At a crossroad?

[SH1NJA]

Hello everybody,

Long time lurker, first time poster!

I am trying to determine if my system has bottlenecks and what components are causing them. Being that I am a novice PC builder--the system in question being my first build--I would appreciate any advice or critique of my computer. I've been trying a few tests of my own, however, I am interested to see what more experienced builders conclude about the system in question, compare those findings with mine and perhaps discuss the differences. Then use that information to decide whether to overclock, upgrade or build a new system. I am always willing to learn from others when it comes to computing and gaming and thereby avoid common mistakes. At the moment I have $300 to spend and it would take me at least another fourteen months to save up $1000. Thank you in advance for any and all contributions!

The questions are as follows:

Are there bottlenecks in this system?
What components are causing bottleneck?
What are the recommendations to overcome the bottlenecks, e.g. overclocking, upgrading, new build, etc.?

The system:

Primary Purpose: Gaming
Built: October 2011
Specifications:

• 
  Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
  AMD Phenom II X6 1075T Thuban 6-Core 3.0 GHz Socket AM3 125W Processor (not overclocked with stock cooler)
  BIOSTAR A870 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard
  SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 270X DirectX 11.2 100364-4GL 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Video Card (Dual-X Edition)
  G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory
  Western Digital Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
  Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan
  Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC

EDIT:
Games Playing:
Modded Minecraft (Resonant Rise mod pack), ARMA III, World of Tanks (modded), World of Warships, War Thunder, Total War: Shogun II, Civilization V, Mass Effect Series, Bioshock Series, TES: Skyrim (S.T.E.P. modded), GRID, Sniper Elite Series, Company of Heroes 2, Red Orchestra 2/Rising Sun, et. al.

Games planning to play:
Farcry: Primal, Mad Max, Creativerse, Mass Effect: Andromeda, The Witcher 3, Tom Clancy's The Division, etc.

 

[instyne]

Using the computer you want to play games on, do a search for the program "Can you run it " it's small and quick and based online. Once you have it going search for the game titles you want to play. It will specifically per game tell you if that game will play and if not, it will tell you exactly what you need to upgrade, it could be your graphics card , or memory or whatever. An advisor you can trust and eliminates the guesswork.

 

[Barty1884]

Remember, all systems have "bottlenecks", that's a fact. Whether a bottleneck is noticeable in the 'real world' is another question entirely.

The Phenom is still somewhat viable, although isn't that a locked CPU? OCing that can be done, but you're limited in options. A decent aftermarket cooler & OC that. Even with it's limitations (locked multi) you should be able to achieve 3.6Ghz.

Your GPU is a bit behind where you want to be for some of those newer games.
I'd recommend the PSU (unless it's a quality PSU, but I assume you would know the model off the top of your head if you bought a quality PSU in 2011) + GPU would be your best 'upgrade' - you'd also be able to move those to a new rig when the time comes.

Honestly though, if it's doing what you want it to at the moment, I'd wait until the release of Polaris &/or Pascal GPUs. Either there will be a great mid-range option within your budget, or something like a 390X will come down in price to within your budget.

Options:
1. Wait for Polaris/Pascal and pick something from that lineup

2. Go for a higher end card today, (something like) a 390X would result in your CPU being a pretty significant bottleneck but OCing your CPU as high as possible while maintaining respectable temps will reduce that some, and you'll have a 390X (or similar) for your new build when the time comes.

3. Does your board have CrossFire support? If so, it might be worth trying to track down a second 270X, they're pretty respectable in CF, although limited by VRAM of course.

 

[SH1NJA]

I suppose I should rephrase the question: what are the obvious bottlenecks in this system; or is this system balanced? The version of the x6 1075T I have is not the Black Edition so multipliers are locked. The power supply is an Antec TruePower TP-550 550 Watt PSU (details above in the spec list). It's given me trouble-free performance, however, I am not certain that 550 Watts is sufficient, especially for a future build.

1. I'll have to do some research on the Polaris/Pascal. It's been about a year and a half since I bought the R9 270X so I am not up on the latest/near future GPUs.

2. Any recommendations on an aftermarket cooler? I have never OC'd a processor, but I've read the Phenom II x6 is easy to OC.

3. Sadly, my board does not support CrossFire. I believe it was a mid-range/budget board in 2011.

At this point option 1 seems better since the longer I wait the more dough I'll have saved. "Good things come to those who wait," as is said; and I have quite the backlog of older games to complete too. Either way (option 1 or 2) I'll need to OC the processor.

 

[SH1NJA]

After doing additional research into overclocking the processor, I have discovered that the motherboard was not designed for overclocking. Thanks for your help, much appreciated!