CF R9 380x or get a GTX 980???????? (maybe a R9 390x??)

[q9650]

so i just built a new computer (actually its LGA775 but its new to me, lol) and i seem to have underestimated my CPU. My R9 380x is bottlenecking, but i just bought it . so im wondering if its worth buying another to crossfire or should i cut my losses and invest in a better single GPU like a GTX 980 or R9 390x? Also im new to CF, so if anyone has experience and can tell me whats good or bad about crossfire its appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Joe88]

do not buy a second card

for starters that psu is not enough and looking at it online, is a pos, its not gonna put out anywhere near 700w

 

[q9650]

I know the power supply wont due, it came with the case. I planned on buying a new one regardless of my decision. So aside from that do you have any reason not to buy a second card?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

You're already bottlenecking. A second, or faster, card won't gain you anything.

What you need is to get off of 775 and onto something halfway modern.

 

[Witchdoctor]

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

 

[EarthDog]

You're already bottlenecking. A second, or faster, card won't gain you anything.

What you need is to get off of 775 and onto something halfway modern.

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

+2

time to trash that system. It is already putting a glass ceiling on your performance. You could buy another card and get a performance bump, but IMO, its not worth the hassle nor money to get even less out of a second card.

 

[q9650]

You're already bottlenecking. A second, or faster, card won't gain you anything.

What you need is to get off of 775 and onto something halfway modern.

i tested to see if it was a CPU vs GPU bottleneck by playing Witcher 3 at max settings, then dropping the resolution. I gained 12FPS when lowering the resolution, that means its a GPU bottleneck right?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

i tested to see if it was a CPU vs GPU bottleneck by playing Witcher 3 at max settings, then dropping the resolution. I gained 12FPS when lowering the resolution, that means its a GPU bottleneck right?

You're playing modern games on a modern GPU with an 8 year old CPU...
It is VERY obvious where the issue lies.

 

[q9650]

Saying "it's old" means nothing to me. Is there anyway for me to test for a bottleneck from either the CPU or GPU?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Saying "it's old" means nothing to me. Is there anyway for me to test for a bottleneck from either the CPU or GPU?

It. Is. The. CPU.
The minimum requirement for The Witcher 3 is a 2500K, which is close to twice as fast as your current CPU.

In terms of computer hardware for modern gaming anything older than Sandy Bridge is basically obsolete.
Go get something faster, you'll see massive gains.

 

[q9650]

Thanks for the info. I checked geekbench 3 results to get an idea of how fast the i5-2500k was in comparison.

STOCK i5-2500k @3.3GHz
https://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/641947

Overclocked Q9650 @4.3GHz
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/1325759

well if i invest in a new system im gonna try to make it as future proof as possible. i5-6600k a good option for that?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

The i5-6600K will do great for modern gaming, yes.

 

[q9650]

will it be better for future games then say a i6-4690K? i like the DDR4 compatibility of the i5-6600K and they seem to be similarly priced for both the CPU and Motherboard (the DDR4 is way more though). And would the R9 380x still perform well or will it be worth getting a GTX 970? Thanks again for all of the help

 

[ATMINSIDE]

will it be better for future games then say a i6-4690K? i like the DDR4 compatibility of the i5-6600K and they seem to be similarly priced for both the CPU and Motherboard (the DDR4 is way more though). And would the R9 380x still perform well or will it be worth getting a GTX 970? Thanks again for all of the help

There is no such thing as an i6-4690K. I think you're talking about the i5-4690K, which is one generation older than the i5-6600K.
The R9 380X will be just fine. Either of the i5 CPU's mentioned will be fine also.

 

[JrClocker]

Another route to look at if you are on a budget is a Xeon processor. They do not have an embedded GPU, but you don't need that with an external card.

Check out my sig...I just built the Xeon system and it runs very well.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Worth noting though, you can't really overclock a Xeon.

 

[wingman99]

Saying "it's old" means nothing to me. Is there anyway for me to test for a bottleneck from either the CPU or GPU?

Yes there is a way to test if it is your CPU holding you back. All you have to do is leave the game settings at there lowest then record the FPS, then reduce the CPU clock speed then Check the FPS.

 

[q9650]

Yes there is a way to test if it is your CPU holding you back. All you have to do is leave the game settings at there lowest then record the FPS, then reduce the CPU clock speed then Check the FPS.

good idea, ill try it tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[EarthDog]

You would want to do this on a cpu limited game for best results as it will depend on the title and genre uzed. Some games you can lower the cpu 1ghz and not lose any fps...

If you google [name of game] [review] [techspot] it should take you to their review of said game. Techspot test different cpu speeds as well as gpus. http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page6.html

Notice how there is barely a difference there with the intel? Both with old cpus and clockspeed reduction?

 

[q9650]

You would want to do this on a cpu limited game for best results as it will depend on the title and genre uzed. Some games you can lower the cpu 1ghz and not lose any fps...

If you google [name of game] [review] [techspot] it should take you to their review of said game. Techspot test different cpu speeds as well as gpus. http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page6.html

Notice how there is barely a difference there with the intel? Both with old cpus and clockspeed reduction?

would crysis 3 and witcher 3 suffice?