Is it time to bite the financial bullet and switch to Intel?

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mstringer06

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Feb 7, 2015
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Ok, so have recently put a few upgrades into my computer, two of them being GTX 970's. I've posted online in the battlefield forums and asked how to best tweak my settings to get best trade off with quality and FPS. Pretty much everyone is telling me that my FPS is way to low for my hardware, and that its pretty pathetic considering. They point to my CPU and say that it is holding the GTX's back. I currently have a fx 8350 OC to 4.6. I bought it a couple of years ago and I though with OC it would be able to keep up. They say I should get an I5 at least and recommend a i7 4790k (which is probably what I would buy).
So my question is, is this all fanboyism or is there something to this. Will I notice as big an improvement as they say? Will the fx 9590 not provide the same results? (so I can keep my MOBO I JUST bought)

Oh, and "1-800-2-EASY":

I know you like to follow me around on Online forums, but I've heard plenty of your opinion and I don't want to hear any more of it. Thanks :)
 
Solution
sincreator


It seems that you are forgetting that the OP is trying to run GTX 970's. I don't think money is an issue, lol. All these cheap chips are pointless for SLI GTX970 unless the OP wants a huge CPU bottleneck. Go read the link I posted way earlier in the thread that explores CPU bottlenecks. Even crossfire 7970 was held back by the FX chips, so SLI 970 would be bottlenecked way worse since they are twice as powerful.

From the conclusion of the article I mentioned:
" From now on, we'll need to limit the use...
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intel wins by a little in 2 and amd wins by a lot in 4 and 25 dollar price difference.... and yes about the intel cpu having an integrated gpu... amd motherboards are cheaper and have an integrated gpu in the motherboard...
 
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OP listen to the veterans in this thread. If you look around at ALL sites reviews for the FX chips you will see in the conclusion that the Intel chips are all around better. I just switched from a Phenom x6 1090t @ 4.0ghz to the chip I have in my sig. I got a HUGE increase in performance.

If you need more proof that Intel is the way to go, read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/dying-light-benchmark-performance-analysis,4060-4.html Scroll to the bottom to see the CPU comparison. 😉

This game is the newest AAA title released, and the i5 4690k almost doubles the FX chip. Farcry 3/4, Skyrim, Crysis, and a nice few others show the same if you look at reviews for the FX chips. BF4 is the best case scenario for the FX chips as far as current games go.

Here is an interesting link comparing some FX vs i3/i5/i7: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/5

See that wall that the AMD chips hit? With spending the money on SLI GTX970 I very much doubt you would want to hit that, lol.
 
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It seems that you are forgetting that the OP is trying to run GTX 970's. I don't think money is an issue, lol. All these cheap chips are pointless for SLI GTX970 unless the OP wants a huge CPU bottleneck. Go read the link I posted way earlier in the thread that explores CPU bottlenecks. Even crossfire 7970 was held back by the FX chips, so SLI 970 would be bottlenecked way worse since they are twice as powerful.

From the conclusion of the article I mentioned:
" From now on, we'll need to limit the use of AMD's flagship to systems already bottlenecked by their graphics cards. A less expensive CPU is more attractive when it isn't affecting performance negatively."

This was derived from using only crossfire 7970's.....

PS: AMDs onboard GPU is not always found on the motherboard either, it's in the chip itself but only on APUs. The FX chips do not have onboard built in at all. That is up to the motherboard manufacturer, and it could be AMD/Nvidia onboard in this case.
 
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Solution



wow... this escalated quickly. Should of known better lol. And yes money is an issue, but not a huge one. If money was no issue I would of SLI'd two 980's or hell even three. I do however want this to be a build that will last (hopefully till 2020 if I'm lucky). I did already spend quite a bit, but I am willing to spend another $800 or so to really reach the 'high end' level with my build. It seems that 99% of everyone I ask says the same thing. CPU bottleneck, get an intel (with ample proof to back it up, AMD enthusiasts always go for the value aspect) They also say that I should go for an i5, but again I'm like F it, i'll just grab an i7. When I did my last build, price was more of an issue so I wanted to stay under $1000 and went with the FX 8350. Now, not so much, plus I'm building a gaming rig to donate to me buddy who doesn't have alot of money but would love a computer, so I'll just throw the FX in there for him.

Ok, so I will grab an i7, I'm thinking 4790k. I really like ASUS mobos becuase I've used them in the past and I really like them. I'm thinking about grabbing one with the dual lan, so I can bridge connections (I assusme) for faster speeds. I also like that plastic air flow sh*t only because it looks cool lol (with a $2k build, everything should look cool). I'm thinking possibly the ASUS SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK S. Any thoughts on that? Is there another mobo similar that you could recommend? (Again I prefer Asus but i'm willing to consider other brands)

*Oh and the last two AMD motherboards that were built for the FX line did NOT have on board graphics)*
 
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that is pretty low even for your 8350. i easily get Battlefield 4 hitting and sitting on 60fps @ 1440p with 290X & 4.8GHz 8350.
i would really work on fine tuning your current setup before just ditching it and putting the money on Intel chipset.
 
