Advice for upgrading to FX 8350

Hi guys, long time no see. I am back again for some advices from you. My current cpu phenom II 965 be successfully oc-ed to 4ghz, thanks to you guys, is working fine but playing some newest games I noticed something strange. Apparently in some areas in those games (tomb raider, crysis 3, ac 3, ac black flag and even skyrim) I get gpu usage drops from 99% to 55-75% which is resulting in fps drops from 60 to round 30. That was strange to me because with my 760GTX most of these games I can max out with constant 60 fps so I did some research and came to conclusion that my cpu is bottlenecking my gpu in those areas because they are more cpu intensive. Also I learned that most of upcoming games will be optimized to take advantage from using much more cpu cores and that amd will not release new cpu-s next year, which is sad.

Because of this now I am considering for upgrading to fx 8350. In my country this is the best amd cpu avaible with a price of 160 euros.

By my opinion I think its worth because even now with oc-ed 965 I seems to experience bottleneck but I would like to hear your opinions please, will I get better performance in mentioned and upcoming games and most important question is will fx 8350 bottleneck my gpu in the same areas in those games for example?

Witcher69, I actually hate to say this but if you are thinking bottlenecked by AMD cpu there is only one SURE-FIRE cure and that is to go with an Intel rig. A 4670 Intel cpu and board to run it well, will do away with the cpu bottlenecking the cpu.

Okay now to do a little looking at AMD upgrade.
1. Your CM 212 EVO is not enough cooling to stabily push an 8 core FX beyond about 4.5Ghz and that is n0t enough in gaming to beat out your [email protected].

2. You have DDR3-1333 ram and most FX processors do better overall with DDR3-1866 ram. So you should really get ram also. IMO.

3. The Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 can easily handle the FX-8350 but instead I would suggest an FX-6300 so that with the marginal CM 212 EVO you might legitimately go to 4.7Ghz more likely stable. That cpu speed is what helps in gaming. Not the number of cores over about 4. Speed of cpu in gaming is still king. After everything else is considered.

4. I would also consider an SSD to remove slow disk access performance from the matrix of possible issues and right now most seem to say the SSD is the best bang for the buck system upgrade you an make.

I think I touched the high spots.
RGone...

I know that intel is much better but its cost is a bit high for me and to cross over to intel I will need to change motherboard also which is even more expensive for me. Also I know that I will not gain a big increase with fx 8350 but I didn't believe that fx 8350 would also bottleneck my gpu because I saw on the net people with titans in sli with this cpu and they never had bottleneck issue. Also in various game benchmarks, for example in tomb raider, fx 8350 with its stock values beats 965 so its a bit strange to me that 965 is better cpu.

Basically what are you trying to say to me is that fx8350 isn't fast enough for my gpu that this cpu will also bottleneck my gpu in the same areas like my current cpu?

Basically what are you trying to say to me is that fx8350 isn't fast enough for my gpu that this cpu will also bottleneck my gpu in the same areas like my current cpu? I suspect something like what you say may happen. Others more gaming minded may have a different idea. I would wait and see if there are other responses to your first post about your issue.
RGone...

I have seen in many users signatures that they using fx 8350, I hope that they are also gamers and that hopefully they will see this thread and give me some of their thoughts.

Witcher, I do not play any of the games you mentioned. I do play BF3 with my 8350 at the 4.7 I have in my signature. I have no issues playing it, I have played it with 3 different Gpu's my 5850, my 580 GTX and my 670 GTX. With the 5850 I have most of the Eyecandy on High, with the others I have it turned up to extreme on some of the settings. Don't know if that helps but....

I hate to say this as well because I've been in the AMD camp for many years. What you will save on the CPU if you go AMD you will turn around and lose on the very expensive motherboard it will take to run an overclocked eight core AMD processor. You might as well put the money on nice IB or Haswell from Intel and team it with a modestly priced motherboard. With the Intel CPUs you can get a pretty good overclock without having to spend $225-$250 on a motherboard and you will end up with a faster computer.

Having said that, are you sure you aren't getting down throttling due to excessive heat/power draw with your present AMD? Have you checked socket and core temps while you are gaming?

You do n0t have to break the bank with Intel, nor do you just have to run their latest cpu. This should work well with your CM 212 EVO and the cooler should have come with mounts for this board. What you do about ram is up to you but you could get bye with what you have for a while.

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K $199.99

ASRock Z77 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $89.99

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $99.99

It is certainly unfortunate that the Fx 8xxx requires such a stout motherboard and enormous cooling it order for it to be pushed, it really is a good Cpu. That said your Sabertooth will make a nice home for it, though the CM 212 will definitely be the weak spot for it.

I5 is also a really good Cpu for it's price point, I have the 2500k and it really is a hell of a chip. It will do 4.7 24/7 with a CM 212+ on it sitting on a Asrock Z77 Extreme 4. I've also had it as high as 5.3 on Air for benching.

