Will the phenom x4 965 bottleneck hd 7870?

[markus843]

Im ordering a new build, and im using a phenom ii x4 965 CPU, with an 760G chipset (how much better would 970 chipset be btw?).
I am getting an HIS IceQ H787Q2G2M Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Will my phenom CPU bottleneck this? If it will bottleneck 5fps compared to a 6300, I wouldn't really care, I just don't want to lose out on 20 fps or something.
Thanks

 

[iceclock]

no that will be fine

 

[markus843]

no that will be fine

Do you know any benchmarks/bar graphs that had a phenom and a 7870 and a better cpu with a 7870?
That would be the best thing ever if you know where one of those are

 

[iceclock]

no but i know its still very good. if u have the choice 6300 would be optimal

 

[mclovits]

In reality, it will depend on the game. If you play Skyrim with a Phenom II x4 at stock clocks, yeah, there will be SOME bottleneck, in less CPU-demanding games, there will be close to none. I would highly recommend avoiding the Phenom series altogether and go for a core i3 or any Bulldozer CPU instead. They are quickly becoming outdated. I just recently upgraded to a 3570k from a Phenom II 965 BE, even overclocked to 3.8GHz, there was a bottleneck in some games, especially Skyrim and BF3. You don't have to take my advice, but a newer CPU will really benefit you in the long run. If that's out of your price range, a 965 would be fine, just try to overclock it a bit to gain some performance.

 

[markus843]

In reality, it will depend on the game. If you play Skyrim with a Phenom II x4 at stock clocks, yeah, there will be SOME bottleneck, in less CPU-demanding games, there will be close to none. I would highly recommend avoiding the Phenom series altogether and go for a core i3 or any Bulldozer CPU instead. They are quickly becoming outdated. I just recently upgraded to a 3570k from a Phenom II 965 BE, even overclocked to 3.8GHz, there was a bottleneck in some games, especially Skyrim and BF3. You don't have to take my advice, but a newer CPU will really benefit you in the long run. If that's out of your price range, a 965 would be fine, just try to overclock it a bit to gain some performance.

Do you know how much FPS I'd lose with a 7870 in Skyrim and BF3? (comparing to an i3 or bulldozer?)
Those are the main games I play.

 

[satyamdubey]

what is the minimum fps you are targeting?

 

[satyamdubey]

BF3: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-4.html
Skyrim: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-3.html

In that review, you specific processor is not there but a 955 is.
for skyrim consider your cpu to be between g630 and g860 at stock. OC'd it will be better.

also the card used is a 7970: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-2.html

so that can safely establish that at least with an OC, there is absoloutely no chance of 7870 being bottle-necked by a 965 @ 1080p and lower resolutions.

BF3 multiplayer will run fine too.

good luck
-satyam

 

[satyamdubey]

and a final word. The conclusion of that article is NOT that those AMD cpu's game poorly. Rather that for a given price point Intel has better offering (and this was before the piledriver showed up)

 

[markus843]

and a final word. The conclusion of that article is NOT that those AMD cpu's game poorly. Rather that for a given price point Intel has better offering (and this was before the piledriver showed up)

Thx for all the replies!

I've been doing a lot of research since I asked this, and my 2 choices for CPU's are Phenom II x4 965, and the intel core I3 3220 ivy bridge.

Both have pro's and cons though, making it extremely hard to choose between them :/ Help me !
The phenom as 4 physical cores, while the intel has 2 core/4threads. The i3 has faster cores, which apparently runs games faster. But in games that take advantage of more physical cores , the phenom is better. I play games like BF3, skyrim, etc.. Which would you choose?

