I need help upgrading my system!

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WellBeyond3

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Jul 26, 2013
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Hey guys,
so I currently have an amd system. And with my r9 270x crossfire, I don't get the performance boost that I should be getting, in fact, in most cases its actually worse performance than just the single gpu. I do know however that my mobo is in dual x4 mode for the crossfire. here are my specs:

cpu: fx 6300
gpu 1: r9 270x sapphire toxic edition 2gb
gpu 2: r9 270x sapphire dual-x OC edition 2gb
ram: 8 gb hyper black ( 2x4gb)
mobo: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P
hdd 1: wd 1tb green
hdd 2: seagate 2tb
wifi card: gigabyte GC-WB867D-I
psu: cougar rs 650w

I am wondering if I want to get increased performance, and maximise the potential from my pc, how should I upgrade it:

Is my psu strong enough to power this rig?

Should I purchase a new motherboard for my current processor that supports dual x8 or x16 mode for crossfire or should I upgrade my processor to a fx 8350 and the mobo as well?

Should I completely switch my mobo and processor out for an i5-4690k or an i7-4790k and get a dual x8 or x16 mobo?

If I upgrade to intel, would i have to buy a new power supply?

what would be the cheapest and best way to upgrade, giving me full access of power from my set-up?

Thanks everyone for the advice :)
 
Solution
J
Intel setup on the 1150 socket hands down. Reason being is that the AM3+ socket is a dead socket. AMD has been only pumping out power saver versions of already made chips. Intel however will beat an AMD CPU hands down in single thread processing and i7s will absolutely destroy even the highest AMD chips in multithreaded processing. Not to mention everything runs cooler and uses less power in an Intel setup. A con is that it costs more initially.
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To get the most out of your GPUs, you need to get a board that supports at least dual x8. Whether upgrading to an 8350 or swap to an intel setup is your call. Intel will cost more, but has more power savings and runs cooler overall. If intel is your choice then an i7 is unnecessary unless you plan to use your setup as a workstation as well as gaming system. Also on the PSU, go with seasonic, corsair, or antec. The corsair RM line is good for the money, but the AX line is the flagship line.
 
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so to see an increase in performance upgrade the motherboard? everything else is good the way that it is?
 
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The motherboard is your first and biggest bottleneck as 1 card at x16 is going to perform at best equal to (if not better to) 2 @ x4.

Now once you take care of the motherboard issue the 6300 will be holding you back with the 2 270x.
Thus while you are at the motherboard stage you need to decide if you want to go i5+h97/z97 or 8350+990FX.
I would get the i5 as it will be better in performance, and if you get a 4450+h97 it should be with in $20-30 of an 8350+990fx
 
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Exactly what I was trying to get at.
 
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Intel system...PCI-E 3.0 @x8 is enough bandwidth for the 270x cards:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.73 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($101.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $280.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-27 17:01 EST-0500

AMD Build
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($163.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $271.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-27 17:07 EST-0500
 
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A good mobo that I have coupled with an 8350 on my first build is the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5. Overclocks very nicely too by the way.
 
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do you think i would be better to go with the intel upgrade or the amd? which would make me see a better improvement in gameplay? and be more future proof?
 
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Intel setup on the 1150 socket hands down. Reason being is that the AM3+ socket is a dead socket. AMD has been only pumping out power saver versions of already made chips. Intel however will beat an AMD CPU hands down in single thread processing and i7s will absolutely destroy even the highest AMD chips in multithreaded processing. Not to mention everything runs cooler and uses less power in an Intel setup. A con is that it costs more initially.
 
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Solution
I'm admittedly a bit of an AMD fanboy, so that would personally be my selection as I do not solely game. If you are solely gaming, then you probably would be better with an Intel setup.

However, depending on your cooling, the 8350 can be overclocked and provide benchmarks that fall just shy of some i7 processors and I have heard that Intel CPUs can sometimes be a lot trickier to overclock. But at the same time, to get the most out of an AMD chip would depend on whether you are doing things like modelling, video editing or a lot of mult-tasking.

It's my opinion that it is not a good time to be future-proofing a soon we will see Intel's Skylake hit the market and AMD Xen is due in Q3 next year. I wouldn't think too much about future proofing as theoretically... an FX8350 should be better future-proofed than an Intel due to having more cores and be a potentially better multi-threader... but the reality is that most games do not take advantage of having that many threads which is why they generally perform better on the Intel.
 
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thank you very much, as i do just game, i will upgrade to the intel! thanks again for all of your help 😀
 
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I have both an 8350 OC'd to 4.6Ghz and a 4790K OC'd to 4.7Ghz. Even if you OC the 8350 to 4.7Ghz it still cannot compete with the 4790K stock at 4.0Ghz. So, for AMD to come out ahead of Intel in regards to single thread processing the Xen would have to be a substantial leap in capabilities. Plus, multithreading is not really necessary in the majority of processing and AMD eats power like crazy in comparison to the Intel chips.
 
