Upgrading my CPU

[blado]

I'm currently using an AMD 1075t with an AMD 6950 2GB. It seems like in some games that my CPU might be bottlenecking my GPU. Games such as Shogun 2: Total war, Mount and Blade Warband, and Skyrim are good examples of this occurring. My budget is around $200, and my motherboard is a Gigabyte 870a-UD3 that supports only AMD. The AMD 980 black edition on newegg looked promising to me. The AMD FX 8150 also looked promising, but I suspect that my motherboard doesn't support it, and it might be a bit overkill. Any advice on finding a new cpu will be greatly appreciated.

 

[WR2]

Hello blado


Upgrading a 3.0Ghz Phenom II to a 3.7GHz Phenom II is too much of a 'sideways' move IMO.

But the Phenom II X4 980 BE (OEM edition) is on sale for $135 for the next few days.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103935
Add a CPU cooler to do some overclocking and you'd probably notice an improvement.

Lets see if your Gigabyte 870a-UD3 supports the 125W CPUs.....

 

[blado]

Thanks for the advice. I'm currently using liquid cooling, so I should be fine there. I also suppose I forgot to mention that I'm using my computer strictly for gaming, so the extra two cores kind of go to waste. The box my Motherboard came in claims support for AMD Phenom-II x6, AMD Athlon-II x4, and the AMD 870 chipset.

 

[WR2]

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 webpage. Phenom II X4 980 BE is supported with BIOS F5 or later
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3423#


You don't happen to have a CPU cooler already, do you?

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Will this fit in your case?
CM Hyper 212 Plus "Heatpipe Direct Contact" 120mm CPU Cooler $20 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[WR2]

I'm currently using liquid cooling, so I should be fine there.

Yes you should.

 

[blado]

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 webpage. Phenom II X4 980 BE is supported with BIOS F5 or later
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3423#


You don't happen to have a CPU cooler already, do you?

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Will this fit in your case?
CM Hyper 212 Plus "Heatpipe Direct Contact" 120mm CPU Cooler $20 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

I'm slightly confused, does this mean that my motherboard won't support the 980? I know almost completely nothing about motherboards. If so, that's unfortunate. I wish I had gotten a better motherboard when I bought my computer. Will the performance increase in my games be enough to warrant buying the 965?

 

[WR2]

No, it means that with BIOS version F5 or later installed it WILL support the Phenom II X4 980 BE.


AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition overclocked with water cooler.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1603/14/

 

[WR2]

Will the performance increase in my games be enough to warrant buying the 965?

This is a harder question.
We're talking $110~$135 and what might be a small increase in performance.

You might be able to sell your X6-1075 to offset a good part of the cost which takes some of the sting out of upgrading.

 

[WR2]

How fast do you have your X6 1075 running now?

 

[blado]

I did some searching and found out my bios version is F2. Looks like I'll need to update that. Since my motherboard will support the 980 with the update, I think I'll avoid the 965, and go for that since I can afford it.

Edit: My 1075t isn't a black edition, and is running at whatever is standard.

 

[WR2]

OK, I thought you might have bumped up the FSB for some old school OC'ing.
FSB @ 240Mhz would have the X6-1075 @ 3.6Ghz.

I think X4 980 @ around 4.2Ghz is a respectable upgrade.

 

[blado]

So it wouldn't be a better alternative to attempt to OC my 1075t? I have no experience with overclocking CPUs the easy way, let alone the "old school" way. Also, when update to F5, does the motherboard revision matter? I'm unsure of what revision my motherboard is. Gigabyte has pages for every revision. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3423&dl=1#bios
Do you think it matters? I suppose I could open up my computer to find the revision number, just to be safe.

 

[WR2]

You should be able to see the BIOS revision on the first boot screen after you power on.
And it should be listed in BIOS (F2 key at boot) so you don't have to crack open the case.

F5 is the latest version and the one you want.


Your motherboard has EasyTune6 utility program for 'easy' overclocking. You could look it over and see what you think. Usually, you get better results with the full manual BIOS tweaking though.

-> In any case that 13 May limit on the $15 off X4 980 shouldn't be ignored.

Black Edition multiplier OC'ing is the easier way to overclock and will get you the best performance w/ the X4 980 BE.

 

[WR2]

Also, when update to F5, does the motherboard revision matter? I'm unsure of what revision my motherboard is.

The motherboard revision....... yes, we should check that just to confirm we're looking at the right page.

 

[blado]

Thanks for your advice. I think I'll be getting the 980. I'll try to buy it before the $15 discount is lifted. How much of an increase in FPS can I expect in, say, Skyrim. My AMD 6950 isn't overclocked.

 

[WR2]

It will improve. I think. If the game isn't being GPU bound at what ever resolution and graphics quality setting you're gaming on.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Performance Test / CPU Scaling
http://www.techspot.com/review/467-skyrim-performance/page7.html

If you look at the 3.3Ghz X6 1100T vs 3.7Ghz X4 980 you see a about a 10% improvement (5 FPS). If OC'ing increases in linear fashion a 4.2Ghz OC could see a 20% (10 FPS).

 

[blado]

Well that clears up all of my questions, thanks for your help.

 

[blado]

Best answer selected by blado.

 

[WR2]

Lets us know how it all works out for you.