AMD Radeon R7 360 compatible with Q6600 CPU on my mobo.

[Dosedmonkey]

I guess it will bottleneck a bit. But by how much?

Is it a real upgrade, here is my sons PC specs.

Mobo Rampage Formula x48 rev 1.00g
Nvidia GTX 280
Quad Core Q6600
4GB DDR2
Win 7

He just wants to stream CS:GO, but streaming drops framerate hugely from 170fps, to 60fps currently. I think it is the old GPU.

Thanks.

 

[coozie7]

I doubt there'll be much of a bottleneck, CS:GO isn't that demanding and the venerable Q6600 is still a surprisingly capable gaming CPU but it's not much of an upgrade actually: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899-7.html just one tier.
If you want to stream I think you'd be better off with an Nvidia card, Shadowplay has a much lower impact on frame rates than the solution AMD uses.
Given the age of the system and power demands of the GTX280 I think you should return the R7 360 and look through E-bay for a used Nvidia card of around the level of the GTX750-or even go for a GTX750 itself, it won't be too badly held back by the Q6600 although anything significantly faster will be.

 

[Dosedmonkey]

I doubt there'll be much of a bottleneck, CS:GO isn't that demanding and the venerable Q6600 is still a surprisingly capable gaming CPU but it's not much of an upgrade actually: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899-7.html just one tier.
If you want to stream I think you'd be better off with an Nvidia card, Shadowplay has a much lower impact on frame rates than the solution AMD uses.
Given the age of the system and power demands of the GTX280 I think you should return the R7 360 and look through E-bay for a used Nvidia card of around the level of the GTX750-or even go for a GTX750 itself, it won't be too badly held back by the Q6600 although anything significantly faster will be.

Thanks for the good answer.

I have a little problem that we are in Chile for my work this year, so second hand purchases aren't easy. I can see online on the shelf they have a GTX-950 for only a little bit more cash ($60USD more). This probably is over kill, but the next lowest Nvidia is a GT 740, but my understanding is GT series is not good for gaming, and probably not any better then my GTX 280.

Here is the website I have been using to look at options;
https://www.pcfactory.cl/?categoria=334&papa=633&pagina=2

 

[coozie7]

I see the problem, there is big jumps in their product lineup: GTX740 is no better than the current GTX280 in most respects. R7 360 is a good deal faster but isn't as good at streaming as the even faster (and more expensive) GTX950, which will be noticeably restricted by the Q6600. Quite a conundrum.

Suggestion: Start another thread, something like 'Q6600 steaming CS:GO: R7 360 or GTX XXX?' there's plenty out there with far more experience than me on the subject of streaming so I'll defer to their experience and knowledge.

Suggestion: Trust my comments and grab a GTX950, it WILL be significantly held back by the Q6600 (even if you overclock it) but you could carry it over into a system upgrade a little later on. As a combination the Q6600/GTX950 will greatly extend the range of games that the system can reasonably handle: My own Q6600/HD7950 reserve/backup/retro gaming rig can still play games like the recent Tomb Raider reboot and the Metro series with only a few stutters in the most demanding sections, all caused by the CPU BTW.

Final suggestion: Look for a GTX750, personally I think it'll be the best overall fit for your sons needs and the extra GPU power will extend the range of games he can play on the current system.

 

[Dosedmonkey]

Thank for you honest and good help. I did start another thread, looking at other options, and I've decided to upgrade CPU/MOBO/RAM and then later in the year upgrade the graphics card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2936734/upgrade-rebuild.html

Many thanks.