Buy new gpu (cpu: phenom ii x6 1090t)

[R0H1T]

Yes, but I guess that skylake will be for sure performing better than zen..

Anyway zen architecture will be on the new am4 socket.. So whatever I do sooner or later I should upgrade mobo

In terms of per core & clock for clock, most probably yes. In MT however I expect 8 Zen cores to beat 4 SL/KL cores handily.

I'm only suggesting you hold onto your CPU/mobo for now because whatever happens with Zen you'll (almost) certainly have better price/perf next year, even with Intel CPUs & most certainly with AMD.

 

[thestbar]

In terms of per core & clock for clock, most probably yes. In MT however I expect 8 Zen cores to beat 4 SL/KL cores handily.

I'm only suggesting you hold onto your CPU/mobo for now because whatever happens with Zen you'll (almost) certainly have better price/perf next year, even with Intel CPUs & most certainly with AMD.

So if we assume that I keep 1090T for 1-2 more years it would be worth to go for ram upgrade too

 

[maddie]

I want to buy new gpu but I am afraid that my old cpu will bottleneck it..
My cpu is amd's phenom ii x6 1090t..
My budget is about 200-250€ so my first options were gtx 960 4gb, r9 380 4gb and r9 380x.. What is the best option according to my cpu? Should I wait until the release of amd polaris and nvidia pascal to buy the new models or even buy the older models on a better price? Like a gtx 970 on reduced price..
PS: I think that I will go for r9 380x which I can buy for 230-240€ but I must be sure that my cpu won't bottleneck it..
PS#1: Sorry for bad english.. Not my native language..

Two ways to approach upgrade.

1) I have a budget and am looking for the best performance for that money.

2) I want a certain performance level. What is the least I have to spend?

Which is it?

This post by you says 200-250 Euro. Later posts seemed to ask about CPU upgrade also.

 

[thestbar]

Two ways to approach upgrade.

1) I have a budget and am looking for the best performance for that money.

2) I want a certain performance level. What is the least I have to spend?

Which is it?

This post by you says 200-250 Euro. Later posts seemed to ask about CPU upgrade also.

1)I wanted to spent:

• 200-250 Euro for GPU (Currentlu have Nvidia Geforce GT 430)
• 50 Euro for RAM upgrade (Currently have 4GB DDR3 1333MHz)
• 50-80 Euro for PSU with 2xPCIe 6-pin (Currently have 650W PSU that has 1xPCIe 6-pin)

So I have about 350 Euro to spend. But then people told me that my CPU (AMD Phenom II x6 1090T) will bottleneck every GPU so I thought that with 350 Euro I can get an SL i5 like 6600 with a mobo

 

[omek]

Hmm, but a guy on this post told me that FX6300 is close to 1090T (in fact he said FX6300 outperforms 1090T)..

Here:

I'm not sure that's what Russian meant exactly though he's right about the GPU.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=203

There really is no fruitful advantage to a 6300, infact it loses in overall score and does slightly also when gaming. You'd need to look at a 8 core FX to see any advantage and even then that extra performance will stagnate in DirectX 11/9 games because it's not being used and can actually regress when the application is not threaded well - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1709?vs=146
What you've got with the 1090t is CPU which is flat out a slightly overclocked 6 core FX and lots of potential in DirectX 12.

It's a wire-crosser to think that a CPU which was manufactured 6 years ago is still a viable option but it is and it's because efficiency has become the theme throughout the industry which has taken over for raw horsepower.

 

[maddie]

1)I wanted to spent:

• 200-250 Euro for GPU (Currentlu have Nvidia Geforce GT 430)
• 50 Euro for RAM upgrade (Currently have 4GB DDR3 1333MHz)
• 50-80 Euro for PSU with 2xPCIe 6-pin (Currently have 650W PSU that has 1xPCIe 6-pin)

So I have about 350 Euro to spend. But then people told me that my CPU (AMD Phenom II x6 1090T) will bottleneck every GPU so I thought that with 350 Euro I can get an SL i5 like 6600 with a mobo

Yes to ram upgrade.

If you can wait 2 months, you should get a GPU equal in performance to a GTX 960 or R9 380 for a lot less money OR a much faster GPU for the same 200-250 Euro. Take your pick.

A faster GPU will allow better visual quality options [VSR, etc] for you even with your present CPU.

A rough rule. You get CPU bottleneck at low resolution and/or low visual quality level and GPU bottleneck at high resolution and/or highest visual quality level.

If you wait for the new GPUs you should be able to use your present PSU as they will be much more efficient and probably need (1) 6 pin PCIe.


