Computer/Graphic card help question.

Tiki2012

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May 20, 2015
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Hello I was wondering how well my pc would do on games like Arma 3 And those types of games I currently have a

GPU:Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 280 3GB
CPU:AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 3.20ghz
8GB RAM
GA-990FXA-UD5

Would I need a better CPU and Motherboard to get better fps? or what I don't know to much about computers.
 
Your gfx card is about the max that the older PhII X4 can keep up with. So yes, you would probably need to get a new board/CPU and then a new card for any noticeable improvement. But the 3.2 GHz PhII and R9-280 should still be a decent gamer at 1080p and medium settings.
 


Thanks I haven't actually put the r9 280 In yet I currently use a GTX 560 and Was looking for just like double the current fps Im getting I only play 2 games Arma 3 and CSGO And I don't care for graphic I play all games on low and Atm I get 20 fps on arma 3 Would the R9 280 Double my current fps with my setup? or would I still need a new Proccessor or Board to double it?
 
Yes, you should easily double your frame rate compared to the GTX 560. Here is a comparison between the R9-280 and the GTX 560 Ti and several games. Your GTX 560 being a bit slower than the Ti, should show an even better improvement with the R9-280.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1337?vs=1332

If your PhII X4 955 happens to be the Black Edition, you can always OC it easily and gain even more performance.
 


Thanks for this you have been a great help How would I tell if it is a black edition? sorry if its a dumb question I don't know much about computers
 


Thats the thing It was made along time ago for me by a store so idk. That's kinda what I meant when how do I tell like is there a way to tell if u dont have the box
 


I'm guessing no black edition?

ae101f55e0.png
 
I forgot. CPU-Z discontinued ID'ing Black Editions quite awhile back. So that may or may not be helpful after all.
A BE has an unlocked multiplier. If you can raise the multi in BIOS and it shows it in CPU-Z, it is a BE. If not, it isn't. But if you are not familiar with how to OC, there's no sense even doing that.
 


Ok thanks for all the help do you know of a processor that can handle this r9 280 well that isn't to pricey because I doubt I'll ever get a better graphic card I'm not really a gamer only play cs:go/arma sometimes Price range of like 0-150
 


Ok thanks :) I'll only get the FX If it bottlenecks
 


Ok so I put it in and I have the same FPS as I did with my other graphic card.

GTX 560
Low Quality > 20FPS Vsync disabled
R9 280
Low Quatlity > 24FPS Vsync Disabled

Does this mean I need a new Processor?
 
According to the recommended requirements for Arma III, I wouldn't think so: http://arma3.com/buy#requirements
The R9-280 is considerably faster than the GTX 560: http://www.hwcompare.com/17689/geforce-gtx-560-vs-radeon-r9-280/
Did you run DDU and uninstall everything Nvidia before installing the new AMD driver package? http://www.wagnardmobile.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=30

I find it hard to believe you can't get better fps than that at low settings, considering that the req.s are quite minor. But if that game is CPU bound, your aging Phenom II may well be the bottleneck. Are you running at 1080p?
 

That's what I thought aswell, I used DDU and used the option (Uninstall and Don't restart) "For New Graphic Cards"

Maybe its because I have been in a city when I was looking at the FPS when I get home I'll leave the city and look again On ARMA 3 Multiplayer City's are pretty laggy.

On SinglePlayer I get 80FPS on Medium but On Multiplayer I get around 24FPS in a city Multiplayer is quite " CPU intensive game" Quote another guy.

 
Multiplayer. Yes, that might indeed be the Phenom II that is holding you back. I was thinking single player, as I'm sure the recommended. req.'s are for too.

On a busy server (64 players?) the CPU has a ton of more work to do besides just keep up with the gfx card and execute game code. It has internet activity, each players position, uniform, weapon, movement, etc. If the issue is only/mainly in MP mode, it is definitely the low IPC of the aging PhenomII.
 


Yeah I only play Multiplayer Player I play on a 100 player server Will my fps go up more if I get the FX 6350?
 


Yikes! 100 players? You might want to consider changing platforms to Intel. Or else get the fastest 8 core processor your board will accept and OC it to the max. AMD does not seem to have the needed IPC to comfortably keep up with a busy server and modern graphically intense games. I would not consider anything short of the 6 core FX-6350 OC'ed to the max. The 8 core FX-8350 OC'ed would be better. More cores working at the same time (assuming the game is multi thread-aware enough to utilize 8 cores) will help offset the lower IPC of the Piledriver architecture.
 

I'd like to keep it cheap would this be the right one?

http://www.mwave.com.au/product/amd-fx6350-6core-am3-39ghz-cpu-processor-ab64424

Or Could I get this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009O7YU56/ref=asc_df_B009O7YU563777887?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=pricegrabbe05-20&linkCode=df0&creative=395097&creativeASIN=B009O7YU56&ascsubtag=1437448196_c9f11493855a0b1f7fab2e22f040af55_685_402_1077189102_392

Converted to AUD it would be 10 dollars less then the 6350
 
Tough call....
The FX-6350 should be able to run at a faster clock speed than the FX-8320 all else being equal. But the FX-8320 has an extra pair of integer processors (cores). I guess the difference would be if the game in question can utilize all 8 cores. If not, the FX-6350 would be better due to its ability to run at or OC to a higher speed.

Personally, since I don't play that game, I don't know how many cores Arma III supports. The forums are full of different opinions. Some say only 2. Others say up to 32. Others say only 1 is used for AI, etc. I'd suggest browsing some Arma III specific forums and getting some feedback.

Another thing you could do is open something like task manager and watch the amount of activity among the 4 cores of your Phenom II when gaming next time. See how evenly the work is spread out over the four cores. If it looks even, then go for the 8 core. (I'd probably opt for the FX-6350 myself)

Update:
I found this chart comparing thread/core usage between the FX-8350, 6300, 4300 and PhII X2 550: http://i.imgur.com/9UZtEEt.jpg
The two processors you are looking at fall between the 8350 and 6300. As you can see, 1 core seems to do most of the work.
 


So the 6300 6 core works better with arma?
 


Because of my price range I got this

AMD FX-6300 Black Edition 6-Core Socket AM3+ CPU Processor
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO CPU Cooler
Because it adds up to the same price as the 6350
I got told I could overclock it past 4ghz