Modern GTX 1060 with Phenom 11 x 4 955 BE for game playing

[tonystephenson007]

I decided that as I wasn't getting any younger and had a bucket list, I wanted to try entry level gaming to see if I can get on with it and had intended to upgrade my old Phenom 11 x 4 955 BE ( 3.2 Ghz stock) and mobo with just a Ryzen 2400 G APU based upgrade.
However, as I didn't have a decent GPU I then thought that I might be disappointed with the performance and as I couldn't make up my mind whether to go for a regular Ryzen CPU like a 1600 or 2600, I simply bought a GTX 1060 3Gb, added a better CPU cooler, extra cooling fans and extra RAM to the existing kit plus a iiyama 24" gaming 1ms, 75Hz monitor and gave it a whirl to see if it would work.

To be honest, I was not expecting much and was actually astounded that I could even play some of the games I downloaded on STEAM but so far I've not played one that showed any problems and I've not encountered any stuttering or crashes etc...even on epic settings on such as Fortnite I'm getting frame rates of up 90-100fps with averages of 60-70 with the occasional drop to high 50s. I've tried capping it to 60fps but see no difference. The same goes fo GTA5. Very responsive.

I've also been playing the likes of CO:GO and it fairly flies along as do the other games with no lag other than in my brain.
I've been monitoring the core temps and after an initial problem with using too much thermal paste which meant the CPU was getting up nearly 70 deg C, after refitting the cooler it never peaks past 61 deg C which is I think acceptable for that CPU and the GPU barely reaches 70 even after long periods of use.

The question is: as an introduction to gaming and knowing absolutely nothing about it, this old CPU etc has done exactly what I wanted and I'm more than happy with the results of the games running smoothly and comfortably playable at high quality settings.
I've monitored the CPU usage and even on the most demanding games I've played so far, it's not really exceeded 80% max load and much lower on average so do I take it that it's not holding the GPU back or would I still be better off upgrading to a more modern CPU like mentioned above and is that likely to max out the GPU or would I expect to see an improvement in performance?
I'm quite happy with the current performance but I'd like to know what improvements I'd see if I upgraded further.

 

[mdd1963]

If you are happy with current frame rates on the games you play, you could certainly wait until you are....not.

 

[tonystephenson007]

If you are happy with current frame rates on the games you play, you could certainly wait until you are....not.

Thanks for the reply.
That is my thinking now although not my original intention. I was all set to dip my hands into my pocket for a Ryzen 2400 G APU as I didn't have or need a GPU and wanted to try my hand at entry level gaming, but having looked at Youtube, the 2400G only performs about the the equivalent of a GTX 1030 so I didn't think I'd be happy in the long term.

Then I had the bright idea of going for a GTX 1050 Ti with a Ryzen 1600 or similar but after weighing up the performance of a GTX 1050 Ti compared to a 1060 3Gb which was only £25-30.00 more I plumped for that GPU and I'm very happy with it so far, even with just the Phenom.

From some of the comments I've read, I was expecting lots of issues due to using an ageing processor which have just not occurred. I'm not obsessed by frame rates like some people are but clearly you need a decent minimum ...if the games play smoothly at decent frame rates with no issues then that's me sorted.
I keep expecting a downside to using the old Phenom CPU, mobo etc but it's just not happening and makes it harder to justify me spending the money burning a hole in my pocket!

As you say, use what I've got now until I'm not happy and then upgrade. I have the money set aside so I can have all the bits I need within a couple of days so I might as well just use this one and even have a go at overclocking as the Phenom has an unlocked multiplier so I can't really wreck anything and I can gain a little OC experience in the process

 

[dontlistentome]

Since you're new to PC gaming, you should know that not all games have the same demands. This is unlike Playstation or other consoles, where they all work on the same exact hardware.

So it IS entirely possible to be very happy with a Phenom II X4, and it's also possible to run into a game which makes you wish you had a better CPU. So far it sounds like what you play mainly needed a good videocard.

