Do i need to upgrade my cpu?

[12granb]

I have the FX-4100 and was wondering if it would be okay to get the XFX 7850 without buying a new CPU? or shoudl i get a 6 core to be safe? Also, I have a 500w PSU. should I got bigger? and how much bigger? I only have 400 to spend, and I really want to get the 7850, but id like to upgrade my psu and cpu within that budget. any ides/ suggestions?

 

[Novuake]

You don't need to upgrade anything. Games do not use more than four cores at most anyway.

Rather spend the extra money on a better graphics card.

Get this and you may need a better power supply depending on what PSU you have???

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

EDIT :

If you want to be on the safe side. You could get this too :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

It would still be within your budget.

 

[Sakkura]

500W PSU is plenty with a 7850. Or a 7870 for that matter. As long as it's a quality 500W PSU.

What you could do on the CPU side is overclock. The FX 4100 has all the cores you'll need, but they're pretty slow. Overclocking is your best friend there.

 

[12granb]

the question is, with the 4100, the 650w psu, and the 7850, will it run games like skyrim on high?

 

[samuelspark]

Skyrim especially will be bottlenecked by a FX-4100. What frequency is it at?

 

[Novuake]

Skyrim especially will be bottlenecked by a FX-4100. What frequency is it at?

Really??? Prove it... I call you on your random comment that makes NO sense.

 

[Novuake]

the question is, with the 4100, the 650w psu, and the 7850, will it run games like skyrim on high?

It will run it at ultra in 1920 *1080, HD resolution.

 

[12granb]

3.6GHz or 3.8 GHz turbo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

 

[littleleo]

Most of the 4 core CPUs have a higher clock rate then the 6 core, so that will give you better game performance, so stick with the quad core. Then put the extra money toward the VGA card. I'd go with a PS with about 25% above the min rating from the VGA card power requirements. Check the power requirements for the model you end-up buying.

 

[samuelspark]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314-7.html

I think with a 7850, it'd be CPU bottlenecked. It wouldn't be terrible though. Not worth getting new motherboard/CPU for 1 game.

@12granb
I think you should overclock your FX as well to get more FPS.

 

[Novuake]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314-7.html

I think with a 7850, it'd be CPU bottlenecked. It wouldn't be terrible though. Not worth getting new motherboard/CPU for 1 game.

@12granb
I think you should overclock your FX as well to get more FPS.

How does that quantify to a bottleneck with an HD7850? Those are just benches comparing CPU's. Not even coupled with an HD7850.

Again prove it!

One more thing, 3 FPS difference from the i3 and you call bottleneck?

 

[samuelspark]

How does that quantify to a bottleneck with an HD7850? Those are just benches comparing CPU's. Not even coupled with an HD7850.

Again prove it!

One more thing, 3 FPS difference from the i3 and you call bottleneck?

...... Obviously you haven't seen the rest of the article.

This is with a 7970. 7970 is better than a 7850, correct? This eliminates the GPU bottleneck as much as possible. And it is 13 FPS difference in Skyrim. With a 4.2GHz FX over the OP's 3.6GHz.

 

[12granb]

guys :/ do i really need to change my cpu? or can i deal with the 4100? and speaking GPU, would a 7970 eliminate the bottleneck?

 

[samuelspark]

guys :/ do i really need to change my cpu? or can i deal with the 4100? and speaking GPU, would a 7970 eliminate the bottleneck?

It wouldn't be worth the money to change it. Just overclock it to 4.6GHz and you'll be fine. And having a better GPU won't eliminate a CPU bottleneck.

 

[Novuake]

...... Obviously you haven't seen the rest of the article.

This is with a 7970. 7970 is better than a 7850, correct? This eliminates the GPU bottleneck as much as possible. And it is 13 FPS difference in Skyrim. With a 4.2GHz FX over the OP's 3.6GHz.

If it were tesdted with a weaker gpu then i would say yes. Bottleneck. But no not an hd7850. And yes he could max out skyrim...

 

[12granb]

how do i overclock without ******* up my cpu? and in all honesty, if i bought the 7850 and 650w psu, and kept the 4100, what would my avg FPS be,even with the bottleneck?

 

[maxalge]

How does that quantify to a bottleneck with an HD7850? Those are just benches comparing CPU's. Not even coupled with an HD7850.

Again prove it!

One more thing, 3 FPS difference from the i3 and you call bottleneck?

Did you not bother reading his post? In skyrim the i3 3220 is stomping on the 4100 by over 12 fps.

The i5 3550 by over 30 fps, I would call that serious bottlenecking yes.

 

[samuelspark]

If it were tesdted with a weaker gpu then i would say yes. Bottleneck. But no not an hd7850. And yes he could max out skyrim...

You'd just be creating a GPU bottleneck.

 

[samuelspark]

how do i overclock without ******* up my cpu? and in all honesty, if i bought the 7850 and 650w psu, and kept the 4100, what would my avg FPS be,even with the bottleneck?

If you didn't overclock, you'd get about 30 FPS with a 7850 on Ultra.

 

[12granb]

would this be good for skyrim?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150656
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103962
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139031

 

[samuelspark]

You wouldn't benefit from upgrading your FX-4100 to either a 6XXX or a 8XXX because games won't use those extra cores. And you don't need a new PSU. Can you list the rest of your specs and budget so we can help you?

 

[12granb]

400$ budget

Mobo- Gigabyte M68MT-S2 Rev. 3.1
CPU- AMD FX-4100 3.6 GHz
GPU-ASUS GT520 1GB
PSU-500w xtreme gear ( shitty quality from what i understand )

 

[samuelspark]

That CPU can't overclock that much on that motherboard, but we can at least match the speeds of the FX4170, 4.2GHz.

This PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200&Tpk=rg630

This CPU Cooler:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0053G6FY6/ref=sr_1_sc_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1353033076&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=evga+supercclok&condition=new

This GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414

Which case do you have? The CPU Cooler should fit in most ATX mid towers.

 

[12granb]

wait wait wait. im confused. the GPU i picked would be bottlenecked, but not the sapphire. why?

 

[12granb]

also, i have the ThermalTake Commander mid if im correct