FX-8350 and the 7970

[Seratis]

I am currently using an FX-8350 Black Edition and I have nothing but good things to say about it so far. I believe it is in the upper tier of the AMD CPU's at the moment, so I figure that I already know the answer to this, but I figured I would ask regardless just to make sure I am not assuming wrong. I am planning on getting a 7970 in the very near future and X-Firing it somewhere down the road. I just wanted to make sure that my CPU isn't going to be bottlenecking that graphics card or the X-Fire in the future.

CPU Reference: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284

Likely Video Card Choice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125439

 

[rene13cross]

Not a chance. I own an i5-2500k (at 4.9GHz, mind you) and 2 OCed 7950s in CF which end up performing just as well as stock 7970s and I am never really bottlenecked by the CPU.

Also, the 8350 is a great gaming CPU, and great for OCing too (check out this comparison review):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE

 

[EzioAs]

An FX8350 will bottleneck the 7970 in a many games. Anandtech's FX8350 Review and Tom's Hardware FX8350 Review are enough proof. It might not have been the same video card, they both use a GTX680 but GTX680 and HD7970 are pretty close. However, overclocking your CPU will minimize it and if you really wanted to buy a 7970, I say just go for it. Performance will still be good, but just don't expect the same performance numbers you can get with an i5-3450/3470/3570.

 

[rene13cross]

An FX8350 will bottleneck the 7970 in a many games. Anandtech's FX8350 Review and Tom's Hardware FX8350 Review are enough proof. However, overclocking the CPU will minimize it and if you really wanted to buy a 7970, I say just go for it. Performance will still be good, but just don't expect the same performance numbers you can get with an i5-3450/3470/3570.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE

Take a look at that...

And regarding your links -- everyone knows that Skyrim is a very single (or dual) threaded heavy game, where Intel wins for sure, but you never see mention of a plethora of other games where the FX-8350 actually excels...

 

[EzioAs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE

Take a look at that...

Can you give me any reason why?

 

[rene13cross]

Can you give me any reason why?

Apologies, I actually edited my previous post before I saw this.

 

[EzioAs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE

Take a look at that...

And regarding your links -- everyone knows that Skyrim is a very single (or dual) threaded heavy game, where Intel wins for sure, but you never see mention of a plethora of other games where the FX-8350 actually excels...

Then here's some more: Hexus's FX8350 Review and TechPowerUp. And it's not skyrim

 

[Seratis]

Not a chance. I own an i5-2500k (at 4.9GHz, mind you) and 2 OCed 7950s in CF which end up performing just as well as stock 7970s and I am never really bottlenecked by the CPU.

Also, the 8350 is a great gaming CPU, and great for OCing too (check out this comparison review):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE

Thanks a lot for the video, that was quite informative. Wish they had used some new games like Far Cry 3 or something along those lines, but regardless it was kind of what I was looking for.

 

[FinneousPJ]

You'll do fine with the FX8350. Have you OC'd it yet?

 

[Seratis]

You'll do fine with the FX8350. Have you OC'd it yet?

No, I haven't OC'd it yet. I am still kind of eh about overclocking my CPU. For one, I am not entirely sure how to do it and I am concerned I won't be able to keep it cool enough. Also, if I am going to OC it then I want to wait until after I upgrade my 6870 to the 7970.

 

[FinneousPJ]

You can find tutorials online. You should invest in aftermarket cooling before trying however. I like HWMonitor for monitoring temps.