AMD Athlon X4 750k upgrade?

[SchrammD]

Hello all, I have an AMD Athlon X4 750k CPU with a hyper 212 evo cooler on it, working with a Gigabyte R9 270x GPU. Ive been reading up on bottlenecking, and was wondering what would be the best cpu upgrade for my graphics card. My motherboard is the MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 FM2 AMD A75. My budget is $250

 

[ethereal essence]

you won't really find anything better on that platform. you'd either need a new motherboard and cpu or overclock the athlon

 

[SchrammD]

I idle around 33 and get up to 44C during games, Do you think my temps are low enough to overclock my cpu then?

 

[CTurbo]

Yes you can try overclocking. I think the 750k should handle a 270x alright.

 

[SchrammD]

Cool, I was concerned with bottlenecking, but if the cpu is a good match with my gpu Im not too worried.

 

[CTurbo]

If you are gaming, and your gpu is well under 100% usage, but you cpu is hitting close to 100% a lot of the time, there is an issue.

 

[SchrammD]

So hitting close to 100% cpu usage is a sign of bottlenecking or another issue? My games seem to run smooth, and no overheating so far

 

[Master-flaw]

If there is no performance problem with your games then there isn't a need to upgrade really...
If your GPU is hitting close to 100% that means your CPU isn't limiting it and your getting the most out of your system.
CPU won't hit 100% ever with games....all it takes is one core to bottleneck. So around 95% usage on only one of the cores can mean the CPU is bottlenecked, depending if the GPU is running@~90% or less.

 

[Alin Prema]

I think the best CPU for FM2 socket is the 760k but you will have to upgrade your BIOS in order to be supported and i think you can get the same performance as the 760k by overclocking your 750k. I have the 750k (boosted@3700MHz) paired with an GTX560 on the same MSI A75MA-E35 mobo and i'm happy with it but maybe i'll boost it to around 4000MHz just to "squeeze a little bit more juice out of it" (the OC Genie II mode gets the CPU @ 4095MHz). Unfortunately, i think you'll have to change your motherboard if you're planning an upgrade (as i am as well forced to do on my next upgrade). As for your budget, a friend just got an FX6300 with this motherboard http://us.msi.com/product/mb/970A-G46.html#/?div=Basic and paid around 250$ for them.