Question Is my motherboard bottlenecking my CPU?

LilGreenBean

Commendable
Apr 19, 2019
40
0
1,530
First, let's start off with my parts list.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3_R2
CPU: AMD FX-8350
GPU: RX 580 8GB
RAM: 8gb DDR3 1600
Case Fans: 2
Storage: 1 TB HDD
PSU: EVGA 450W

My cpu and gpu usage are not even reaching 100% in any games. Plus, my cpu is strong enough to support my gpu. All I was wondering is if it is my motherboard that is bottlnecking it.
 

LilGreenBean

Commendable
Apr 19, 2019
40
0
1,530
Yeah, but it will only hold it back by 2.4% based off of the bottleneck calculator. Plus, my friend has the same gpu and cpu, but a better psu and motherboard. Yet, he gets a LOT more frames than me. That, is the problem.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
What makes you think it's the motherboard that's the issue? What percentage are you seeing?
I see a number of issues with your system. First, you paired a 200W GPU with a 125W CPU, and are powering it with a 450W PSU. EVGA does make some lower end models and asking a *1 (read that as Star1) PSU to power 375W might be a bit much. Second, the 8350 might not be enough to feed the 580. While it does fine in 80-90% of the games out there, there are some where it's not going to be good enough. Test your setup in many games and make sure it's not just one game that has issues. Third, you didn't list any settings, temp, or monitor specs. If you are playing on a 1080 screen with Vsync on, then I wouldn't be surprised to see lower load figures. 580 might not have to work that hard to get to 60FPS on 1080. There is a reason they test that card at 4k.

Finally, yes, your board isn't very good It's based on the 760G chipset and doesn't run 125W CPUs well. But replacing your board doesn't make sense seeing as you'll still be stuck with the 8350. Keep what you have, replace everything when you can.

Edit: Ignore any "bottleneck calculator/websites. They are garbage. It's as bad as going to CPU/GPU boss for meaningful info. It's a waste of time.
 

LilGreenBean

Commendable
Apr 19, 2019
40
0
1,530
Well my friend, (Who has the same gpu and cpu) gets a LOT (and I mean a lot) more frames on games. Plus, I did try my card out on all of my games and they still don't get a lot of fps. I would think that it is my motherboard because i don't have a good motherboard.
 

LilGreenBean

Commendable
Apr 19, 2019
40
0
1,530
Ok yeah if I got his psu, then the psu would be out of the bottlenecking question, but will mine right now bottleneck my system? I saw somewhere that if you don't have a good enough psu that it won't give your system sufficient power to run your parts at full utilization.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Your just testing it. You aren't keeping his PSU. If speeds go up, then you know it's a power issue.

It probably is the board. The 760G was never designed to run 125W CPUs. But I wouldn't buy a new board. That entire setup is end of life and to run anything newer you need a new everything. Board, ram, CPU, etc. You could buy a new board but it would be a waste seeing as you'll need to again buy a new board once you upgrade again. It could also be a temp issue with that board. I've seen cases where the VRMs are getting to hot trying to power that CPU and it has to downclock to save it. If you can cool the VRMs it might work better.
 

LilGreenBean

Commendable
Apr 19, 2019
40
0
1,530
Well, I just recently replaced the cpu in my rig so that there wouldn’t be as much bottleneck. I was planning to get a new board, cpu, and ram in October, and obviously a new psu. But, I bought this new cpu to hold me over until then. I’m still gonna replace everything in October, and I’m not shy of spending money right now to make my rig work properly. From here on, I just wanna know if I should replace it. It’s not that much money for a new board anyways.