Do I need to upgrade my 1090t?

robertboekee

robertboekee

robertboekee

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I've just purchased a new graphics card (MSI gtx 970 OC) and am wondering if my current system will bottleneck it in games (Far Cry 4, Battlefield 4, GTA V next week :))

I currently have an AMD Phenom II x6 1090t, 16GB RAM, Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 and a 256GB Samsung SSD. I've never overclocked the CPU and would consider it if I'm likely to get enough performance to justify keeping it (It's got a big coolermaster heatsink/fan).

But I'm also considering whether I should just upgrade and if so whether an X99 mobo, 5820k and DDR4 would be overkill/not worth the high price.

Thanks in advance.
 
I used to have that CPU and miss the beast. As above you can try overclocking but it's not great at it if you're lucky you might manage 4.0GHz. These chips are power hungry and run hot as you'll know or realise so be sure to keep an eye on the temps if you go down the OC route.

You can decide yourself then whether performance is up to scratch or not.
 
Quickest way to check would be to do some game benchmarks and get at least the min, avg, and max FPS. Then overclock and/or underclock the CPU by say 10-20% (depends what you're comfortable with) and re-bench. If performance varies considerably then you'll have a good idea how much you're bottlenecked.
 
My 955 BE was bottlednecked by my 7970 when I got it in Bf3 and since the 970 is a more powerful card, I would imagine you would get some. I upgraded my cpu, as bf3 was just too choppy in multiplayer with the phenom. Depends how the games affect you.
 
HankScorpio said:
My 955 BE was bottlednecked by my 7970 when I got it in Bf3 and since the 970 is a more powerful card, I would imagine you would get some. I upgraded my cpu, as bf3 was just too choppy in multiplayer with the phenom. Depends how the games affect you.
Click to expand...

I had the exact same problem with my 955 BE with my 6950 :P

Upgraded my CPU to the 3570k and holy moly the results :P
 
I haven't noticed any difference because I'm still stuck with a 7870 :p But will have to upgrade soon to handle these latest and upcoming games. Then I'll see the change I've been waiting for ;) (I hope)
 
Clock the CPU.
If you cannot clock it, a new CPU then.
If you can, go for the 8350 - Its by far the best CPU there is. I upgraded my main AMD from the 8350 to the 9590 and sure, its a bit better, but not worth the price. I can clock the 8350 to 5Ghz just like the 9350 ( although they get hot ).
The 8320 is alo a great CPU, but for the small extra, the 8350 isthe one to get - even if it mens waiting a week or two to save the extra cash.
That way you will be playing any game you could want to.
 
Apologies for the slight hi-jack but I was about to post this exact question.

I've got my 1090t running at just over 3.9ghz and I've got a HD6950. Would I be better off upgrading the CPU or GPU first?

If it's the GPU what one would you recommend? I've got 3x24" monitors but I think all new GPUs support that now don't they?

Thanks!
 
WhiteCobra said:
Apologies for the slight hi-jack but I was about to post this exact question.

I've got my 1090t running at just over 3.9ghz and I've got a HD6950. Would I be better off upgrading the CPU or GPU first?

If it's the GPU what one would you recommend? I've got 3x24" monitors but I think all new GPUs support that now don't they?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Would be good to start your own thread.

But what PSU, monitors (connectors?) do you have? what is the maximum length gfx card your case can take?

In fact do you have an SSD and 8Gb RAM?
 
You can happily run a GTX970 on that PSU if one of these is within budget?

If you are not happy with the boost one of these will give you can as always refit it into a new board+cpu.

Many have two DVI ports and a HDMI that you can use (with a HDMI to DVI cable) to a dvi monitor.
 
Thanks for the advice! I think that's the route I'll take as swapping the GPU out is clearly the easier option, and I can always do the CPU/Mobo later on if needs be. The 970 is slightly more than I was thinking but I'll just wait until payday, as looking at the store it's probably in the 'sweetspot' area in terms of value for money?

Also using HDMI to DVI for the third monitor sounds much better than my current DisplayPort to VGA adapter, which has now started to do weird things!
 
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