Battlefield 3 - Amd 1090t Bottleneck?

Memory is not dual channel. 2x4 is better than 1x8. Try getting a Hyper 212 EVO and overclock to see if that fixes it. Also, make sure your GPU drivers and BF3 are up to date to get the best performance.

what are your usual fps in game

I usually get 45-70 fps on low settings and 45-60 on ultra ... Odd?

To obsama1 (I don't know how quote and such work first time on this forum making a post). I've got some ocz 2x4 lying around also with 1333 so i'll try that tomorrow. Thanks for the fast response hope it works.

Also I've tried overclocking and as said it increases fps by 15 when changing from 3200 to 3800 which is my absolute max because i'm broke right now and don't like the smell of burning 200 euro's. I'm also getting the Corsair H100 as soon as possible. But would overclocking to 3800 completely fix the bottleneck if there was one?

you don't need to OC to 3.8 you can go slow and go to 3.4 to atleast try it out and also are you using the stock cooler or an aftermarket one

We'll OC to 3.8 gave me 15fps increase still not enough to really enjoy the game. Because running around 50-60 isn't what a 680 should get.
Or will OC to 3.4 be more effective than 3.8?
Also i'm using a stock cooler that's why I don't wanna keep the OC all day.
But i'm going to go for a Corsair H100 soon I think.

Don't get the H100. Get the Noctua D14. Huge, but better than the H100 and cheaper. Also, make sure to get the latest Nvidia beta drivers. Is your Windows 32 or 64bit? Anyway, here's the latest Nvidia beta driver for Windows 7 64bit.

http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/47631

no 3.4 won't be better but if you dont wanna burn it up its better than nothing and he is right the noctuna coolers are amazing

I am a noob at coolers but that cooler seems enormous and I'm not sure if it will fit. I've got the Mid Tower - Thermal Take Armor A90

Also I already have the newest 306.02 drivers and the issue remained throughout all drivers in the 300 series (I didn't test 200 but i'm not sure if i want to.) I'm sry for the low detail but i can't edit my original post so.
I've got Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.

dont waste your money on something that is going to band aid your problem. the problem is that bf3 is very much cpu dependent in MP mode. to solve the problem entirely you need an intel based cpu and motherboard.

Ah I'll try 3.4 and see if it doesn't melt my cpu, But my main issue is wether the 1090t will bottleneck. I thought that would be sufficient but it clearly isn't?

Also if i were to get a new cpu what should I get ? Preferably Intel
Price can range to say about 300-350 euro. Even if 2500k is great for it's price i'd like to know the best cpu for 300-350 euro.

3570k or 2500k

I just found out the Budget part in amd hardware. I used to have 6870 and 6970 but they weren't to my likings either. I agree that Intel is the better one here, even though amd crushes intel in Video rendering etc.

[quote=BornToGrill]Also if i were to get a new cpu what should I get ? Preferably Intel
Price can range to say about 300-350 euro. Even if 2500k is great for it's price i'd like to know the best cpu for 300-350 euro.[/quote]

You're paying a lot for the 3570K, mobo for the i5, and what you already paid on the PII just to get some better frames in BF3. Are you playing in MP or singleplayer?

The i5 is great, but the price you pay on the i5 and motherboard and what you paid on the x6 already don't justify the cost. Wait till Pilderiver to upgrade.


All you need is to overclock it, and I like said, make sure everything's up to date. That includes:

1. BF3
2. BIOS
3. Mobo drivers
4. Windows updates

I Think i'll go for the 3570k i've already looked into it and that seemed to be the best option. Will this eliminate any bottleneck though? Or is a major OC needed on the 3570k?

So will the new cpu be worth it? I mean I don't know the price and 8 cores is usless for me as I am not much into rendering. If Intel will outperfom in gaming i will take it as it is the only thing i need it for. If possible also for recording and streaming but i'm not sure what cpu i should pick for that.

1. Can bf3 be not up to date? I guess it is. I reinstalled twice so it must be.
2. Scarry forums told me that it may fail. I've got no idea how to do this and I'm afraid i'll balls it up.
3. Same as 2.
4. Everything up to date from improtant to additional updates.

