Still playing with Phenom x4 9950 and HD 4890 Please help!!!

[cesarcrysis7alcatraz]

Hi everyone!
I really love PC gaming so I've been playing with my rig
Phenom x4 9950 2.6 ghz pretty cheap that I found here in my neighborhood
HIS HD 4890 1gb
2gb ddr2 corsair pretty old http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/smilies/sarcastic.gif
HEC WIN UB 550 watts PSU

I've never used directx 11.1 so I dont know what I've been missing along these years, well anyway
http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/smilies/sol.gif
I wanna know if it's barely possible to upgrade my graphic card with a hd 6990 without experiencing the famous bottleneck also get 4 gb ram still in ddr2.
Trying to keep the spirit of a cheap pc gamer as I am http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/smilies/ange.gif

Please any advice would be helpful.
Thanks beforehand!!

 

[UnlimitedBanana]

Well, first off that Phenom isn't THAT bad, sure it's no I5 but it still does well in gaming. Second, a 6990 would experience quite a bit of bottleneck from the CPU, so I wouldn't really recommend that. What I would recommend is a new cooler and for you to OC that CPU (if your mobo can handle it), you should be able to get it to 3Ghz with no issues. And the 6990 is some serious firepower though it does have drawbacks like Microstutter every once in a while. And to be really hones, DX11 isn't really shown off too much, I myself have an HD6750 and I enable DX11 in most games. If you choose to go with what I said for the CPU, you should probably opt for an HD7970 which comes quite close to a 6990 in performance, especially when overclocked and it draws much less power.
~UnlimitedBanana

 

[cesarcrysis7alcatraz]

Well, first off that Phenom isn't THAT bad, sure it's no I5 but it still does well in gaming. Second, a 6990 would experience quite a bit of bottleneck from the CPU, so I wouldn't really recommend that. What I would recommend is a new cooler and for you to OC that CPU (if your mobo can handle it), you should be able to get it to 3Ghz with no issues. And the 6990 is some serious firepower though it does have drawbacks like Microstutter every once in a while. And to be really hones, DX11 isn't really shown off too much, I myself have an HD6750 and I enable DX11 in most games. If you choose to go with what I said for the CPU, you should probably opt for an HD7970 which comes quite close to a 6990 in performance, especially when overclocked and it draws much less power.
~UnlimitedBanana

http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/smilies/hello.gif
Thanks for the quick answer UnlimitedBanana you're cool man, I've also heard that when you're playing pretty focus in the mission playing in campaing in fact you dont have that time to focus and pay attention to the changes in your enviroment while using directx11 So I believe you man So I'll go in this case as you said for a HD7970 OR there's a good option in the HD5970 or I have to assume that maybe it's like the HD6990 and it's again a serious firepower with the bottleneck problem again I hope you guys can give me a experience with this combination.

 

[mocchan]

With such an aging platform, you will most likely want to OC your CPU to the limits and/or upgrade your entire platform.

The Phenom 9950 will most likely bottleneck the HD7970 preventing you from taking full advantage of it; if you don't plan on upgrading your entire rig in the near future, I would recommend sticking with a Radeon HD7870 or GTX660 due to the cost/performance. It'll suffice for almost all of your needs up to 1080p gaming.

You will also most likely want to upgrade your PSU. I'm actually quite concerned as I haven't heard of that brand before. I'm primarily concerned about it being a generic shotty PSU that can't even pull anywhere near its rated wattage.

On a side note, if you opt to pick up an HD6990 or HD5970, you'll want to upgrade your PSU. Even with an HD7970, I would personally pick up a new PSU.

 

[cesarcrysis7alcatraz]

With such an aging platform, you will most likely want to OC your CPU to the limits and/or upgrade your entire platform.

The Phenom 9950 will most likely bottleneck the HD7970 preventing you from taking full advantage of it; if you don't plan on upgrading your entire rig in the near future, I would recommend sticking with a Radeon HD7870 or GTX660 due to the cost/performance. It'll suffice for almost all of your needs up to 1080p gaming.

You will also most likely want to upgrade your PSU. I'm actually quite concerned as I haven't heard of that brand before. I'm primarily concerned about it being a generic shotty PSU that can't even pull anywhere near its rated wattage.

On a side note, if you opt to pick up an HD6990 or HD5970, you'll want to upgrade your PSU. Even with an HD7970, I would personally pick up a new PSU.

Thanks man I have much clear my thought about What ive been doing this years http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/biggrin.gif

I've been using this PSU HEC WIN550UB Power Supply I'm sure it's from 06' maybe http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/smilies/na.gif
http://video.answers.com/tech-review-hec-win550ub-power-supply-147795215

Any more advice guys Anything would be helpful.

 

[mocchan]

Ah...For any significant GPU upgrade, you would want to replace that ASAP. In fact, that should be your #1 priority at the moment :lol:

Get that thing out of your rig before you make any major investment in a beefy GPU.

 

[griptwister]

I have a Phenom II x4 840 cpu, would that get bottlenecked with a GTX 680? These posts have me concerned...

 

[mocchan]

Yes, it will. Phenom II X4 840 is essentially a rebranded Athlon II X4.

There's still a value to be had with a GTX680, though, so I wouldn't be too concerned. You can just upgrade your entire platform at a later date and transfer that 680 into it

 

[griptwister]

Yes, it will. Phenom II X4 840 is essentially a rebranded Athlon II X4.

There's still a value to be had with a GTX680, though, so I wouldn't be too concerned. You can just upgrade your entire platform at a later date and transfer that 680 into it

Cool! Thanks! I was going to put money into a AMD CPU, but by the time I'll be able to afford a CPU, Haswell will be out. So I think I'll upgrade to i7 if they're cheap If not, I'll invest in a FX-8350. I got the 840 free off a friend... Can't complain if its free! Thanks for answering my question sir!

 

[mocchan]

Oh definitely, by then, you'll most likely want the latest and greatest anyway :lol: Which will most likely be Haswell chips

You're very welcome and I'm glad to have been of assistance.

 

[rambisco]

http://www.hec-group.com.tw/retail_power_supply/win_plus_power/550w/?rand=0.3726554827298969

Doesn't seem to be too bad, 80+ bronze.

 

[UnlimitedBanana]

I was looking into buying a CPU a couple of months ago, and I thought that Intel was the only way for me, I had used AMD for quite a bit before that. But when I saw that the 965 got only 15-25% less performance than the cheapest Quad Core I5 I could find in my country, at half the price I was absolutely astonished. Naturally I went with the 965.
Anyway enough about my choice time to get to the point, the 965 is supported by the AM2+ platform which you have. It's a very cheap CPU (less than $100) and it provides enough performance to only slightly bottleneck a GTX680, or at least that's what I've seen. but seeing that it increased my FPS in BF3 by 5X from my Athlon x2 6000+, I'd say it's pretty much a beast in a small, but hot and hungry package.

 

[cesarcrysis7alcatraz]

Best answer selected by cesarcrysis7alcatraz.