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7970 vs phenom 2

Shinebox

Shinebox

Shinebox

Associate
Joined
12 Jan 2012
Posts
36
Hi all, right here we go.
Last year i had this exact problem i had a athlon 2 445 unlocked to a x4 and a 6850. then i went and got my self a 6970 (this is where the problem started) my cpu was 90 - 99% usage in games whilst the 6970 was at 60 - 80 % "ye ole bottle neck" sorry lol.

So i went a got a phenom 2 980 and hay presto 6970 running at 99% and games felt a lot better.

This week ive gone got my a new shiney powercolour 7970.... guess what? that problem is back! im getting dips down to high 30's - low 40's on BF3 on 64player maps in big fire fights (ultra setting, x 2 AA and motion blur off)
OK i no u guys say ultra is for cross fire BUT when it dips that low the 7970 is at 82% usage... even with high settings is more or less the same!!! i havent see the GPU above 91% usage ! and thats only for blips. CPU is between 85 - 95% usage.

The big question is my phenom 2 a dead horse? do i need a stronger cpu ?

heres a screen shot of afterburner

7970bf3.jpg


heres my system spec.
Phenom 2 980 (oc'd to 4.1)
Asus M488T - M
AMD / ATI 7970 (1100 core - 1500 mem) no crashes and artifacts
8 gig g skill ram (oc'd to 1600)
corsair 750 TX
22" 1080 viewsonic monitor
all overclocks prime and intelburn stable.

what do you guys think about this is it history repeating its self?
 
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Sandy bridge is calling to you. It's quite possibly the only thing you're able to do.
Ideally, after your first adventure with AMD, it might have been best to go there :p
 
If you keep your PSU, Case and HDs you can buy all you need on ebay (mobo,CPU) get some RAM from here (its only about £30) and it will be around £200.

Either way -2500K is calling;)
 
just had a look, tempting i must say! think ill have to do half n half this and nxt month.

but i just want to know if an i5 2500k will max out the 7970?
 
I'm glad someone else has made a thred like this.

I'm in the same boat as you OP. I have CF6970 both @ 980/1500 (so good OC), on BF3 MP with 40 or so people my usage is between 50 - 70% and its really doing my head in. Single player is about 80 - 90% on both GPU's.

specs: PII 955BE @ 4.2, 8GB, CrosshairV

Before ya know it everyone will be Intel clones!! ;)
 
slade said:
I'm glad someone else has made a thred like this.

I'm in the same boat as you OP. I have CF6970 both @ 980/1500 (so good OC), on BF3 MP with 40 or so people my usage is between 50 - 70% and its really doing my head in. Single player is about 80 - 90% on both GPU's.

specs: PII 955BE @ 4.2, 8GB, CrosshairV

Before ya know it everyone will be Intel clones!! ;)
Click to expand...

i no what u mean dude, most single player is ok IE batman crysis ect BUT i can tell me CPU isnt supplying the demand!

intel clone... time to be a conformist :eek:
 
Invest in a 2560x1600 monitor, that will work the GPU and your Phenom should stay reasonably close to most Intel setups at that res.
 
gurusan said:
Invest in a 2560x1600 monitor, that will work the GPU and your Phenom should stay reasonably close to most Intel setups at that res.
Click to expand...

i dont think i can afford one of them! it would be nice but....

heres my heaven score... look at the min fps
ocukhs.jpg
 
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i get some weird stutters in bf3 as well fps goes down to 30 fps for seconds but only happens 2 or 3 times then it is ok , im not sure if it bottleneck problem do . I thought it was lack of ram , but i am not sure now.

will wait for ivy bridge see if problem still persists
 
Realistically if you want to save some money, just throw an overclocked 8120 in your MB, for a saving of ~£90.

Sure the 2500K will beat it in almost everything, but for gaming, is 5-25fps much of a difference when you go above 60-100+fps?

This coming from a 2500K user before the BD outrage comments start.;)
 
tommybhoy said:
Realistically if you want to save some money, just throw an overclocked 8120 in your MB, for a saving of ~£90.

Sure the 2500K will beat it in almost everything, but for gaming, is 5-25fps much of a difference when you go above 60-100+fps?

This coming from a 2500K user before the BD outrage comments start.;)
Click to expand...

I dont know- FailDozer costs the same as 2500k, so the only saving is the mobo - z68ap-d3 is as low as £50 on auction... Not worth putting money into BD imho.
 
tommybhoy said:
Realistically if you want to save some money, just throw an overclocked 8120 in your MB, for a saving of ~£90.

Sure the 2500K will beat it in almost everything, but for gaming, is 5-25fps much of a difference when you go above 60-100+fps?

This coming from a 2500K user before the BD outrage comments start.;)
Click to expand...

Borsch said:
I dont know- FailDozer costs the same as 2500k, so the only saving is the mobo - z68ap-d3 is as low as £50 on auction... Not worth putting money into BD imho.
Click to expand...

fair comment there, my main problem is that my gpu is not being fully used, this is the second time its happend now !

it looks like ill have to upgrade!

thanks guys!
 
Ideally your CPU usage should be at nearly 100% not 85% to 95% which indicates the CPU is not being fully used.

I wonder if the motherboard the OP is using is throttling as it only has a 4 phase VRM:

http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A88TM/

Has the OP tried their HD7970 3GB on the CPU at stock clockspeeds?? Is the CPU at 100% utilisation during the game??
 
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Shinebox said:
i dont think i can afford one of them! it would be nice but....

heres my heaven score... look at the min fps
ocukhs.jpg
Click to expand...

Your voltage is very high and cpu-z shows 4.1ghz but heaven shows 3.6ghz. I think throttling has something to do with it as I have a 6950 with a phenom 2 at 4.1ghz and my minimum fps is 28.
 
Spenty said:
Your voltage is very high and cpu-z shows 4.1ghz but heaven shows 3.6ghz. I think throttling has something to do with it as I have a 6950 with a phenom 2 at 4.1ghz and my minimum fps is 28.
Click to expand...

That Vcore is fine for Phenom II.
3.6GHZ is stock clock which Heaven shows.
Minimum FPS on heaven is sketchy unless you let it run before doing the benchmark.
 
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