AMD FX-4170 Gaming build, Nvida GPU, Watercooling

I caught the overclock bug and its now running at 4.7ghz with max temp 59'C :) didn't catch minimum and only installed Hardware Monitor half way through as someone told me to. No errors on Prime95 :)

Will test for 4 hours after work tomorrow and get you all full readings :)
 
Well turns out AMD Cool and Quiet was on when i 3DMark11 Benched, my ram was at 1333mhz, had out dated graphics drivers and PC was not even set to performance mode.

I will give it another go tonight as i know the score i got was dreadfull, people with the same setup got much higher then me due to having their settings correct...
 
The build you have chosen will perform very well with most things you throw at it. yes you could have built a better performing intel system for the same or less but that's personal choice. I have four systems in my house, two intel and the other two are fx4170 with gtx560ti and fx8120 with hd7870. both perform very very well in 1920x1080 gaming at 60hz. no bottlenecks to be found anywhere and were both built at good value. on this site particularly the name "bulldozer" is the rag to the bull, but in your own time and home take time to enjoy your purchase as it is more than capable quite contrary to popular belief.
 
It's not preference when one is factually better.
As a consumer to buy the inferior product you're not doing anyone any favours.
Bulldozer isn't capable compared to other CPU's which are from either vendor that are older than it and in some cases cheaper.
 
It is personal preference. That is an undisputable fact. I own a Subaru impreza, I don't really care that a Mitsubishi equivalent model has ten more bhp and does ten more mpg. That why we have in this world a variety of products from a multitude of companies. We as individuals have freedom of purchase. freedom of choice. There is absolutely no need for the vilification of people using that choice on this site and I would hazard a guess that the way in which a lot of viewpoints are delivered on this forum actually deter people from posting and using this forum at all and then seek a more balanced view on alternative forums.
 
ghost12 said:
It is personal preference. That is an undisputable fact. I own a Subaru impreza, I don't really care that a Mitsubishi equivalent model has ten more bhp and does ten more mpg. That why we have in this world a variety of products from a multitude of companies. We as individuals have freedom of purchase. freedom of choice. There is absolutely no need for the vilification of people using that choice on this site and I would hazard a guess that the way in which a lot of viewpoints are delivered on this forum actually deter people from posting and using this forum at all and then seek a more balanced view on alternative forums.
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Fun fact: In 2005, we would have told the OP to buy AMD instead of Intel, because at that time AMD was the better choice (Athlon 64 vs Pentium 4).

Buy whatever you want, but if it's the crappier choice, expect to get some stick as a result.
 
scrlk said:

Fun fact: In 2005, we would have told the OP to buy AMD instead of Intel, because at that time AMD was the better choice (Athlon 64 vs Pentium 4).

Buy whatever you want, but if it's the crappier choice, expect to get some stick as a result.
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I have no issue with suggesting or advising an intel build. everyone except maybe an ostrich will know the virtues of said platform over the other with the most simplest of research. My point is that there is such a vast array of expertise and knowledge on this site that it could be put to more constructive use sometimes in way of advice. You would not advise a new amd build to a newbie but that is not to say someone whom has purchased one will not enjoy its performance because it depends on its usage. To just vilify the choice does no justice to the intelligent people whom are offering the advice
 
How is buying an inferior product, or suggesting the inferior product a balanced view point, especially when the company in question has had better CPU's out in the past.
No one in the world can ever justify an FX4 when AMD has had cheaper and better CPU's in the past, you'd literally have to be losing it mentally to buy one.
It's not that it's an AMD, it's the fact it's an FX4, in this budget. An FX4..... Sub 2009 performance from AMD.
 
Martini1991 said:
How is buying an inferior product, or suggesting the inferior product a balanced view point, especially when the company in question has had better CPU's out in the past.
No one in the world can ever justify an FX4 when AMD has had cheaper and better CPU's in the past, you'd literally have to be losing it mentally to buy one.
It's not that it's an AMD, it's the fact it's an FX4, in this budget. An FX4..... Sub 2009 performance from AMD.
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Unless im misreading the op then the parts for the build were already purchased. no one mentioned suggesting to go amd. the choice was already taken. It wasn't a spec me a build post/thread?????? I would suggest you have the knowledge to help the op get the best out of the system he has purchased rather than re-iterating the same old lines over and over
 
The OP made a thread asking for how to make his rig better after he bought it.
People raised points where he could have got a better AMD system than the one he bought.
He's bought a quite frankly pathetic rig for his budget.