If however you buy an I5 + motherboard, you will want to get a much faster GPU [more that 200-250 Euro] to properly use it, as your GT430, even a 380X or 960 will bottleneck it AND you will need a new PSU. You will also need DDR4 ram and have to dump your present ram. Much more expensive overall.

 

[thestbar]

Yes to ram upgrade.

If you can wait 2 months, you should get a GPU equal in performance to a GTX 960 or R9 380 for a lot less money OR a much faster GPU for the same 200-250 Euro. Take your pick.

A faster GPU will allow better visual quality options [VSR, etc] for you even with your present CPU.

A rough rule. You get CPU bottleneck at low resolution and/or low visual quality level and GPU bottleneck at high resolution and/or highest visual quality level.

If you wait for the new GPUs you should be able to use your present PSU as they will be much more efficient and probably need (1) 6 pin PCIe.


If however you buy an I5 + motherboard, you will want to get a much faster GPU [more that 200-250 Euro] to properly use it, as your GT430, even a 380X or 960 will bottleneck it AND you will need a new PSU. You will also need DDR4 ram and have to dump your present ram. Much more expensive overall.

Okay, I decided to keep my CPU/mobo as it is waiting for AMD's Polaris and then I will make the best buy.. So I am gonna buy for now just the RAM (because my PC needs at least some RAM upgrade.. 4GB too low)
-Mobo supports 4 x DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz Non-ECC max 32GB memory, Un-buffered Memory, Dual Channel
-CPU says Supported memory: DDR2-1066, DDR3-1333
So is it effective to buy 1866MHz (DDR3 ofc)?
And what do you say 8GB or 16GB?

PS: Sorry for asking too much but I want to do the best thing for my PC according to my budget.. And really thank you all for the help

 

[dark zero]

1)I wanted to spent:

• 200-250 Euro for GPU (Currentlu have Nvidia Geforce GT 430)
• 50 Euro for RAM upgrade (Currently have 4GB DDR3 1333MHz)
• 50-80 Euro for PSU with 2xPCIe 6-pin (Currently have 650W PSU that has 1xPCIe 6-pin)

So I have about 350 Euro to spend. But then people told me that my CPU (AMD Phenom II x6 1090T) will bottleneck every GPU so I thought that with 350 Euro I can get an SL i5 like 6600 with a mobo

Go to 16 GB 1600 MHz.
Your Phenom X6 OCed at 4.00 GHz can be as fast as Hexa SB at 3.2 GHz. So is still useful for some years more. Is AMD best generation before Zen.

Now... GPU wise, it can resist the 290 (not X) without problems... The detail might be if Pascal or Polaris will be compatible with PCI 2.0. If that so, you can go to 1070 or it's equivalent.

 

[thestbar]

Now... GPU wise, it can resist the 290 (not X) without problems... The detail might be if Pascal or Polaris will be compatible with PCI 2.0. If that so, you can go to 1070 or it's equivalent.

I believe that will be the same with Polaris..
The GPU will run perfectly, with very very little performance loss..
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Impact-of-PCI-E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/

 

[maddie]

Okay, I decided to keep my CPU/mobo as it is waiting for AMD's Polaris and then I will make the best buy.. So I am gonna buy for now just the RAM (because my PC needs at least some RAM upgrade.. 4GB too low)
-Mobo supports 4 x DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz Non-ECC max 32GB memory, Un-buffered Memory, Dual Channel
-CPU says Supported memory: DDR2-1066, DDR3-1333
So is it effective to buy 1866MHz (DDR3 ofc)?
And what do you say 8GB or 16GB?

PS: Sorry for asking too much but I want to do the best thing for my PC according to my budget.. And really thank you all for the help

16Gb ram would be best and wait for Polaris 10 release. 350 Euro will get you a very good upgrade for the lowest cost.

People on a budget have to find the best ways to get the most performance/$.

People on this forum will always try to help. Don't worry about asking for advice.

 

[AMDisTheBEST]

Buy radeons. They support dx12 better

 

[thestbar]

16Gb ram would be best and wait for Polaris 10 release. 350 Euro will get you a very good upgrade for the lowest cost.

People on a budget have to find the best ways to get the most performance/$.

People on this forum will always try to help. Don't worry about asking for advice.

Opinion about RAM's clock ?

 

[maddie]

Opinion about RAM's clock ?

What motherboard do you have? PSU also.

 

[thestbar]

What motherboard do you have? PSU also.

