What is the slowest part of my system(bottleneck)? Also want upgrade tips.

[rtorkii]

This is my first time posting on Tom's Hardware, so here goes =)

My specs are:

MSI 970A-G46 AMD 9 Series
AMD FX-8120 Bulldozer (3.1GHz)
HIS TwinFrozer Radeon HD 7870
Corsair XMS3 2x4GB (1333MHz)
Seagate ST500DM002 Barracuda (7200RPM)
Corsair CX750M power supply.

I think that it is either the Hard Drive (not enough money for an SSD ugh!) or the RAM.

I am also wondering if I should switch to an Intel/nVidia based system in the lengthy future... It seems like AMD and ATI are always falling short of the benchmarks the "blue" brands set...

Thanks in advance =)

 

[DarylEPerez]

The slowest part of your PC it's clearly your CPU which is the one that provides overall performance. Ram it's fine aside of your GPU which is fine, depending on your needs of course.

 

[guitarman1017]

Welcome. Your system looks pretty good to me. Only thing I would suggest if you havent done it is overclock the FX8120. as far as ram speed, sure there is alot faster ram out there and you can overclock that some too but the results arent really there from what I've seen and read.

 

[johnnyb105]

Ram is the slowest issue I have seen you can oc your cpu some will help yes a 90 dollar SSD DRIVE would make your system fly if used as your main boot drive but in time you can get one other then that good build.

 

[rtorkii]

Welcome. Your system looks pretty good to me. Only thing I would suggest if you havent done it is overclock the FX8120. as far as ram speed, sure there is alot faster ram out there and you can overclock that some too but the results arent really there from what I've seen and read.

Thanks
The problem is that even with my Hyper 212 Evo+ I get lots of overheating with overclocking. Currently I am using my BIOS's automatic OC which runs my RAM at 1600 and my CPU at 3.33. If only I could afford an SSD, I am broke at the moment! 🙁
PS. I should be able to run BF4 on ultra smoothly, but I get a low FPS and lots of stuttering. I am guessing this is only because it is the beta... And I hope I am right about that...

 

[guitarman1017]

Welcome. Your system looks pretty good to me. Only thing I would suggest if you havent done it is overclock the FX8120. as far as ram speed, sure there is alot faster ram out there and you can overclock that some too but the results arent really there from what I've seen and read.

Thanks
The problem is that even with my Hyper 212 Evo+ I get lots of overheating with overclocking. Currently I am using my BIOS's automatic OC which runs my RAM at 1600 and my CPU at 3.33. If only I could afford an SSD, I am broke at the moment! 🙁
PS. I should be able to run BF4 on ultra smoothly, but I get a low FPS and lots of stuttering. I am guessing this is only because it is the beta... And I hope I am right about that...

If you turn down the graphic settings in BF4 does it resolve your issues? Or at least get a little better? Being that its beta may be part of it. What kind of temps are you getting when you say you overheat? Your bios might be giving it to much voltage using the auto thing. Try setting it to the stock voltage and just upping the multiplier and see what you can get. As far as cooling and temps. You could try to reseat your cooler or use a different thermal paste. of course there's much more to it than that but that's a start anyway.

 

[rtorkii]

Welcome. Your system looks pretty good to me. Only thing I would suggest if you havent done it is overclock the FX8120. as far as ram speed, sure there is alot faster ram out there and you can overclock that some too but the results arent really there from what I've seen and read.

Thanks
The problem is that even with my Hyper 212 Evo+ I get lots of overheating with overclocking. Currently I am using my BIOS's automatic OC which runs my RAM at 1600 and my CPU at 3.33. If only I could afford an SSD, I am broke at the moment! 🙁
PS. I should be able to run BF4 on ultra smoothly, but I get a low FPS and lots of stuttering. I am guessing this is only because it is the beta... And I hope I am right about that...

If you turn down the graphic settings in BF4 does it resolve your issues? Or at least get a little better? Being that its beta may be part of it. What kind of temps are you getting when you say you overheat? Your bios might be giving it to much voltage using the auto thing. Try setting it to the stock voltage and just upping the multiplier and see what you can get. As far as cooling and temps. You could try to reseat your cooler or use a different thermal paste. of course there's much more to it than that but that's a start anyway.

Yeah, my fps gets slightly better but still crappy, around or below 30. The thing is I recently found out that either my ram or my mother board is defected. I've tested out my other components which leaves only these two and it is leaning more towards the motherboard side of things. If it is my mother board, don't judge, but it is way too much work to get it fixed :/

 

[johnnyb105]

Can I ask you something how much thermal paste did you use on your cpu it should be able to do better then 3.3 with a evo cooler? You only need a pea size drop of thermal paste.

 

[rtorkii]

Can I ask you something how much thermal paste did you use on your cpu it should be able to do better then 3.3 with a evo cooler? You only need a pea size drop of thermal paste.

This was my first time building and I did put the right amount, however I spread it before placing the cooler on top. After, my friend told me that I would get better cooling if I put it on top without spreading.

 

[johnnyb105]

Try removing it clean with alcohol and put a pea size shape drop let on about the amount a pea looks like I am sure you get better temps I own 2 hyper 212 same as the evo just name change from cooler master.

 

[rtorkii]

Try removing it clean with alcohol and put a pea size shape drop let on about the amount a pea looks like I am sure you get better temps I own 2 hyper 212 same as the evo just name change from cooler master.

I decided to upgrade my BIOS because of the issue I was having and I noticed that my fan was always running at a stable speed. Played around with the "target temperature" a bit and temps are great now!

 

[endoftime]

Its the harddrive, it depends on what you are doing as was mentioned. Your computer will start and access information way faster with a good ssd. faster memory is a good idea too.
your cpu and graphics are plenty good. I would use a ssd for booting and running all your programs on, and then keep the seagate for additional storage. if you do this you probably can buy a smaller sized sdd. I get away with 128gb cost under 150, you will notice the difference.