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AMD upgrade path

Meurig

Meurig

Meurig

Associate
Joined
24 Aug 2004
Posts
49
Hi chaps,
I currently run a Phenom II x4 955BE 3.2 @3.6 on a Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UDP4 mobo and 4 gig ddr3 i bought here as a bundle nearly 3 years ago.

I have recently upgraded to a HD6950 from a HD4890 and I ma very please with teh results. BF3, medium settings running OK and iRacing, triple screen with lower graphical settings running well also.

However, from what i read and can feel (especially in iRacing and BF3) i may be CPU restricted.

My Mobo can take up to and including a Phenom II x6 1100T 3.3gig. Is this a worthy upgrade as I am trying to do this on the cheap (3 young kids.. bah!) or would i be better off saving the cash and moving to a different mobo and CPU combo?

Primarily I am looking at higher FPS and more prettyness in those 2 games specifically.

Cheers
Marcus.
 
The x6 wont really provide much of an increase in those games. I have never dealt with those high resolutions but are they not usually restricted by the gpu more than the cpu?
 
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You are incorrect about BF3 at least, it is very good at using quad core CPUs:

http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-performance/page7.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-13.html

CPU makes no difference to performance as long as it is at least a dual core above 3.2GHz, at least.

Now, unfortunately your PII is probably of the C2 stepping, so it will struggle to go to 3.7GHz or more. However, if it is C3 you might try getting it up to 3.9-4GHz. You can also overclock your graphics card. A quick search results in 10-15% overclocks for the core and RAM of 6950 cards:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd6950/4.htm

Now, if you want an immediate performance boost I would suggest investing in a DDR3-1600 8GB kit (at least CAS9). In CPU heavy games this can improve performance by 5%, or more if your graphics card RAM becomes an issue (with 3 screens it might do). It'll also generally improve your user experience on the desktop.

If it helps I have a similar set up to yours, 955BE at 3.7GHz, 4GB and a HD6850. I only use the one screen though.
 
if you ar looking to upgrade i would say go for the 1100t i have the 1090t it is a great overclocker and performer you will be able to overclock to 4ghz plus you will be able to play bf3 max settings the only thing is if you are playing games like that your 6950 should be able to handle ultra on a single monitor with the CPU you are using it only becomes more CPU dependent when you play muliplayer
 
couple of questions to the op,

What resolution are you running on your monitor? (re-read see you're runnng eyefinity) take it thats 1920x1080 each monitor?
Do you have windows 7 x64 or you running x32.

Bf3 uses a lot of ram, I had to upgrade my 2600k system as 4gb wasn't enough ram to run at high settings.
 
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See, I have that same CPU, and running it at 3.85-3.95GHz..
In general, BF3 uses my 4 cores at 60-80%, and I play at 3840x1080 at Ultra.. +/-40fps..

As a right-thumb rule, any 4 core CPU over 3.8 is enough to handle every games this days (with a decent GPU, of course).. No more cores needed..
So, like the guys told you before, get more RAM and try to push a bit more your CPU..

Best regards.. ;)
 
JonSmith said:
You are incorrect about BF3 at least, it is very good at using quad core CPUs:

http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-performance/page7.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-13.html

CPU makes no difference to performance as long as it is at least a dual core above 3.2GHz, at least.
Click to expand...
no no no no NO!!

People have to stop quoting single player bench results on BF3, as it is not ANYWHERE as CPU demanding as multiplayer.

My friend's i3 2120 (which is roughly around as fast as Phenom II X4 at 3.9-4.0Ghz) would bottleneck his GTX560Ti 2GB overclocked to 950MHz on BF3 multiplayer, and considering 6950 is pretty much on par with GTX560Ti, the Phenom II X4 at below 4.0GHz would definitely be holding back the 6950.
 
Your cheapest upgrade would be to mount a £25 Gellid Tranqillo on your current CPU and overclock it to 4ghz
 
I went from an X4 955 @ 4.2Ghz to an X6 1090T @ 4.0Ghz and games felt quite a bit smoother, especially BFBC2 and Battlefield 3. Now i've upgraded to a 2700K @ 4.8Ghz and it ****'s on both of those AMD processors.
 
Davedree said:
couple of questions to the op,

What resolution are you running on your monitor? (re-read see you're runnng eyefinity) take it thats 1920x1080 each monitor?
Do you have windows 7 x64 or you running x32.

Bf3 uses a lot of ram, I had to upgrade my 2600k system as 4gb wasn't enough ram to run at high settings.
Click to expand...


I'm running 3x1680*1050 for 5040*1050 for iRacing or different profile of 1920*1080. I have ordered another 4 gig of ram to see how much that helps.
 
ok, 4 extra gig of ram arrived and installed.. definite improvement in BF3.. running ultra graphics and feels nice and smooth.

Cheers for the assistance chaps.
 
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