Getting an AMD R9 290x, will there be a bottleneck?

[belgiumblimp]

I'm going to buy a new video card for my gaming pc soon, my only worry is if there will be such a big bottleneck with my cpu that it won't be worth buying.

Right now I have a Gigabyte R7 360 in my rig, and if you read the title you will know I'm upgrading to an R9 290x, right now I'm using an AMD Athlon X4 860k Black Edition 4 core CPU, I'm wondering if there will be a big or small bottleneck, even if there is a noticeable bottleneck I will be upgrading the motherboard/cpu later this year to be on par with it.

Any feedback is appreciated! 😀

 

[jr9]

I would expect a significant bottleneck and stuttering yes. Really depends on the game but the AMD Athlon X4 860k is definitely not up task for modern games. Even the FX which succeeded them processors aren't good anymore and bottleneck good graphics cards. You would have a powerful GPU and extremely weak CPU. I would honestly spend less on the GPU and put that money towards a rebuild. Even a GTX 1050 would be better than what you have. A GTX 1060 3GB is about on par with the R9 290X. I also recommend against 200 series Radeon cards due to their high failure rates.

 

[belgiumblimp]

I would expect a significant bottleneck and stuttering yes. Really depends on the game but the AMD Athlon X4 860k is definitely not up task for modern games. Even the FX which succeeded them processors aren't good anymore and bottleneck good graphics cards. You would have a powerful GPU and extremely weak CPU. I would honestly spend less on the GPU and put that money towards a rebuild. Even a GTX 1050 would be better than what you have. A GTX 1060 3GB is about on par with the R9 290X. I also recommend against 200 series Radeon cards due to their high failure rates.

What if I was to upgrade to a Ryzen 3 CPU along with a new mobo and go for a 1060 3gb later?

 

[R0GG]

I definitely agree with jr9, I've been running this rig for 5 years : AMD FX-8350 + Asus Matrix Platinum R9 290x (which by the way is a very reliable card and delivers spectacularly crisp image quality) on Asus Formula V motherboard all at stock speeds, it's very good and responsive system but trade off in power consumption and heat are quiet hefty for the r9 290x and the Vishera CPU which are very power hungry, CPU seems quiet comfortable running most of the games I played (not many) so I can't tell about the bottleneck, but I7-6700k runs same games with snappier feel and at a fraction of the CPU usage (50% less) with much less power consumption, couple that with a decent power efficient graphics like a GTX 1060 and you'll be good to go.

 

[jr9]

That would be a good move. You would get big performance gains on Ryzen and you would not have bottlenecks either and could replace the card later. You want to get off that platform you're on. Here's an ideal budget core build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1300X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($114.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($48.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $323.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-06 22:05 EDT-0400

 

[80-watt Hamster]

An 860K is underpowered for the 290X from what I can gather in a brief Google session, but should do OK in games that aren't particularly CPU-bound. Your biggest issue will probably be frame time. I hit that problem with a Core 2 Quad paired with an R9 380. Playable, but not particularly smooth.

I don't know what jr9's talking about with 200-series failure rates, though. First I've heard of it, unless we're talking about cards that have been mined to within an inch of their life (watch out for that). Miners that don't know what they're doing will sometimes push a card past the point of reasonable gains. So I've read, anyway. Not a miner.

 

[jr9]

I can imagine the performance with a 860K and a R9 290 would be choppy at best. The FX 6300 even (slightly better than the 860K) badly bottlenecks the GTX 1060 which is slightly faster than an R9 290X. Those processors have poor single core performance which matters most. If you're spending that much on a graphics card you'd want to play newer games and/or at higher settings which will run badly on a processor that slow. It's 40% slower than Intel core i5 processors from 2011 which themselves aren't ideal for current games anymore. In a gaming PC the CPU is just as important as the GPU.

I say 200 series cards have high failure rates because we have a collection of dead 200 series cards at the shop. That and the countless threads from people with 200 series issues. I've worked with more malfunctioning/failing 200 series graphics cards then all nVIDIA graphics cards combined. Fans not working, black screens, and random resets are the most common issues I see.

 

[belgiumblimp]

I take that back, I'm actually looking at an I5 3470 and an MSI H61MU-E35, LGA 1155/Socket H2, Intel Motherboard along with a new cooler.

 

[jr9]

i5 3470 would be a big 40% improvement over 860k. It's about equal to the entry level Ryzen 3 1200.

 

[belgiumblimp]

i5 3470 would be a big 40% improvement over 860k. It's about equal to the entry level Ryzen 3 1200.

oh sweet! considering I'm on a tight budget this will be perfect because of the overall price of the cpu, but with a 1060 3gb will it be able to run all new games with good frame rates?

 

[jr9]

Yes a 3rd gen i5 paired with a GTX 1060 can handle new games well enough. CPU might hold you back a bit in the most extreme titles as any budget choice will but you should be able to play any game with a GTX 1060 at 1080p/60Hz. The difference in performance going from R7 360 + 860k to i5 3570 + GTX 1060 that you probably won't even notice CPU bottlenecks if there are any. 171% more GPU power and 40% more CPU power.

 

[belgiumblimp]

One more thing, is a Cooler Master hyper t2 good enough?

 

[jr9]

That cooler will work fine if you aren't overclocking. I personally really dislike the mounting system it uses. At that price point I'd consider something like the CRYORIG M9i. The T2 will work fine though at be an improvement on stock cooling.

 

[belgiumblimp]

That cooler will work fine if you aren't overclocking. I personally really dislike the mounting system it uses. At that price point I'd consider something like the CRYORIG M9i. The T2 will work fine though at be an improvement on stock cooling.

Awesome! gonna order all the parts tomorrow, just one last overview of the parts

MSI H61MU-E35, LGA 1155/Socket H2, Intel Motherboard

GTX 1060 3GB GPU

Intel I5 2400/3470

and lastly a Cooler Master Hyper T2 CPU fan, will all of this work?

 

[jr9]

All parts are compatible with a couple notes:

- Wherever you are getting the motherboard from I would ask them to make sure the BIOS is updated. This may be required before you can run an Ivy Bridge (the i5 3470) processor. It will work for sure with the i5 2400 no matter what.

- The i5 3470 is about 10% faster than the i5 2400. I recommend trying to get the i5 3470. The i5 3470 is right at the speed level where it would start to hold a GTX 1060 back a bit so I wouldn't go any lower.

- GPU will work with the motherboard. As long as your PSU is at least 450W it should run fine.

 

[belgiumblimp]

The bios has been updated on the motherboard I am purchasing, as for the GPU I currently use a 450w PSU and I'm gonna switch to one of my used 650w Antec Power supplies, so thanks!

This was all I needed to know before re-building my pc, thanks!