8370E and GTX 960/970

[buffalowings]

Hey all,

Currently, my rig is getting a bit long in the tooth.
Build:
AMD phenom II x6 3.8ghz
Nvidia 560 ti
8gb 1666mhz ram
1TB HDD

Since the mobo is still AM3+, I could upgrade the processor to a FX8370E (overclock the heck out of it) and
choose between a Nvidia GTX 960 or 970, and finally, add an SSD (this is something I want to do regardless)

Is the GTX 960/970 a good pairing with the 8370E? (AMD FX is weaker per core compared to an I5 4690K, but would the disparity be huge?)

Or: I could save up to build a completely new rig.. just seeing if it makes sense to extend the life of my current build.

Thanks,

 

[Mr.Scott]

You would have to OC that 8370E to roughly 4.6 or so just to match the performance of your Thuban. IMO, not worth it. New GPU and SSD IS worth it though no matter what direction you choose.

 

[buffalowings]

You would have to OC that 8370E to roughly 4.6 or so just to match the performance of your Thuban. IMO, not worth it. New GPU and SSD IS worth it though no matter what direction you choose.

I could overclock the 8370E.. not quite sure if I could get to 4.6ghz though (3.9ghz is as much as my cooler/setup can take with the Phenom). From what you're saying, it makes sense to just get the GPU and the SSD, but wouldn't the FX scale a little better then the Phenom? The FX is $130 with a free game right now.
I guess the big question is, will the Phenom II X6 become a bottleneck with the 960 or 970?

It's that or phasing my rig out completely and starting new :/

 

[Mr.Scott]

The FX is a less performing CPU than your Thuban. It would need that big overclock just to get you back to where you were at.
Yes, new GPU and SSD is worth it. Those are transferable to your next build anyways.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Games are actually faster on FX than Thuban

http://www.techspot.com/review/925-the-crew-benchmarks/page4.html
http://www.techspot.com/review/917-far-cry-4-benchmarks/page5.html
http://www.techspot.com/review/921-dragon-age-inquisition-benchmarks/page6.html

 

[buffalowings]

Games are actually faster on FX than Thuban

http://www.techspot.com/review/925-the-crew-benchmarks/page4.html
http://www.techspot.com/review/917-far-cry-4-benchmarks/page5.html
http://www.techspot.com/review/921-dragon-age-inquisition-benchmarks/page6.html

That's what I thought originally, would the Phenom still be a good match with a GTX 960 or 770 though? Also, a 770 is about $220 ish right now in used condition, would that be a better deal then the 960? So many choices..

 

[ATMINSIDE]

What's your budget for upgrades?
What resolution are you gaming at? (assumed usage, please tell me if I'm incorrect)

 

[buffalowings]

What's your budget for upgrades?
What resolution are you gaming at? (assumed usage, please tell me if I'm incorrect)

Budget wise, I don't think it's an issue of cost, if I'm upgrading, the only components that could be changed are the GPU and CPU. The GPU has to be Nvidia, the CPU has to be an AMD FX chip. Going this path, I have to consider what GPU I want, and if it's worth upgrading the CPU to the 8370 for $130 extra.

And..

My alternative is a completely new build with a I5 4690K and a GTX 970 or whichever AMD CPU is comparable.

Another alternative is to run it as is until I really feel the effects of time. The newest/most hardware intensive game I play is Call Of Duty Ghosts, definitely can't run it with the settings on extra high.

My goal is to try and extend the life of my current rig, and you're correct in assuming I want to game in 1920x1080.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

My advice, buy a 970 now.
Later, when Broadwell releases (sometime within the next 3-6 months) upgrade the rest of the system, but keep the 970 at that point.

 

[Mr.Scott]

Games are actually faster on FX than Thuban

http://www.techspot.com/review/925-the-crew-benchmarks/page4.html
http://www.techspot.com/review/917-far-cry-4-benchmarks/page5.html
http://www.techspot.com/review/921-dragon-age-inquisition-benchmarks/page6.html

Not enough to make it worth it. Visibly, they will game identical.

I'm with ATMINSIDE. 970 and SSD now. Upgrade core system later.

 

[buffalowings]

Not enough to make it worth it. Visibly, they will game identical.

I'm with ATMINSIDE. 970 and SSD now. Upgrade core system later.

Thank you for the recommendations, I'm definitely getting a new SSD, but I think I'll actually opt for the 960 instead, not sure when I would actually change out the entire rig, so the GPU could very well be wasted potential.

 

[Theocnoob]

Just curious, why does the GPU you add to your system now have to be Nvidia, but the GPU you add to your next system can be AMD or Nvidia? You know your 990FXAUD3 will work with AMD cards right?
If you want to get into a decent GPU for cheap right now you can't beat the AMD R9 290 4GB. It starts at about $220 US. It performs just slightly worse than the Nvidia 970, for over $100 cheaper. What's the catch, you ask? No direct X 12 support, higher heat output and higher power draw.