A Phenom II X6 would be better for petes sake.
 
Would you but a Renault clio for the price of a Lamborghini?

That is what you have essentially done here despite the very well layed out advice you have been given here from the ocuk crowd.

I built myself a 3570k intel system with a 570gtx for less then £800 with better parts then you and I will outperform your system and I also have an upgrade path better the you.

I hate to think how you can be so bad with your money and the worst thing is oliver is that you did this monumentally pleb like manoeuvre all on finance. Sorry mate you can justify this.

You really messed up on this.

Good job.
 
Martini1991 said:
The OP made a thread asking for how to make his rig better after he bought it.
People raised points where he could have got a better AMD system than the one he bought.
He's bought a quite frankly pathetic rig for his budget.

A Phenom II X6 would be better for petes sake.
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not disputing your opinion of the rig. just the fact that it was already purchased/en route and he clearly stated that was his choice. Like I said I would expect the more experienced members of this forum, including yourself, whom have a great depth of knowledge to be able to be constructive and offer your expertise on getting the best out of his chosen system. otherwise what is the point of this performance forum??? I for one learn very much from this forum from reading posts of yourself and others on many pc related subjects. But when it comes to my choice of cpu I use another forum which is far more balanced. hence why on this site im a relatively inactive poster
 
He can't get the most out of his chosen system, he's bought himself an outdated GPU and a lacklustre CPU for what's out at that price, his GPU is a 2010 model, he's bought that when there's better alternatives in 2012, being a performance forum how are we wrong for saying for him to return and buy up to date and better stuff that suits his needs, surely that's a lot better than him tweaking his system and still getting lower performance than he can get with a complete different set of parts.

Is being balanced on CPU's suggesting people to buy an inferior one?

The FX8 is a good CPU in very few limited scenarios due to its price/performance ratio, I've said that a lot.

For a gaming rig there simply is no competition which is frustrating.
 
Martini1991 said:
He can't get the most out of his chosen system, he's bought himself an outdated GPU and a lacklustre CPU for what's out at that price, his GPU is a 2010 model, he's bought that when there's better alternatives in 2012, being a performance forum how are we wrong for saying for him to return and buy up to date and better stuff that suits his needs, surely that's a lot better than him tweaking his system and still getting lower performance than he can get with a complete different set of parts.

Is being balanced on CPU's suggesting people to buy an inferior one?

The FX8 is a good CPU in very few limited scenarios due to its price/performance ratio, I've said that a lot.

For a gaming rig there simply is no competition which is frustrating.
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Not once have I suggested you suggest an inferior cpu. The point I will make again is that he made his choice, albeit a poor one if compared to what could be purchased at the price points in the current market if go on performance alone and not choice. But the op stressed in several of his initial posts that he wanted amd, purchased amd and had chosen amd. To that point alone it is irrelative the performance of competing components and brands. We as a performance community should now help him get the best from his chosen system. saying it rubbish is pointless. he will be able to game with a decent/modest overclock of both the cpu/gpu/ram get a decent performance with help from this forum. The rest is irrelative to the op.
 
I meant as forum wide, since BD does take a lashing, but it is because in many cases it is the inferior CPU, I can't imagine a forum that it pro BD for a gaming rig.

I disagree with helping him tweak, it won't give anywhere near as many gains as a DSR and rebuild.

He bought a 560Ti, he will never get that anywhere near the equally/cheaper priced 7850.
The OP's end performance as it stands right now stands toe to toe with rigs I've made for 300.

It's not the choosing AMD.
It's the choosing an FX4 at his budget.
It's like putting a 5770 in a 900 pound gaming rig.
 
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OliverDavis said:
I caught the overclock bug and its now running at 4.7ghz with max temp 59'C :) didn't catch minimum and only installed Hardware Monitor half way through as someone told me to. No errors on Prime95 :)

Will test for 4 hours after work tomorrow and get you all full readings :)
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Have you used the dirt showdown benchmark yet? I for one this thread would be interested in your setting and fps results. on my fx8120 with my gtx560 could not play on ultra, the fps was too low. the difference between ultra and high is large. on high I got avg 75fps and minimums in the low 50s. the gtx 560 is now in my wifes rig with the fx4170 at stock, I have not benched dirt showdown on that machine. Since changing to my hd7870 the performance increase is huge to the gtx560. I get high 90s and minimums of high 60fps on the new gpu. very pleased with the upgrade. I can also play bf3 smoothly on ultra on the new gpu although not benched it as yet.not done any benching with the fx4170 but the wife plays wow in dungeons and raids and has no issues whatsoever so there is no point for performance relative to her uses. on cinebench I get an extra 25fps between the 2 gpu with my processer
 
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Martini1991 said:
I meant as forum wide, since BD does take a lashing, but it is because in many cases it is the inferior CPU, I can't imagine a forum that it pro BD for a gaming rig.

