturny]

Skyrim is a jerk to CPUs (shadow rendering is done by the CPU instead of the video card- crappy console port), BF3 should be okay if you manage to overclock the 6 core, it actually will use all 6 cores. Skyrim will pin the hell out of 2 cores on your CPU, then use 2 more sparingly.