SLI on a 6 Core

[MrMc]

I find myself in the question of whether to upgrade my cpu to hold 2 Gigabyte 960 4g cards my FX 6300 black holds the current 960 well and Runs Doom on ultra with minimal fps drops in extreme combat (98% of the time im running better than 60fps and it only usually drops to 50 during extreme combat) but i want to get more out of Arma 3 and GTAV. i currently overclock the fx and it usually sits around 3.7ghz but with open hardware monitor i've seen it hit 4.7 a few times
but is sits nice at 3.7-4.0 GHz im worried that if i go to a second 960 SLI i might bottleneck the cpu and cause worse frames than before.

power i don't think will be an issue my 750W NZXT PSU i should be fine there.

 

[weberdarren97]

I have added tags to this post. Having relevant tags makes your thread show up on the timelines of users who can help.

I don't trust NZXT PSUs.

Also, FX is basically dead. SLI would bottleneck every one of them, even the 9590. 🙁

Please consider updating the motherboard and CPU before looking at a new GPU.

 

[Hlsgsz]

Do not invest in the dead and burried AM3+ platform. Even an i3 will serve you alot better and the platform has a future.
Seriously. Anything above one 960 will not be fully utilized.

 

[MrMc]

Would it be better to invest in a new motherboard and the new amd cpu format im not much for intel as the price is out of my range and i much prefer amd cpu's to take advantage of the current 960 ?

 

[weberdarren97]

I would get a good Skylake motherboard (the B150 chipset will do if you don't intend to overclock the memory). Then get a lower CPU like the i3 6320, and then upgrade to an i5 6500 or 6600k when you have the money.

You can change a CPU without having to reinstall Windows, but a motherboard change requires a fresh install.

 

[anbello262]

Just to clarify a point that I see SO many people get wrong:
'Bottlenecking' doesn't work like that. You will not get worse frame rates because you 'bottleneck it more'.
If your cpu bottlenecks your gpu, it means that your cpu is working as hard as it can, while your gpu is just working at a lower load. In this case, the limiting factor is the cpu. So if you get more Gpu power, it won't change anything, as the limiting factor is still the cpu.
So, instead of improving graphics, you can just improve your cpu. In this case (imagine you get an i5), now your cpu doesn't need to work very hard to keep up with the gpu.

This will let the gpu run to it's full potential, and your framerates will improveThe cpu will be resting while the gpu will be working really hard.

Now, the limiting factor is the gpu, and in this case, improving graphics subsystem will give you better frames.

'Bottleneck' is just a common way of saying 'limiting factor', 'what part should I upgrade to get better performance'.





(for the more advanced users, I know, this is somewhat of a simplification, let's not make it harder than it already is)

 

[MrMc]

I would get a good Skylake motherboard (the B150 chipset will do if you don't intend to overclock the memory). Then get a lower CPU like the i3 6320, and then upgrade to an i5 6500 or 6600k when you have the money.

You can change a CPU without having to reinstall Windows, but a motherboard change requires a fresh install.

Thats why i want to keep it to amd when my friend upgraded his mobo he kept the old cpu and got a full size mobo instead of his micro mobo without needing to reinstall windows

 

[weberdarren97]

Yes, sometime you can get away with not reinstalling windows, but just because it's AMD doesn't mean you're not going to need to reinstall when you change the motherboard.

A change of motherboards changes the way that Windows interfaces with devices. Unless you get two motherboards that have the same wiring (even boards from the same company with the same chipset will likely have different wiring), then you will need to reinstall Windows.

 

[MrMc]

Would it be better to wait out for the zen CPU's id like to stick to amd

 

[anbello262]

If you're comfortable for the time being with your setup as is and can play with no big issues, it would be a good idea to wait for Zen and make a decision at that time.

 

[weberdarren97]

Well then I'd suggest not buying them as soon as they come out, but rather waiting for Tom's Hardware, LinusTechTips and JayzTwoCents to give their opinions before you go and buy one.