Bottleneck somewhere

DukeOfDublin

Hey
So I'm just after upgrading my GPU to an MSI RX480, from an 280X, but I seem to be getting a bottleneck somewhere when I run the benchmark on Total Warhammer, it should be clearing 70ish frames easily but its average is 45. I've got an AMD FX-8350 processor and an ASRock 970 motherboard and 8 gigs of ram. Do I need to upgrade anything in particular?

Thanks in advance!

TerrorFirmer

It's the FX processor, it's very weak for anything remotely CPU intensive. The only option is to switch to Intel, which unfortunately will mean the guts of €300 or so. H110M motherboard, 8GB DDR4, Intel i5-6500.

Your old board, 8GB and FX should get around €150.

Hitman IRL

Any idea where I could flog some hardware relatively quickly? It's not exactly cutting edge but it did the job for me back in the day!

dunworth1

Hitman IRL wrote: »

Thanks for the reply

Any idea where I could flog them relatively quickly? It's not exactly cutting edge but it did the job for me back in the day!

adverts probably your best bet since cex only give €22 for the 8350
https://ie.webuy.com/product.php?sku=SCPUAMDFX8350

DukeOfDublin

Thanks a million lads!

K.O.Kiki

Not so fast there.
http://wccftech.com/total-war-warhammer-dx12-tested-gpu-cpu/

I think it's more the game, or drivers, than your hardware.

TerrorFirmer

That CPU benchmark, with a way better GPU than his, shows 52fps. He's getting 45fps, and that benchmark also shows the i7-4770 getting 76fps.

All adds up with what he was saying in the OP.

ShadowHearth

It's low scores, but it is a very specific cpu heavy game.
Still bad considering, but even Intel i7 is not spectacular.

Is it worth the money to upgrade? There should be settings to lower to get better fps.

Xenoronin

Up to the OP I guess. If they intend to play more strategy games (or more Total War games) in the same vein in future, then it is probably worth investing in the new CPU, Mobo and RAM. The games aren't exactly going to be kinder in future as they push the boundaries on number of units and smarter AI. Especially as right now it is hitting some pretty unflattering fps.
If they can hold out, it might be worth the wait to see how AMD Zen shapes up later this year though. It's sounding pretty good even from the carefully managed press releases.

TerrorFirmer

ShadowHearth wrote: »

It's low scores, but it is a very specific cpu heavy game.
Still bad considering, but even Intel i7 is not spectacular.

To be fair the i7-4770 is 50% faster than the FX-8350 according to those benchmarks at 76fps. That is a pretty excellent result for a fairly CPU heavy game.

ShadowHearth

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

To be fair the i7-4770 is 50% faster than the FX-8350 according to those benchmarks at 76fps. That is a pretty excellent result for a fairly CPU heavy game.

Yes, 50% faster, but kind of different price tags too. Clearly FX is not great, but I don't know if it's worth upgrade to i7 cost wise for that game.

DukeOfDublin

Heyo,

So i reckon I will upgrade now. I'm just looking at the i7 - 6790, i5-6600K or an i7 4770. I honestly can't tell the difference with them though!

I primarily play strategy games so I don't wanna be hobbled there I was flirting with the idea of waiting til the zen came out, and waiting til October seemed OK but it could be pushed back til early 2017, I cant post the link but thats what I read on PCGAMESN

K.O.Kiki

i5: 4 cores, 4 threads.

i7: 4 cores, 8 threads.

Look for benchmarks on youtube for the processors.

durtybit

Over clocking the FX an option? Apparently it does well

DukeOfDublin

@K.O.Kiki

And would it be safe to assume that the higher the number eg 6700 would be weaker than a 6900

@durtybit

I honestly wouldnt have a notion how to do that safely XD

Xenoronin

Aye it is looking like Q1 2017 for Zen. The 6700K might be what you are looking for. The 6900 is up on 1000 euro.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Processor-Threads-LGA1151-Socket/dp/B010T6DQTQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472053747&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=6790+intel

I would recommend looking into overclocking that processor you have though! Might squeeze another bit of life out of it.

TerrorFirmer

6700K is probably what you're looking for if budget isn't a huge concern. It costs more than the non-K 6700 because it can be overclocked - but even if you're not overclocking, it also runs at a higher base frequency of 4Ghz.

It would perform better than the i7-4770 due to a) the faster clock speed and b) newer architecture.

So it would be a pretty massive upgrade on that FX-8350. But you would be looking at closer to €400 which is a lot of money for the CPU, board and DDR4 ram.

An i5-6600 is also a generally significant improvement on the FX8350 and more wallet friendly but obviously less effective than an i7. RTS genre is typically far more CPU heavy than your average game.

DukeOfDublin

Hmm I reckon it's the 6700K then. Would you recommend any particular motherboard and the ram? I would say I'll be spending about 400 euro today when I get home from work

K.O.Kiki

DukeOfDublin wrote: »

Hmm I reckon it's the 6700K then. Would you recommend any particular motherboard and the ram? I would say I'll be spending about 400 euro today when I get home from work

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€238.38 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Scythe BIG Shuriken 2 Rev. B 45.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€31.99 @ Aquatuning)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€124.00 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory (€36.42 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €430.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 20:16 CEST+0200

i5 upgrade, overclockable.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (€341.03 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Scythe BIG Shuriken 2 Rev. B 45.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€31.99 @ Aquatuning)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€124.00 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory (€36.42 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €533.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 20:16 CEST+0200

i7 upgrade, overclockable.

I would also recommend to NOT overclock unless you have a good power supply (PSU) - Tier 1 or 2 on the Tom's list.

K.O.Kiki

You could also consider a non-overclockable build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (€302.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€73.10 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory (€35.60 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €410.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-25 09:56 CEST+0200

Though AFAIK, a highly-clocked i5-6600k will outperform a stock i7-6700 in most scenarios.

FAILSAFE 00

Are you overclocking your FX 8350?

DukeOfDublin

Thanks for the recommendations K.O.Kiki If I were to go for the i7 6700k 4.0 ghz without the cooler, I've already got one, with the Gigabyte motherboard would that be ok? Or would I just be paying extra for the CPU and getting a bottleneck with the board?

My PSU isn't up to overclocking, and I have a general aversion to tweaking with the settings like that.

Digital Solitude

You need a Z170 motherboard along with a 6xxxk chip to overclock, one or the other doesn't work, you need both. The k is the important part in the CPU.

I'd say the PSU is sound to oc

TerrorFirmer

If you're determined you'll never be overclocking, you can get a cheaper motherboard, H110M which is a good bit cheaper.

I'd still consider the K over the non-K 6700 as it's base and boost clocks are faster and the price difference is small enough.

But even a 6700 non-k is extremely fast and will give excellent performance light years ahead of even an overclocked FX-8350.

The FX8350 is just a poor processor when it comes to anything intensive, even if you pulled off a monstrous overclock, it still wouldn't bring you anywhere near i7 performance.

The FX8350 is insanely power hungry compared to the i7 also - so you'd actually be using a good chunk less power for radically increased performance. The PSU will be absolutely fine for overclocking if you so chose.

DukeOfDublin

Just took the plunge Thank a million gents for all the help!