looking to buy a new GPU for a FX-4100 OC @4,4ghz, 200€ budget

[panisch]

Hey guys,
so i want to increase my machine's performance for Fallout 4/upcoming games.

currently:
Gigabyte 990XA-UD3
AMD FX-4100 3,6ghz OC @4,4ghz
Arctic Freezer 13 Pro CPUHeatsink
8GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance PC1600
Radeon HD6870 1024MB
PSU 650W MS-Tech ATX

I can run Fallout 4, but not without annoying framedrops. I want to change that. I think the main issue is my GPU. (am i right?)
My budget is 200€, tops out at 250€.

I was looking into the GTX960 until i realized my CPU would slow that card down by alot. (unless i OC?)
Now i have a few questions:

1. Which GPU would be the best without overclocking my CPU?
2. Which GPU would be the best with overclocking my CPU?
3. Would it make sense to only overclock my CPU or to not do that at all?

[strike]One would say to just overclock and see the results. The thing is im not new to installing hardware and building my own machines, but i never did oc my machines, so im a little hesitant in that matter. (that however might change now, i would feel confident following a guide to oc my cpu, if that would be recommended)[/strike]
I overclocked my CPU to run at 4,4ghz.

I am grateful for any kind of tips and suggestions.

 

[RobCrezz]

950 would be a good option.

I would overclock your CPU anyway, as its not very good.

 

[panisch]

Thanks,
950 sounds decent enough for me, but i am wondering if i can do a little more with my CPU now overclocked to 4,4ghz.
I am simply trying to get the best GPU there is for my current budget in consideration of buying a FX-8xxx in ~half a year.

How do you know how high of a card one could get before it gets bottlenecked. Whats the "formula", are there sheets/charts for that? Sorry, might be a dumb question, just trying to figure this out.

 

[king3pj]

Thanks,
950 sounds decent enough for me, but i am wondering if i can do a little more with my CPU now overclocked to 4,4ghz.
I am simply trying to get the best GPU there is for my current budget in consideration of buying a FX-8xxx in ~half a year.

How do you know how high of a card one could get before it gets bottlenecked. Whats the "formula", are there sheets/charts for that? Sorry, might be a dumb question, just trying to figure this out.

If you know you are going to upgrade your CPU in about 6 months it doesn't make sense to worry about the CPU bottleneck right now. If $200 is your budget you should be considering the R9 380 and the GTX 960. Bottleneck doesn't hurt your hardware. It just means that the CPU is being maxed out and limiting your framerate even though your GPU is not being maxed out.

If you bought an R9 380 today it would perform at least as good as a GTX 950 even if your CPU is bottlnecking it. When you upgrade your CPU the R9 380 or GTX 960 would perform much better than a GTX 950.

My thinking is that if you buy a GPU based on your CPU being weaker now you will just regret it when you upgrade your CPU in 6 months. It will cost you more money in the end because you will end up looking for a better GPU again. If you weren't planning to upgrade your CPU in the near future it would be a different situation.

 

[panisch]

That totally makes sense.

I think this is solved then. 950 if i would not buy a cpu and 960/R9 380 if i will. I havent decided yet, but you guys helped me alot with it, thank you.

 

[RobCrezz]

Thanks,
950 sounds decent enough for me, but i am wondering if i can do a little more with my CPU now overclocked to 4,4ghz.
I am simply trying to get the best GPU there is for my current budget in consideration of buying a FX-8xxx in ~half a year.

How do you know how high of a card one could get before it gets bottlenecked. Whats the "formula", are there sheets/charts for that? Sorry, might be a dumb question, just trying to figure this out.

Dont waste your money going for the FX8xxx series, its already out of date. Put the money towards upgrading to an intel platform.

 

[panisch]

Yes, but that would also mean a new board and the SO1150 also is sort of out of date, no? So im not sure if getting that kinda board would make sense at this point. I dont have the budget for SO1151 (board+cpu+ram), otherwise i would get it. It's just that i already have a AM3+ board for the FX-8xxx.

 

[RobCrezz]

Yes, but that would also mean a new board and the SO1150 also is sort of out of date, no? So im not sure if getting that kinda board would make sense at this point. I dont have the budget for SO1151 (board+cpu+ram), otherwise i would get it. It's just that i already have a AM3+ board for the FX-8xxx.

In the sense that its been replaced, but not in terms of performance.

The piledriver (FX x3xx) series came out in 2012, it was lower performance than the Sandybridge Intel processors that came out in 2011, since this generation Intel have released Ivybridge, Haswell, Devils canyon, Broadwell and now Skylake, each generation extending the performance lead.

Even if you go for a Haswell/Devils canyon CPU, you will still be getting much better performance.

 

[panisch]

I really appreciate the suggestions and ive been looking into it. I think i might come back and ask again when it's time for me to actually upgrade cpu+board. Right now the ASRock H97 Anniversary and i5 4460 look alright to me, but that might change. Does anyone know if one can set that board to full legacy mode? (I plan on still using win7)

In terms of GPU i think i will buy a R9 380 this week or the next, if 2GB or 4GB or maybe a R9 380X will depend on availability and price at my local vendor.