Mobo: Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
RAM Specs: 4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz ECC, Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory (Source: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_990FX_R20/specifications/ )
PSU is cheap 600W (I think it is 80plus) but I believe that it works okay because I have it since 2010 and it works perfectly without problems.. (Upgrade my PSU is an option, too. Buy a 50-80 Bronze 80 at 550-600W)

 

[maddie]

Mobo: Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
RAM Specs: 4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz ECC, Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory (Source: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_990FX_R20/specifications/ )
PSU is cheap 600W (I think it is 80plus) but I believe that it works okay because I have it since 2010 and it works perfectly without problems.. (Upgrade my PSU is an option, too. Buy a 50-80 Bronze 80 at 550-600W)

I see your motherboard can support overclocking. A good board.

So, 1866 ram and check out these pages if you want a little more speed. You should get a 20-25% speed increase without trouble. Make sure you read the section on the PSU. My personal view is not to push too high. Most X6 got to 4.0 easily. That is a 25% increase.

http://www.overclock.net/t/525113/phenom-ii-overclocking-guide

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/596023-Dolk-s-Guide-to-the-Phenom-II

 

[HiroThreading]

1)I wanted to spent:

• 200-250 Euro for GPU (Currentlu have Nvidia Geforce GT 430)
• 50 Euro for RAM upgrade (Currently have 4GB DDR3 1333MHz)
• 50-80 Euro for PSU with 2xPCIe 6-pin (Currently have 650W PSU that has 1xPCIe 6-pin)

So I have about 350 Euro to spend. But then people told me that my CPU (AMD Phenom II x6 1090T) will bottleneck every GPU so I thought that with 350 Euro I can get an SL i5 like 6600 with a mobo

Would you be opposed to buying second hand parts?

Surely you can pick up a Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge CPU, mobo and RAM combo for cheap. Perhaps even Haswell. You could even pick up a decent GPU like a 7950 or 7970.

 

[Zodiark1593]

That x6 is still plenty capable and will probably be pulling it's weight in dx12.

I'd either grab a 7970 or a 960 now and call it a day, or wait for new launches, grab the best thing you can afford, and run with that. Either way, even the middling 960 is Eons better than the 430, so you will have a good gaming experience regardless.

 

[thestbar]

I see your motherboard can support overclocking. A good board.

So, 1866 ram and check out these pages if you want a little more speed. You should get a 20-25% speed increase without trouble. Make sure you read the section on the PSU. My personal view is not to push too high. Most X6 got to 4.0 easily. That is a 25% increase.

http://www.overclock.net/t/525113/phenom-ii-overclocking-guide

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/596023-Dolk-s-Guide-to-the-Phenom-II

Yes I will surely OC the machine.. Really thank you, this articles are so much helpful!

Would you be opposed to buying second hand parts?

Surely you can pick up a Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge CPU, mobo and RAM combo for cheap. Perhaps even Haswell. You could even pick up a decent GPU like a 7950 or 7970.

I do not like buying second hand parts.. I do not know why but I feel a little bit cautious, because I don't know a place on my region where I can buy reliable second hand stuff.. Furthermore if I was going for Intel chip I would pref SL - probably i5 6600K, because I could keep it 4-5 years

That x6 is still plenty capable and will probably be pulling it's weight in dx12.

I'd either grab a 7970 or a 960 now and call it a day, or wait for new launches, grab the best thing you can afford, and run with that. Either way, even the middling 960 is Eons better than the 430, so you will have a good gaming experience regardless.

Sure, I will try to get the max performance out of my Phenom II, buying 16GB of RAM and I will wait for the Polaris release.. If something matches on my needs I will buy the fresh GPU else I will get R9 380 or 380X for a better price!

 

[nenforcer]

Hmm, but a guy on this post told me that FX6300 is close to 1090T (in fact he said FX6300 outperforms 1090T)..

Here:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/203?vs=699

He's wrong. There is no point to upgrade from your current Phenom ][ X6 to an AMD FX. Wait until AMD Zen arrives at the end of this year and then you can decide if you want to go AMD or Intel. Upgrade your memory and GPU in the meantime like you discussed.

 

[MangoX]

Would you be opposed to buying second hand parts?

Surely you can pick up a Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge CPU, mobo and RAM combo for cheap. Perhaps even Haswell. You could even pick up a decent GPU like a 7950 or 7970.

Wow, a GT430! Is a 4830 faster than that?

Used would be a good alternative. I recently picked up a 2500 non-k plus a B75 mobo for $150cad shipped. Something like that would be a great upgrade. I agree if you can wait for the new gpus, than a ram upgrade is the best option. The new gpus will be more energy efficient so you can keep your PSU.