In the games I play I don't see any difference between it and the Fx 8350. In benchmarks, using any of my Gpu's, the 2500k will post better scores then when it's on the Fx 8350. I have seen as much as 10 Fps when benching any of my cards on the 2500k vs the 8350.

What I do find to my dislike with the 2500k is that it's boring to overclock. I like being able to tweak different settings, which I can with the 8350 the 2500 all I need to do is adjust the multiplier and set the voltage and it's done. It's just a bit boring for me.

Mandrake4565 said:

Witcher, I do not play any of the games you mentioned. I do play BF3 with my 8350 at the 4.7 I have in my signature. I have no issues playing it, I have played it with 3 different Gpu's my 5850, my 580 GTX and my 670 GTX. With the 5850 I have most of the Eyecandy on High, with the others I have it turned up to extreme on some of the settings. Don't know if that helps but....

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I also play bf3 on max settings with constant 60 fps even above that and I do not have any bottleneck issue with that game but this game is not too much cpu intensive and mostly its gpu dependent. Problem is occurring in more cpu dependent games like those ones I mentioned.

trents said:

I hate to say this as well because I've been in the AMD camp for many years. What you will save on the CPU if you go AMD you will turn around and lose on the very expensive motherboard it will take to run an overclocked eight core AMD processor. You might as well put the money on nice IB or Haswell from Intel and team it with a modestly priced motherboard. With the Intel CPUs you can get a pretty good overclock without having to spend $225-$250 on a motherboard and you will end up with a faster computer.

Having said that, are you sure you aren't getting down throttling due to excessive heat/power draw with your present AMD? Have you checked socket and core temps while you are gaming?

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As I said its too expensive for me now to buy again new motherboard and new intel cpu. I think that my current motherboard is more than capable for fx 8350 even for later overclocking.

The temps while gaming are 45-51c depends from game to game which I think are optimal temps. Regarding power consumption I do not know how to check that, in hw monitor first few numbers regarding various voltages never exceeds their maximum values, if this is what you are asking me.

RGone said:

You do n0t have to break the bank with Intel, nor do you just have to run their latest cpu. This should work well with your CM 212 EVO and the cooler should have come with mounts for this board. What you do about ram is up to you but you could get bye with what you have for a while.

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K $199.99

ASRock Z77 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $89.99

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $99.99

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Again, for now its too expensive for me to cross over to the intel. As much reviews I was able to read fx 8350 is in the same place like i5-3570k which is again better then my current cpu. I think that best and much less expensive solution for me right now is to buy fx 8350 and overclock him as much is possible with current cooler and then some time later I will consider some water cooling. Even with new water cooling it would be less expensive then going with intel setup.

As I said before I only need to know that fx 8350 will not bottleneck my gpu and that he is good enough to withstand all current games and some upcoming games without worrying me that he will be weak in some games that are almost one year old like my current cpu.

if the intel rig is out, go with an fx6300 and some 1600 or better still 1866 ram.
I game with a 6300 and clock the pee out of it an it does just fine.
if you go for the 8350 you will have to invest in water cooling and the budget issue gets in the way again.

your motherboard will be fine either way you go.

The 6300 is definitely a viable option.

ssd, heck yea, I just saw where tiger direct has a 128 gig for 49.99 and your hdd my be your real issue.

It was once mine and i found it when i was having a screen hang and out of the corner of my eye I saw the hdd light flasing.

Mandrake4565 said:

The 6300 is definitely a viable option.

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Price difference between 6300 and 8350 is only 20 euros, its a really small price for getting additional two cores.

I will take some more time to consider about buying it but if he would serves me good for next one or two years like its served me my current cpu till now I would be pretty much satisfied.

RGone said:

Witcher69, I actually hate to say this but if you are thinking bottlenecked by AMD cpu there is only one SURE-FIRE cure and that is to go with an Intel rig. A 4670 Intel cpu and board to run it well, will do away with the cpu bottlenecking the cpu.

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the issue with the 8350 is heat, it costs to deal with it.
even if you run an 8350 on six cores the other two core are only idle and still making idle heat.
the downside to the 6300 is that it is an 8 core that 2 coers didn't make the grade it is a lesser processor.
and i doubt the 965 is your bottle neck.

caddi daddi said:

the issue with the 8350 is heat, it costs to deal with it.
even if you run an 8350 on six cores the other two core are only idle and still making idle heat.
the downside to the 6300 is that it is an 8 core that 2 coers didn't make the grade it is a lesser processor.
and i doubt the 965 is your bottle neck.

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Then by your opinion what is causing sudden gpu usage drops because when i explained my issue on dozens other forums, everyone were said that cpu is culprit?

it could be, when the frames drop do you see the hdd light on at the same time?

caddi daddi said:

it could be, when the frames drop do you see the hdd light on at the same time?

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There is no difference in hdd light intervals when gpu is on 99% usage with 120 fps and when I get to the spot in game when gpu usage drops to 75% and with 40 fps.

might be the cpu. what's your 1333 ram clocked to?