Going to an FX 83XX from a Thuban is totally nuts IMO. The difference is so so so negligable between the two. You would think AMD would have improved their IPC performance in the past 5+ years but they really haven't...

Wait for Broadwell, and pick up an i5 K (likely to be called 5670K or 5570K) and a decent motherboard in the $120-160 range from ASUS, ASRock or Gigabyte. If you wait, come back and ask, we can tell you what the best bang for the buck boards are in the next generation. Nobody knows yet. You'd have to come back and ask after Broadwell and the boards for it had been out for awhile.

Another option you have is to buy Haswell now, and drop Broadwell in as a replacement later, as they both use the same socket. If you want to buy now look at a 4690K and an ASRock Extreme 4 or ASUS Z97-A.

 

[buffalowings]

Just curious, why does the GPU you add to your system now have to be Nvidia, but the GPU you add to your next system can be AMD or Nvidia? You know your 990FXAUD3 will work with AMD cards right?
If you want to get into a decent GPU for cheap right now you can't beat the AMD R9 290 4GB. It starts at about $220 US. It performs just slightly worse than the Nvidia 970, for over $100 cheaper. What's the catch, you ask? No direct X 12 support, higher heat output and higher power draw.

Going to an FX 83XX from a Thuban is totally nuts IMO. The difference is so so so negligable between the two. You would think AMD would have improved their IPC performance in the past 5+ years but they really haven't...

Wait for Broadwell, and pick up an i5 K (likely to be called 5670K or 5570K) and a decent motherboard in the $120-160 range from ASUS, ASRock or Gigabyte. If you wait, come back and ask, we can tell you what the best bang for the buck boards are in the next generation. Nobody knows yet. You'd have to come back and ask after Broadwell and the boards for it had been out for awhile.

Another option you have is to buy Haswell now, and drop Broadwell in as a replacement later, as they both use the same socket. If you want to buy now look at a 4690K and an ASRock Extreme 4 or ASUS Z97-A.

Wait... I didn't know that... -_____- Just looking online, I don't see the R9 290 for $220 though, they all seem to range around $280 ish.

So what would be the best deal in GPU's somewhere in the $200-250 dollar?

I do see this on newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121842 coupled with the visa checkout deal and rebate, it comes in at 235.99

 

[bob4933]

That is actually 241$ with the discount. It will absolutely destroy a gtx 960. I'm glad I got my 290 over that honestly. 4gb ram vs 2, and superior in every way except power and heat (ehich you can deal with in other ways).

I'd hold off until you see a 290 for 220-240 and jump on that. They sold for 199.99 on black Friday, I imagine we will see those prices again.

 

[Theocnoob]

Best deal I could find in the states was a "Diamond" branded dual fan R9 290 for $259.99 -$20.00 mail in rebate +FREE s/h $239.99 (Newegg)

Considering that sometimes, you don't even get the rebate, $260 is a bit steep for that card. For $220, it's a good buy. For $260 I want to say, put a bit more money together and get a 970.
That doesn't mean though, that if you absolutely can't spend more than $260 on a GPU you shouldn't get a 290. It's a great card. It'll (almost) match a 970 in DX11 performance. It just has no DX12, runs hot, has a higher TDP, and eats a lot more power.

 

[buffalowings]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Combo...ables-_-na-_-na&ItemList=Combo.2157882&cm_sp=

Seems like now could be a good time to start a new build.. especially since AMD recently announced price cuts to the 290 and 290x. Hmm

 

[ATMINSIDE]

That's a nice price cut on that combo!

 

[buffalowings]

That's a nice price cut on that combo!

Here's the current build I'm looking at:
Intel I5 4690K
MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition
Corsair Obsidian Series 450D
Samsung 850 EVO 250gb+1TB 7200 rpm (already have the HDD)
ATI Radeon 290x
Noctua ND-U14S or DH-15
16gb 1866mhz ram
Coolermaster GX750 Bronze (laying around in my closet)
The total is just around $1100

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Looks good to me!
The Noctua D14 or D15 will be the quietest and best performing heatsink you can get.
Could save a few bucks by going with an 840 EVO.
Can you post a link to the RAM? Timings matter

 

[buffalowings]

Looks good to me!
The Noctua D14 or D15 will be the quietest and best performing heatsink you can get.
Could save a few bucks by going with an 840 EVO.
Can you post a link to the RAM? Timings matter

I haven't looked at the specific ram yet. The 4690k and the mobo can be had for a good price because of the combo, the obsidian case is a pretty good price too. The 850evo is currently $110 from newegg ebay. I just haven't found the best price for the ram, cooler, or gpu yet.