Can a Phenom 2 x4 965 handle a GTX 960?

Hobbles

Reputable
Sep 23, 2015
10
0
4,510
I have done a great deal of research into upgrading my gaming computer. I am on a tight budget so I am shaving off money where I can. I currently have a Phenom 2 X4 965 (Works great) and a GTX 650 gpu.

My goal was a GTX 970, but the computers I was building on the cheap were 600-700$ which I am trying to avoid. I found a site selling refurbished EVGA GeForce GTX 960 Superclocked ACX 2.0+ 1279MHZ 2GB cards with a three year warranty for 175$. People seemed happy with them in the reviews on various sites for refurbished EVGA cards.

The GTX 960 is around 70% slower than the GTX 970 (which I know is great card for great value but I am pretty poor and my system is struggling.) If I got a GTX 970 I would need a new CPU to prevent bottlenecking.

Does the 960 also need a new CPU to prevent bottlenecking?

The thing is, the new processors I was looking at, I5-4460 and the AMD FX 63xx and 83xx series are only between 20-40% faster (cross a broad spectrum of benchmarks, my research at the end of post). I know the I5 is the best choice but that means 170$ processor and a new mobo (40-100$). And I feel the AMD choices are... not significant improvements . My research tells me that the extra cores of the FXs are not really going to help me much in gaming, not as much as the I5's beefy cores.

I know I have an old (not even overclocked) processor but, for 1920x1080 (1080p) gaming, (aiming for ultra-high settings) will it bottleneck a GTX 960 noticeably? (or more than say 10-15%)
I considered a 750 ti, but they are only like 30$ less than a 960, which is roughly twice as powerful.


(some) Reseach links:
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X4-965-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4460/606vs2310
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X4-965-vs-AMD-FX-6300/606vs1555
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X4-965-vs-AMD-FX-8350/606vs1489
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-970-vs-Nvidia-GTX-960/2577vs3165
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-960-vs-Nvidia-GTX-750-Ti/3165vs2187
 
Solution


If it bottlenecks a R9 280, pretty sure it is going to do so on a faster GTX 960.

And yes it is noticeable... that is if you have a fast processor to test it against. When I upgraded my rig, I was shocked at how much gain there was from the R9 280, around 30% in at least one game (Dying Light). Guild Wars 2 showed very little gain except in crowded areas where the CPU was much more important. It really depends on what you are using it for.

So yes, it will bottleneck it significantly in some cases. It is not worth using a 750ti though as there is no reason for you to do so. But I come to the same conclusion as ChumP.

"you should be fine!"


If it bottlenecks a R9 280, pretty sure it is going to do so on a faster GTX 960.

And yes it is noticeable... that is if you have a fast processor to test it against. When I upgraded my rig, I was shocked at how much gain there was from the R9 280, around 30% in at least one game (Dying Light). Guild Wars 2 showed very little gain except in crowded areas where the CPU was much more important. It really depends on what you are using it for.

So yes, it will bottleneck it significantly in some cases. It is not worth using a 750ti though as there is no reason for you to do so. But I come to the same conclusion as ChumP.

"you should be fine!"
 
Solution
@Hobbles
sorry my english not good but i will try to ask you.. did you bought the GTX 960?
i have the same processor and i want to upgrade my gpu from HD 6450 to GTX 960 .. so i want to know what your experiences?

my motherboard is "GIGABYTE 78LMT-S2P" and RAM "Crosair 8GB DDR3 - 1600 Mhz"

thanks in advance :)