Many people on forums like this play the newest, most demanding games, and they based their opinions on how components run those games. You mentioned GTA V, that game is 5 years old. Saying "I get great framerate in GTA V" won't impress the people who want to run Shadow of the Tomb Raider at high settings and a minimum 60fps at 1080p. It's all about the games you play.

 

[tonystephenson007]

Since you're new to PC gaming, you should know that not all games have the same demands. This is unlike Playstation or other consoles, where they all work on the same exact hardware.

So it IS entirely possible to be very happy with a Phenom II X4, and it's also possible to run into a game which makes you wish you had a better CPU. So far it sounds like what you play mainly needed a good videocard.

Many people on forums like this play the newest, most demanding games, and they based their opinions on how components run those games. You mentioned GTA V, that game is 5 years old. Saying "I get great framerate in GTA V" won't impress the people who want to run Shadow of the Tomb Raider at high settings and a minimum 60fps at 1080p. It's all about the games you play.

That was the point of my post. So far the popular games I have been playing are what I suspect are primarily GPU intensive and therefore don't stress the CPU to the point that it is holding the GPU back. I was just surprised that it could handle with relative ease, popular titles like Fortnite, GTA V, CS:GO etc though I'm under no illusion that more CPU demanding titles would probably expose the Phenom's weaknesses very quickly though at the moment, it more than adequately meets my demands as someone who will only be doing casual gaming.

If as you point out, that the latest titles may overwhelm the CPU, I can immediately retire the entire mobo etc and use it in a backup computer and replace it with the very latest CPU and mobo but the question is, would I see any performance improvement from a newer processor if the old one isn't being overwhelmed with the types of games I'm currently playing? I'm running them at the highest or very near highest settings and have not yet had to drop the levels down in order to get fluid play.

It's also fair to say that not everyone lives in affluent countries like those here in the West where we can afford the latest offerings from AMD or Intel..I did a little research on Youtube recently and found that quite a number of gamers in those less well off, low earnings countries are still using such as Phenom processors coupled with the best GPU they can afford and are happy with the results. It was ideal for me as an introduction to gaming and far better than going for such as a Ryzen 2400G APU.

As for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, that's actually on my list of titles to acquire. I very much doubt that what I have now would meet even the minimum requirements for running it at the lowest settings but I'll give it a go just for fun and if it doesn't handle it I'll simply put in a new X370 ot B450 mobo with a Ryzen 2600 and DDR5 ram.

 

[jjjay999]

Not sure if you need a new case, what PSU you’re running, what your budget is, or if you are re-using any parts other than the 1060 from your current rig, but here’s my go at it (that Phenom would probably struggle with ROTTR/SOTTR):

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JFQ9NQ

 

[tonystephenson007]

Not sure if you need a new case, what PSU you’re running, what your budget is, or if you are re-using any parts other than the 1060 from your current rig, but here’s my go at it (that Phenom would probably struggle with ROTTR/SOTTR):

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JFQ9NQ

I strongly suspect you are correct regarding the Tomb Raider series though I didn't even expect to be able to play games like the ever popular CS:GO etc with the Phenom so it's given me a taster for gaming which actually would satisfy me but there are some titles like the Tomb Raider series that I'd like to play so I'll definitely be upgrading to play those which was my original intention in the first place.

My old Akasa gaming case case isn't going anywhere as I've had it since 2011 and it's perfect for me and all my SATA drives etc. I agree with your choice of upgrade though I have planned on buying a Gigabyte Aorus pro 450 M mobo as I need a mATX board with 6 SATA connectors and most boards only have 4 in mATX format. I have 4 case fans already in use and I have space for one more though I suspect a Ryzen 5 2600 would run much cooler than my old Phenom. The fans are all controlled with 6 channel fan controller and by carefully adjusting them, fan noise is kept to an absolute minimum. and cooling is pretty good.