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Before you jump on the intel bandwagon, I would suggest you check Jan's two cents video on Intel vs and power saving video.
Personally I'm on 4690k and it's great for gaming. An i7 WI not yield better fps for the price, the i7 is better for video editing.
If you just want to game an i5 is more than enough to run everything.
An 8350 will give you the same as an i5 maybe minus 5fps or so.
I checked countless benchmarks and tests and really it doesn't matter

Now you do need a mobo that will support your dual gpu.
THAT is ESSENTIAL.

It all depends how much you want to spend.
If little to none: new amd mobo, then maybe a 8350,

If you do want future proofness go with a. I5 and jump on the gtx970 bandwagon.
 
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True but power doesn't matter so much in a desktop. If it was a laptop then yes power matters a lot.

Also, because he is gaming that is why I said he is better going for the intel.

Price was one of they questions in this thread and to be fair, your are not comparing like with like when comparing an i7 4790k to the 8350. The i7 is more than twice the price. So, yes... of course an 8350 will fall short of an 4790k.

Considering that an overclocked 8350 to 4.5GHz can get close to the benchmarks of an i7 4770k, which is again around double the price, speaks volumes when it comes to bang for buck.

I found this video quite useful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUBE9xNz_mQ.

Like you said though, multi-threading isn't a neccessity... but again I echo what I said earlier about games not being written for so many threads.

Because AMDs do generally run hotter... the plus side for me is that I don't have to use my central heating as much so my gas bill is lower. 😉 (Yes... I say this in gest, but in some respects it's true haha!)

I genuinely believe that Xen will be a very substantial leap for AMD, but whether it will out perform Skylake... no one can predict that until both chips are on the market, hence why I did not say so, but if the Xen can't beat Skylake then Xen will most likely be priced accordingly. The reasons being is that Xens are going to be 14nm, and they are abandoning CMT for SMT. Next year will be very interesting in the CPU market and with Jim Keller back at the helm for AMD, I wouldn't be surprised to see AMD start surpassing Intel in years to come. However, that remains to be seen! :)
 
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I agree with what you said, except for heating. Depending on what the OP wants to do in regards to cooling and overclocking now or in the future. If they live in a cold place or will have the ambient temp below 21'C then you're right heating will not be an issue. At that point condensation will be. However, if they live in a place that the temp can flux to near 100'F and roughly 32'F ambient temps then the extra heat produced by the AMD chip could have a pretty large effect in performance. Unfortunately, the OP has not designated what type of environment they live in or the methods for cooling they plan to utilize.
 
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Damn, I would freeze lol. I live in Oklahoma, USA. the temps go from -10'F (with windchill) to 115'F (with heat index). My apartment is always around 21'C. Sorry, not fast with Celsius to Fahrenheit conversions.
 
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Hi,
I also have a R9 270X crossfire setup and I have awesome performance when crossfire enabled. Depending the game of course!
I had a fx-6300 @ 4500MhZ then I switched to a i5-4690K and I got a significant improve in performance (even at stock speeds), 5-10 FPS more and no brutal FPS drops.
In fact, I think the FX-6300 is a bottleneck for this dual GPU setup and also your PSU could be a bit underpowered...
Also obviously get a dual X8 PCIE mobo, dual X16 doesn't exist with intel but it's not a issue.

Here my previous specs:

CPU: FX-6300 (4.5 GHz)
CPU cooling: Corsair H80i
GPU 1: XFX double D R9 270X, 2 GB VRam (1125 MHz/1450 MHz)
GPU 2: Gigabyte windforce R9 270 (no X!), 2 GB VRam (1125 MHz/1450 MHz)
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
RAM: 2 X 8gb Corsair vengeance 1600MHz, CL10
PSU: Corsair CX750
Case: Corsair carbide Spec-01

Here my new specs:

CPU: i5-4690K (Stock speed)
GPU 1: XFX double D R9 270X, 2 GB VRam (1125 MHz/1450 MHz)
GPU 2: Gigabyte windforce R9 270 (no X!), 2 GB VRam (1125 MHz/1450 MHz)
MOBO: Asrock Z87 extreme4
RAM: 2 X 8gb Corsair vengeance 1600MHz, CL10
PSU: Corsair CX750
Case: Corsair carbide Spec-01
 
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Dual x16 does exist in the X99 motherboards. However, triple x16 does not exist. At that point it would drop to x16>x8>x8. Plus the Corsair CX series will work, but it's not that great. I highly recommend the RM or AX series even though the dollar point will be a little more.

@OP: I know you want to upgrade for cheap prices, everyone does. The problem is that in most cases in the computer realm you can't really penny pinch on some things like the PSU and Mobo. The CPU and GPU can be upgraded later as they're easier to swap out. The Corsair RM line is not much more than the CX line and quality is a lot better in the RM. The 4690K is a great i5, but there are some out there that would still be an upgrade and cost less. You can get a relatively cheap mATX board that can support two GPUs and from 16GB to 32GB of DDR3 RAM. If you want to keep temps down you can look into an all-in-one cooler like the Corsair H80i (this will help with overall temps in the case and reduce airflow resistance). I know this is a lot of info and some of it is not what you asked for, but they're all good pointers.
 
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