Honestly if the 3570k will fix any issues i'd take it any time. I've got a weird mobo anyway as I feel like it's going to fall apart any moment now....

I'm playing MP as in singleplayer none of these problems occur. I think the gpu usage is maxed and cpu usage is lower. So in sp everything is fine.
This made me believe that the cpu is bottlenecking.

I'll be trying the mobo drivers I guess then. I haven't got a clue how to do it though. Is there anyway to screw it up? I could really use help on this one.

BIOS is pretty dangerous to upgrade, mobo drivers aren't dangerous.

What mobo do you have?

Msi 870A-G54
Sorry I couldn't change the original post to add the extra info.

before you upgrade your cpu upgrade the motherboard.a990 motherboard or even a 970

Is my motherboard the bottleneck? I'm a bit confused sorry.
But if I'm chaning motherboards i'd rather get a intel setup with it.
I don't know how a 3750k will outperform a 6x3800 cpu though.
It all seems weird to me how this is possible.

Your mobo has a ton of BIOS updates. They update the CPU microcode, so performance does go up. Here's the BIOS file from MSI and instructions on updating it. Go the MFlash section in the 2nd link to know how to update your BIOS.

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/870A-G54.html#/?div=BIOS

http://www.msi.com/service/biosupdate/

This kinda scared the sht out of me. Because I am willing to take risks... But as long as i know the consequences.... I don't know what could go wrong.

But i should just take the 17.18 version? And put it on a usb. Seems easy enough. Yet the interface is very different from my mobo. This could be a different interface though.

If anything goes wrong, there's 1 98% chance to recover it with BIOS recovery according to MSI.

Also, make sure your USB is formatted at FAT32 and there's nothing on it.

Just buy a good cooler and hit 3.8-4.0Ghz.

Your CPU is a bottleneck. Simple. The architecture is old and creaky. I replaced my AMD system and saw FPS shoot up across the board. Get this, no need to OC:

- i5 3470
- Gigabyte H77M-D3H
- CM Hyper 212 EVO (the stock cooler is crap)

Bottleneck gone and problem solved.

The H100 isn't that great.

I knew my cpu was the bottleneck the only problem is im low on money right now so I need a temp solution. Few Question.

-i5 3470 isn't k series right? Will I be able to overclock otherwise the new cooler would be kind of a waste. And is the 3570k better? It's a slight money difference and i'd like to safe some for that.

-Gigabyte H77M-D3H Doesn't seem that great in my honest opinion. Just 1 Pcie 2 x16. Won't give a lot of room for a upgrades. Is there an alternative maybe also good with the 3570k?.

-And everyone seems to like the CM Hyper 212 EVO but is the corsair H100 in anyway an alternative or is this the best one? I'm not sure if it will fit though in my ThermalTake Armor A90.

I know I am quiet demanding but I'd like to know what is the best and if there is a different way to do it. I highly appreciate your reply it was very helpfull and made me choose to upgrade instead of trying all these solutions that won't probably work.

I'm just started overclocking about 2 days ago. And I'm not really sure about the Voltage and such.
At 3.4 Ghz what would be a good voltage?

Also my HT multiplier is maxed at 10x (Standard) And i've heared of people increasing this. Should I be able to? And does it in any way matter.

The H100 maybe not so good. But it might be sufficient and doesn't take up much space.
I'd go with the other aircooler one if I knew some numbers (Temps) and if it would fit. Which is a kinda impossible judging from a picture.

Woops, didn't notice. Your mobo has LiveUpdate 5, so you can update the BIOS from within the BIOS, with no hassle.

I've read this has a higher risk to it. And that it isn't that good. Is this true?

At 3.4Ghz, I think Stock voltage will do. But there won't be much difference. (200mhz)

I think you are touching the HT link/NB frequency. You must change the CPU multiplier.

It is a bit riskier, yes. I'd go the USB route. Safer, and you can recover.