 

[Creig]

Yes, your CPU will bottleneck every single GPU above the GTX960. It's time to upgrade. Even an i3-6100 to start would be a massive upgrade but given how long you kept your CPU, try going for at least an i5-6600K.

Even the FX8350 Max overclocked bottlenecks a 970 OC. Get Intel Skylake and move on from that ancient AMD rig.

I can't agree with you on this one. Judging by the chart you posted, an FX-8350 is only 3 FPS slower on average than an i5-2500K (67 FPS vs 64 FPS). That's not much. And there are still MANY people out there running 2500K's. Yes, a lot of people overclock their 2500K's but the same could be said for the 8350. And as far as bottlenecking a 970 OC, it's going to depend on the resolution. One other thing to consider is DX12. Depending on the game in question, DX12 should give the FX series a boost as well.

I'm not saying the FX-8350 (which I own) is better than an i5-6600K (which I own), but it still makes for good gaming. I don't have problems playing games on either system. And depending on the price, the FX-8350 can be the basis for a pretty potent budget gaming machine. I paid $200 for my Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 motherboard/FX-8350 CPU combo whereas my Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7/i5-6600K combo was $430. And I certainly don't get twice the framerates despite the Intel system being twice the price.

 

[thestbar]

I can't agree with you on this one. Judging by the chart you posted, an FX-8350 is only 3 FPS slower on average than an i5-2500K (67 FPS vs 64 FPS). That's not much. And there are still MANY people out there running 2500K's. Yes, a lot of people overclock their 2500K's but the same could be said for the 8350. And as far as bottlenecking a 970 OC, it's going to depend on the resolution. One other thing to consider is DX12. Depending on the game in question, DX12 should give the FX series a boost as well.

I'm not saying the FX-8350 (which I own) is better than an i5-6600K (which I own), but it still makes for good gaming. I don't have problems playing games on either system. And depending on the price, the FX-8350 can be the basis for a pretty potent budget gaming machine. I paid $200 for my Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 motherboard/FX-8350 CPU combo whereas my Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7/i5-6600K combo was $430. And I certainly don't get twice the framerates despite the Intel system being twice the price.

Here you buy FX 8350 for 160 Euro and i5 6600K for 250 Euro..
6600K costs over 50% more than 8350.. I mean that for sure I do not think that 6600K will give you 50% better performance than 8350

So 8350 isn't worthless.. In fact, I believe that in terms of perf/price AMD's stuff gets higher grade than Intel's.. Anyway, Intel CPUs are performing better at least on DirectX 9,10,11. But I would say, lets wait for Zen CPUs

 

[R0H1T]

Here you buy FX 8350 for 160 Euro and i5 6600K for 250 Euro..
6600K costs over 50% more than 8350.. I mean that for sure I do not think that 6600K will give you 50% better performance than 8350

So 8350 isn't worthless.. In fact, I believe that in terms of perf/price AMD's stuff gets higher grade than Intel's.. Anyway, Intel CPUs are performing better at least on DirectX 9,10,11. But I would say, lets wait for Zen CPUs

No it will not.

That's been the case for a while now, unless electricity costs are a major concern the FX chips are better vfm all the way up to 8xxx series.

 

[thestbar]

No it will not.

That's been the case for a while now, unless electricity costs are a major concern the FX chips are better vfm all the way up to 8xxx series.

I can't believe that someone who spends 700-800+ Euro to buy PC will have any problem to pay 40-50 more on ANNUAL basis..
Someone who runs a gaming Intel based PC with SL i5/i7 which with a good GPU costs at least 1000 Euro, is ridiculous to claim that shit about power consumption..

 

[MajinCry]

From my experience, I'd say that a Phenom II isn't going to use much more than 7850-class hardware in traditional APIs (pre-Mantle/D3D 12/Vulkan), as the high level draw calls are an utter drain on performance.


What ya need, is an entire platform upgrade. That being said, you're using a gt 430. That's terribad, matey. A GPU upgrade would see you leaps and bounds ahead in performance and image quality, even with yer current CPU. Then when ya upgrade the proccy, BAM. More perf in current generation (and older) games.

Ta clarify, 'eres how I have Skyrim looking with my 965 and my 7850, with a fairly intensive ENB mod. Depth-based bloom, medium quality ambient occlusion, reflections, parallax maps, detailed shadows and vertex lightin' for the grass.

Don't think a 430 would even handle vanilla Skyrim well enough, let alone a swanked out version.

Basically, GPU ugprade to something nice. After that, ya find performance still ain't great enough for your tastes, CPU upgrade.