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I doubt the i5 will push those cards. I used to have a 4670k @4.2Ghz and it bottle necked two HD7870's in maps like Firestorm. I have no issue after upgrading to the 4790k stock and two HD7970's. The added bonus is the i7 is way more future proof and the only future upgrade you will need is GPU's.
 
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yeah, i have the 9590, and i regret getting it. like they said, its just an OCed 8350. and the big issue with it is that they cranked the wattage for it up to 220. the thing overheats with anything less than high-end liquid cooling when im playing games on it (Dragon Age Inq being the worst offender lately). if I had the money, i would swap to intel myself. i just cant afford a new build right now
 
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I'll make this very simple. If you have a Micro Center near you go pick up their I7 4790K/ASRock Z97 Extreme4 bundle for $359 I don't know if the additional $20 mail in rebate for the mobo is still in effect. It's the best bang for the buck going at the moment and no AMD CPU or AMD chipset motherboard comes close in performance to either component.
 
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JUST buy an i5 4690k or i7 4790k which ever you prefer, a good gaming motherboard, and never look back. AMD is the choice for poor gamers unless you purchase their gpus. It the only category where AMD can actually shine. Id still rather have Nvidia though, better drivers, software, cooler cards, and use much less wattage. In the end intel will outperform any AMD CPU.
 
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Sorry, but it's not the CPU. I've had no FPS problems, and as you can see in my sig, I'm running an FX-8320 (stock speed) with an R9 270.

What you really need to do is:

1. Pull one of the 970s and test it without SLI. If your FPS goes up, then it means BF4 isn't optimized for SLI.

2. With the 2nd 970 still pulled, check your MSAA settings. If your FPS doesnt' change when you change the details, then yes, that would point to a CPU issue. If your FPS starts going up as you decrease the detail level, then it means the GPU is the problem.

3. And above all, make sure all of your drivers (including any Windows CPU drivers) are up to date.
 
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I'm going to ask something that no one here bothered asking... Since apparently they're too busy hating on AMD to even consider the possibility, all the while forgetting that BF is not one of the games that an FX CPU will bottleneck. So...

What resolution do you play at? Why I ask? Because the GTX 970 starts microstuttering like crazy if you surpass 3.5 GB of memory usage. And since you have SLI, meaning you're probably gaming at a higher res, and memory doesn't stack, 3.5 GB is low for anything higher than 1080p...

Again, BF4 is not one of the games where the FX CPUs really bottleneck... See here:
http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page6.html



He can't since he has nVidia GPUs.
 
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I never moved anywhere, if you are calling me a diehard, lol. I backed up everything I had to and presented the OP the results from various sources. He hasn't responded in about a week, so I saw no need to advise him further. Coming from a person that just switched from AMD to Intel, and is also running multiple GPUs, I can honestly say that the OP is far better off with an Intel chip overall. Better upgrade path, less chance of a CPU bottleneck in almost every title recently. Anyone buying a AMD chip right now will regret it soon enough, trust me. Some already do, like the guy that mentioned he regrets buying the FX 9590. It especially becomes apparent as soon as you try SLI/XFIRE with the FX chips and then compare to a similar setup using an Intel i5/i7 chip. The FX has to be overclocked a lot just to match the performance of a stock i5 in most games, and those i5/i7 K edition chips can overclock as well without ludicrous power usage. AMD AM3+ cxhips are now a dead end, and I can no longer recommend them honestly. Maybe for someone running a mid range card that never plans to upgrade, but certainly not for high end single GPUs, or multiple card configurations.
 
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I was never calling you anything, jeez, desperate for attention much? I was just stating the die hard intel fans already stopped replying to forum, and thats why it seems dead.
 
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The OP hasn't posted in a week so the thread is dead. No other reason.
 
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Yeah I was busy and my comp has been up and down with adding and modifying build. Well this has been very informative but all I know is I went ahead and bought an i7 4970k and my average fps on campaign with max settings is like 150-170! Thats with turbo core disabled, as I am having a problem with excessive temps
 
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you shouldn't be having problems with excessive heat, even on stock cooler with the boost enabled. Might be case ventilation, or its starving for air. Could be the cooler is not seated all the way properly (the stock coolers a b*tch to get on sometimes). might be your room temp too.
 
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well it can run a little hot in my apt like 70-80*. I was using my Corsair H80i, but I didn't add any new thermal grease when I transferred it so I figured it would be ok. When it was idling at like 60* I took it off and cleaned it, and ruined it in the process (didn't realize the copper plates were so sensitive.) I put the stock one on and checked the bios and it read 40* and but I messed with it and bent one of the connectors (this was like 3:30am) When I did take it off I noticed that the bit of thermal grease that comes pre-applied was not nearly enough as it didn't cover the whole cpu and had bubbles in it. I happened to have a cooler master vortex plus in a box in my apt (have no idea how it got there, when or where I bought it) so I carefully put a thin layer of thermal grease on the heatsink with a credit card and then slapped it on there. So with turbo core disabled, power saving mode enabled, cpu core voltage on adaptive, and vrm spread spectrum disabled, it now idles at like 40-45* but does get to like 65-70* under 70% + load.... I will by a new water cooler next month, probably another H80i or maybe H100i, unless you have any other sugestions
 
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