Gigabyte 7870 and AMD FX-8120?

[evosinite]

so i just ordered a bunch of parts to build together a budget rig since my other gaming computer broke and i was wondering if i had made a bad decision on the cpu.

i ordered the fx-8120 and gigabyte 7870 (as per the title) and i was wondering if the cpu would bottleneck the gpu, and if it did, how bad of a bottleneck would it be?

i dont plan on overclocking because i will be using the stock heatsink (cant afford one) but would it be a possibility to overclock to at least 3.8ghz?

 

[esrever]

You should be able to overclock to 4ghz no problem on stock, might be a bit hot tho. you shouldn't have any problem playing any games with that cpu so its not too much of a problem.

The 7870 is nice and shouldn't be held back too much by the 8120 as long as you are pushing the card for high settings.

 

[refillable]

Well I don't think it is going to bottleneck, especially on applications that can use up to quad cores or octo cores such as that FX-8120. I don't think buying FX-8120 is a bad decision these days. These 8 core CPUs can be bought cheap at $150 with free shipping and with a cheap ~$100 motherboard or a ~$150 motherboard that can do SLI or crossfire. Buying say an i5-2500k with a motherboard bundle might cost $100 more (although I would still recommend this over buying the FX-8120).

Anyway, back on the topic, you shouldn't have any bottleneck.

 

[AdioKIP]

You'll be fine, I run a 7950 with an FX-6100 (6 core). I love my setup and its rare that I would say I see any type of bottleneck due to the CPU, really I've only noticed this in one game (fallout new vegas) and it seemed more to have to do with the fact that the game seems to only use 1 processor core (2 at the most). I would highly recommend saving your money and getting an aftermarket cooler. With a cheap $30 after market cooler you will easily be able to overclock past 4.0ghz. I have a xigmatek cooler and even clocked at 4.0ghz I run cooler than with the stock heatsink/fan. I could easily push my overclock higher but dont see the need to right now.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

If you OC the FX8120 GRAB A HYPER 212 EVO,because the stock heatsink and fan are useless.

 

[mace200200]

You didn't pick a bad CPU, as far as the FX series that's one of the better ones to get, you shouldn't need to OC to run that GPU, or any other for that matter. I wouldn't use the stock heatsink though, that's a pretty powerful GPU and it'll still take quite a bit of CPU power to run it, just a simple $20 aftermarket heatsink would be worth the investment.

 

[sarinaide]

He asked whether it would bottleneck, the answer is no it will not, and you don't have to overclock the FX either. The FX's may have a documented history of shortcommings but please don't make it out to be a hopless chip that needs overclocking, I can underclock one for you and show you it can still max a demanding title.

What I will say is that its a bad time to be buying Bulldozer with Piledriver due soon, I was going to say get a cheaper 4100/6100 untill the 8350's arrive that way the sell off is not a bad a knock.

 

[AdioKIP]

He asked whether it would bottleneck, the answer is no it will not, and you don't have to overclock the FX either. The FX's may have a documented history of shortcommings but please don't make it out to be a hopless chip that needs overclocking, I can underclock one for you and show you it can still max a demanding title.

What I will say is that its a bad time to be buying Bulldozer with Piledriver due soon, I was going to say get a cheaper 4100/6100 untill the 8350's arrive that way the sell off is not a bad a knock.

This is what I did. I got my 6100 knowing I'd most likely replace it with a Piledriver chip whenever they are released. But with the drop in prices, an 8120 is only about $30 more than the 6100 now. As far as gaming, you will see no difference between a 6100 and an 8120.