The PSU I currently use is a BeQuiet 530W L7 which is over 7 years old and is very stable but because of its age, before I renew the mobo etc, I'll put in a new PSU of a similar wattage rating and use the old PSU in my backup comp..

My main computer is multi-functional in usage so I run a dual boot system on a 250 Gb SSD ( Win 10 & Win 7) and I have an emergency dual OS backed up onto another SSD ( 120Gb). I have two optical drives and a 1Tb HDD,, hence I need 6 SATA connectors as I want to install a second 2Tb HDD or 1Tb SSD when they become a little cheaper.

I did consider a Ryzen 7 cpu but other than a bit of PhotoShop, I don't need all those cores as I'm not into video editing and most games hardly use more than 4 cores if at all, so a Ryzen 5 2600 should do all I'd need and so too should the 1060 3Gb GPU. The old mobo and Phenom can retire to a backup comp I'll build out of the redundant parts.
I'm uncertain as to whether I'll actually see an improvement in the performance I'm getting from the Phenom at the moment with the games I'm playing but by going Ryzen I can future proof things for a few years and I can install a better CPU when better ones become available at a reasonable price for the AM4 socket.

 

[jeffredo]

You're happy because you have nothing to compare it to. Just last week I swapped out my nephew's Phenom II X4 980 BE (3.7 Ghz) for a used Haswell i5-4590 + motherboard combo. He is still using the old HD 7950 he already had. He plays CS:GO, PUBG and several other games. That night he called me bragging about how much smoother his games were and how he could now stream and game at the same time (which he couldn't do with the old Phenom II). So yeah, if you're happy that's all that matters, but once you do eventually upgrade you'll see what your missing.

 

[tonystephenson007]

You're happy because you have nothing to compare it to. Just last week I swapped out my nephew's Phenom II X4 980 BE (3.7 Ghz) for a used Haswell i5-4590 + motherboard combo. He is still using the old HD 7950 he already had. He plays CS:GO, PUBG and several other games. That night he called me bragging about how much smoother his games were and how he could now stream and game at the same time (which he couldn't do with the old Phenom II). So yeah, if you're happy that's all that matters, but once you do eventually upgrade you'll see what your missing.

I agree that I really don't have much to compare it with regarding gaming but I am acutely aware of response times, lag, stutter etc and I'm also aware of the ability of the old HD 7950 which was a very high end card in its day and despite it's age is still a very decent performer today and comparable in performance to the 560 or GTX 1050 with maybe the 1050 just edging it in some games from some of the benchmarks I've seen but the GTX 1060 3Gb performance is still around 30-40% faster than a GTX 1050 which is why I chose the 1060 over the 1050 so if your nephew was using a Phenom with the HD 7950, he probably would notice some differences with a change of CPU but had he changed the GPU to a 1060 but stuck to his old Phenom then the likelihood is that he'd still see smoother playing ability as it appears those games rely more upon the GPU than CPU though streaming and playing at the same time may have been too demanding for the Phenom and better served by the i5.
I do know that none of those games have over-taxed the combination of the Phenom and 1060 up to now, that is if the monitoring software is to be believed as none have maxed out the CPU which makes sense as not everyone will have the highest performing gear and popular titles have to appeal to the widest market to be profitable.

What I don't doubt is that I'll come up against far more demanding games which will need superior CPU performance than the Phenom and DDR3 can provide and if I still want to continue with gaming playing the most demanding titles, I'll obviously need to upgrade.
I could do that within 24-48 hours and cost isn't an issue but at the moment I'm giving what I've got a good try out to see which games I prefer and any that need better CPU performance. I think I'll stick with AMD and a Ryzen 5 2600 should more than meet my needs.
Whether I'd see any increase in smoothness or performance with the games I'm playing right now would only be apparent after the upgrade. I'll be doing it soon so I'll come back with the answer.