Don't think you should flash that bios, Its the cpu + the 1 stick of ram. I had a 1055t and had it overclocked to 3.8 and my proc was near maxed out as well. My money is on a cpu bottleneck along with the single channel ram. I've since went intel and haven't looked back. If you can't afford that route accept your frame rate and upgrade to piledriver as stated above.

Just curious what fps would my current setup get in guild wars 2?
And when getting an intel will it change?

It's probably the RAM. Dual-channel will help. Intel will give you better frames. GW2 should be 60+FPS.

The ram hu? Will dual channel eliminate the bottleneck or just help a bit?
Should I upgrade my ram 0_o?

In gw2 i'm currently struggeling to get 60 fps. When moving I drop to 30 and peaks go from 25 to 65. Is this normal? Same issue with the low gpu usage.
Cpu OC won't work GPU OC won't work. same fps with every OC.

Can this be caused by the Cpu or also the ram?

You said euros for budget, right? Here are a couple coolers on amazon.de

Cooler Master Hyper 212+ 41.98 euros includes VAT free shipping

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B002G1YPH0/?tag=pcp05-21

Zalman CNPS7X LED 28.20 euros includes VAT free shipping

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004ZCGZBW/?tag=pcp05-21

- You don't need to overclock. At all. The new cooler isn't a waste. It keeps everything cool. The stock cooler is not that good. Simple. Cooler parts last longer. The 3570K is better but you don't need to spend more.

- Its a fine mATX board. It has a single PCI-E 3.0 slot for your GPU. 2 x SATA_6 (right angled) and 4 x SATA_3. Its all you need. One card is simple and has way less driver issues. As for upgrades, when Ivy Bridge gets as creaky as a Phenom II, you'll need a new mobo anyway. It will take any new GPU upgrades without problems though.

- The CM is basically the standard air cooler you'll see recommended. Its that good.

Bottom line, you don't need to OC and an $80 mobo is fine. I rebuilt my gaming system with that mobo. Flawless. You don't need a pile of features and slots you'll never use. As for RAM, there is little difference between DDR3 CAS 9 1600MHz or 1333Mhz.

You need to either try and overclock the CPU or buy another CPU. Also I would get one more stick of 8GB  

or 2x 4GB DDR3 1600mhz  

Also m8 if your BIOS supports it then disable 2 cores and run the 1090t as a 4 core processor. Then overclock it. Disabling the 2 cores should give you more overclocking headroom on the others.You should be able to reach 4 GHZ as a 4 core

I switched my 1x8 for 2x4 gb mem and there is no difference. Yet my cpu usage maxes at 80% how come my gpu usage is 50% then?

If the cpu isn't going to 100% could it be something else?

Ok so this is a kind of a rare case so what I think is that your FSB is the one that's causing the bottleneck so instead of overclocking by raising your CPU multi raise the FSB frequency instead.
Whats happening is that your front side bus isn't keeping up with the flow of instructions from diff parts of the mobo.
Try the above and tell me if it works!

this is just getting ridiculous. people are giving you horrible advice and you have no reason to not believe them. case in point ^ this guy.

you gpu usage is so low because your cpu can not keep up with it. as your gpu gets stronger( like your 680) you need a stronger cpu. as you overclock your cpu your gpu usage should go up while your cpu usage should stay the same. regardless though your cpu will continue to be the bottleneck as the cpu is not good enough to handle that gpu with this game.

also to the person that recommended making it a quad core should really rethink his advice. the cpu usage is already above66% so its using the 5th and 6th cores. if you disable them just to overclock a small amount you will hurt it more then help. remember bf3 will use as many cores as it needs.

Thanks for the most detailed help yet. Everyone has been saying different things that won't help a bit. I knew that I had to get a better cpu for my current 680 but wasn't completely sure and I do not like spending the little money I have on a "might work solution"
Thank you for the clear answer and this made me decide to get a new cpu (Probably the 3570k).

I'd like to give you best answer but this is my first post and I accidentaly selected discussion and not question so I do not have that option, and only mods can change it.

Consider this thread closed.