I disagree with helping him tweak, it won't give anywhere near as many gains as a DSR and rebuild.

He bought a 560Ti, he will never get that anywhere near the equally/cheaper priced 7850.
The OP's end performance as it stands right now stands toe to toe with rigs I've made for 300.

It's not the choosing AMD.
It's the choosing an FX4 at his budget.
It's like putting a 5770 in a 900 pound gaming rig.
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Oh not disputing the points you make regards high end performance but the op is gaming at 1920x1080 60hz and only mentioned dirt showdown as a reference game.If mentioned metro or shogun 2 then fair enough.I can assure you that it will perform very well in that scenario unless you don't consider 50 - 60fps minimum on a 60hz monitor acceptable. I can also assure you there is another forum where there are a lot of bulldozer users whom can post new benchmarks and are very happy with what they have. Your performance standards are high compared to 99.9% of the computer using population whom would be very happy with a bulldozer system. At no point may I stress to anyone that I advise to buy one without making an informed decision of personal choice. There is plenty of widespread information regards cpu performance but if someone chooses one then so be it. Fully agree on the gpu by the way. with a lot of new games being more gpu dependant then at that price should have got a far better card. I recently got the hd7870 and am very happy with the performance increase over the gtx albeit his is a 2gb card and I don't know about that one
 
OliverDavis said:
Hello,

Below you will see a list of parts I have ordered from Overclockers.co.uk hoping to arrive 6th-August to 10th-August.

[snip]What is everyone's opinions on these parts?
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you have to take time to consider if you really want to know what people think when you ask this sort of question on a forum. Not just a pc hardware forum, but any forum. It's never wise to go and choose/buy something and then ask for critique as you will get roasted every time.

If there is one, universal, truth right now in the PC hardware world, is that the current fx series are pound for pound some of the worst cpu's ever released alongside their competition. We all wanted them to be better and we all wanted the radically different cpu design to work and better intels offerings but the truth is they didnt. They didnt outperform even AMD's own offerings in many tasks. the 6-core phenomsII's still remain the best cpus AMD have right now, better then the fx8 for the majority of tasks you would perform as a home user. The fx4's.....well, they are not as good as the quad core phenom IIs. It's a bitter disappointment for some of us but those are the facts.

Slow they might not be, not outright anyway, but there is very little to justify buying a more expensive, slower, more power hungry cpu when there is simply better available.

At no point may I stress to anyone that I advise to buy one without making an informed decision of personal choice.
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I would agree with this. Is it fair to say that an informed decision would likely not lead to buying an fx4 cpu or a 560ti?
 
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james.miller said:
you have to take time to consider if you really want to know what people think when you ask this sort of question on a forum. Not just a pc hardware forum, but any forum. It's never wise to go and choose/buy something and then ask for critique as you will get roasted every time.

If there is one, universal, truth right now in the PC hardware world, is that the current fx series are pound for pound some of the worst cpu's ever released alongside their competition. We all wanted them to be better and we all wanted the radically different cpu design to work and better intels offerings but the truth is they didnt. They didnt outperform even AMD's own offerings in many tasks. the 6-core phenomsII's still remain the best cpus AMD have right now, better then the fx8 for the majority of tasks you would perform as a home user. The fx4's.....well, they are not as good as the quad core phenom IIs. It's a bitter disappointment for some of us but those are the facts.

Slow they might not be, not outright anyway, but there is very little to justify buying a more expensive, slower, more power hungry cpu when there is simply better available.



I would agree with this. Is it fair to say that an informed decision would likely not lead to buying an fx4 cpu or a 560ti?
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When take into consideration the whole of his opening post, and not just a selected line ,ie " What do you think of these parts" I took it to mean the advice/opinion he was asking was would there be any conflicts in the components chosen. not vilify my choice and castigate me from the forum/thread.If he had any sense whatsoever he would not post on this forum regards bulldozer because he will receive no help or information that is useful which is a shame because having already chosen it I doubt very much he will be as disappointed as some would like. unless he spends more time using synthetic benchmarks and watching fraps than he does actually playing games in his chosen resolution/gpu/monitor set up that is, or worrying what could have been.
 
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