My minimum fps im targeting is 40 fps on 1920x1080 on maxed settings

 

[satyamdubey]

you'll get 40 fps with either of those cpu's. Skyrim is considered to be slanted toward intel and it was the case in the recent 3770K vs 8350 faceoff that Tom's did recently. But 40 fps will be manageable with the 965 albeit with some OC.

the i3 will be better and I've come to the point where I no longer suggest the phenoms to anyone rather I ask them to go with piledriver.

have you considered the 4300 if it's in your price range then get that over the other two. here's how the 965 and 4300 compare: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=700

remember the 4300 also overclocks and does so quiet well too. going with AMD will make sense as their upcoming cpu architecture, Steamroller will support the AM3+ socket as well so you'll have some upgrade path too.

Intel does not slash it's product prices and the socket 1155 is also end of lifed which means if an i3 is all you can go for now, chances are the i5's compatible with your mobo will still be hard to locate and costly in years to come.

finally, an AM3+ mobo will bring lot's of features with it which will all become more relevant in future. invest in a decent cooler and an AM3+ mobo. get a 4300 preferably.

good luck
-satyam

 

[markus843]

you'll get 40 fps with either of those cpu's. Skyrim is considered to be slanted toward intel and it was the case in the recent 3770K vs 8350 faceoff that Tom's did recently. But 40 fps will be manageable with the 965 albeit with some OC.

the i3 will be better and I've come to the point where I no longer suggest the phenoms to anyone rather I ask them to go with piledriver.

have you considered the 4300 if it's in your price range then get that over the other two. here's how the 965 and 4300 compare: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=700

remember the 4300 also overclocks and does so quiet well too. going with AMD will make sense as their upcoming cpu architecture, Steamroller will support the AM3+ socket as well so you'll have some upgrade path too.

Intel does not slash it's product prices and the socket 1155 is also end of lifed which means if an i3 is all you can go for now, chances are the i5's compatible with your mobo will still be hard to locate and costly in years to come.

finally, an AM3+ mobo will bring lot's of features with it which will all become more relevant in future. invest in a decent cooler and an AM3+ mobo. get a 4300 preferably.

good luck
-satyam

The 6300 is only $20 more than the 4300, how much better would it be gaming wise?

 

[satyamdubey]

wow...if a 6300 is possible then forget everything else. Gaming, mutithreaded work loads, everything would be considerably better than the 965/4300/i3.

OC'd it can drive a 7970 easily. One of our regular senior member here, Stan has it with a 7970 and it's amazing. Not to mention, 60+fps @ 1080p.

 

[iceclock]

id say go with the 6300.

its the for the win here.

 

[rolli59]

The FX6300 is the better CPU. I have had a HD7850 with 955BE and got a large increase when I hit 3.6GHz with it so a mild overclock would be needed on the 965BE not to bottleneck the HD7870 in some of the newer games.

 

[iceclock]

6300 for the win yar

 

[mclovits]

Sorry, didn't get a notification about this post, I agree, the 6300 is in most tasks better than the i3, though not necessarily all of them, you'd be surprised how well it fares in terms of gaming performance. What you need to remember though is that, if you choose an i3 you have the ability to upgrade to Haswell in the future should you so choose. Based on AMD's history over the past few years, Haswell is likely to be more powerful clock for clock than AMD's next generation of Steamroller processors.

That said you're probably going to be fine either way, just no Phenom's

 

[markus843]

Sorry, didn't get a notification about this post, I agree, the 6300 is in most tasks better than the i3, though not necessarily all of them, you'd be surprised how well it fares in terms of gaming performance. What you need to remember though is that, if you choose an i3 you have the ability to upgrade to Haswell in the future should you so choose. Based on AMD's history over the past few years, Haswell is likely to be more powerful clock for clock than AMD's next generation of Steamroller processors.

That said you're probably going to be fine either way, just no Phenom's

This threads kinda old
I already ordered a build with an FX 8320, but ty anyways.
Also you stated that Haswell's going to be able to be on Socket LGA 1155, it won't. Haswell Is gonna be on LGA1150
Phenoms are still pretty beast, I know someone that has a Phenom 955 and it doesnt bottleneck a 7870 XT