So.... Where's my bottleneck?

[jhondidfool]

CPU: AMD-FX 8150 @ 3.6GHz (Stock, tried to OC, but it's not stable).
MoBo: Gigabyte GA-990X-UD3 rev. 1.1
RAM: Single 8GB G-SKILL 1600MHz
GPU: MSI R9 290 Gaming 4GB
PSU: 80 Plus Silver Templarius 850W
SC: SoundBlaster Z
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA-III
HDD: 512 GB 7200rpm SATA-III Seagate Barracuda

So, here is the deal, I have ^That^, and by all accounts I should be getting good FPS, but the moment I throw an ENB at Fallout NV or Skyrim, it slows down to 20-25 fps. Whenever I try to make Arena Commander run, I get 20-25 fps also. I've checked my fps in many games, and I can't get past 30 in ARMA III, or more than 45 average in Bioshock Infinite.

It irks me because I see people with older and slower graphics cards getting 40-50 or even 60 fps in those sceneries, using the same settings.

So I think I have a bottleneck. CPU too weak? (I know, it is) Not enough RAM? (8GB should be enough...) Maybe I need a second 290? I've done everything I've thought of; drivers, fresh installs... you name it. It is now when I turn to this comunity and humble myself before those who know more of hardware than this mere mortal and ask you: Where is my bottleneck? Do I have one? Did I get bad luck with my components? Did I choose the HW combination in an extremely poor fashion?

Thank you for your answers

 

[jhondidfool]

My 3DMark results are in
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3722380

 

[jhondidfool]

 

[plywrlw]

According to this http://www.3dmark.com/search your scores are mainly the same as other similar systems. The only exception is icestorm where your score is about 8000 points or 10% lower than you'd expect. I'd be interested to know what icestorm tests. I'll try and find out and get back to you.

Oh, and your GPU drivers need updating. The latest is 14.4 and you're using 14.2. Get them from the AMD website.

 

[plywrlw]

OK, so ice storm basically stresses your cpu as it's very physics based. It's designed for mobile phones though so I wouldn't look in to it too much. It's possible that the other people had a slight overclock on their cpu so that's why their scores were a bit higher.

 

[jhondidfool]

So, somehow, by some chance of destiny, my computer is performing within expected parameters and still givving me those FPS :/
This beg for the next question: Upgrade Path?

 

[plywrlw]

This plus an extra stick of whatever RAM you have. Buy the RAM first though to see what happens, nobody seems to have any other suggestions unfortunately.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $468.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-05 17:47 EDT-0400

i5 can be overclocked but performs amazingly in games at stock right now anyway. Motherboard allows for future 8x/8x Crossfire and power supply is one of the best out there right now and has enough juice for an extra R9 290

 

[jhondidfool]

Unless that's going to give me a massive FPS increase, I will postpone it (and buy it bit by bit, maybe better things come out as time goes by, or they get cheaper). I'm a VR junkie, and the Virtux Omni caught my attention (if they solve a couple issues). We'll see in the next months how it pans out and what I choose to do. The memory, however, is a given.

CPU and Motherboard alone would take me 315€ HW is more expensive in the Euro Zone 😛

 

[plywrlw]

Yeah, definitely try the RAM. Your processor isn't great but shouldn't be too terrible either. In benchmarks it performs slightly better than the fx6300. I guess the only other thing would be to keep the motherboard and get one of the 83xx or 9xxx FX processors as they are a newer design and perform better. They will probably still be comparable to the i5 (though I'd guess slightly less with an enormous tdp!) and the i5 gives the option of an i7 upgrade and Broadwell

 

[jhondidfool]

Oh, definitely getting the i5, but I'll stage my purschases, so I'll buy the memory, then the mobo then the i5. By then maybe prices have gone down a bit/ 5th gen cpus are out.