Will my R9 290 get strongly bottlenecked by my current system?

[InnerConflict]

AMD Phenom II X6 1090t 3,2Ghz
ASUS Formula Crosshair II
Geil Black Dragon DDR2 2x2GB DualChannel 800Mhz CL5
LC Power Arkangel 850W
POV TGT Charged GTX 460 768mb @ 780Mhz

Getting: Gigabyte Windforce OC R9 290 4GB VRAM @ 1040Mh

I have a quite old, but still powerful system. The GPU I want is new though. I don´t have a problem with loosing a bit of performance due to bottleneck but is it a lot or still acceptable?

For games like BF4 for example. Not Last Light etc. Still get 50-60+ FPS on normal in bigger particle heavy levels.

I´m just curious about the bottleneck gap. I´m getting a i7 4770k 3,4Ghz and 8GB 2400mhz CL10 DDR3, MSI M87 MPOWER 1150 anyway, but it will take a few months, until then I play with my old system.

 

[tiny voices]

Yes, that CPU will bottleneck the 290 FOR SURE. In CPU intensive games at 1080p, it will be a decently significant amount. It will still be a HUGE upgrade over your 460, but you will not get the most pout of the card at all until you upgrade the CPU.

Get a new PSU ASAP. Yours is junk. The PSU is the most important part of a PC and if it fails (junk ones do all the time), it can ruin every single component in your computer. It happens all the time. Antec, XFX, Seasonic, Corsair (not CX, CS, RM) is what you want.

 

[Rationale]

Yes, it'll bottleneck, but that CPU is still decent. It'd be a good match for like an R9 270X or a GTX 760. I'd replace it if you intend to run an R9 290 though, you won't see the full power of your video card otherwise.

The rest of your system is pretty bad though, between the unheard of PSU and the DDR2 RAM. You might have gotten better performance buying an R9 280 and spending the rest on a new AM3+ motherboard (so you could keep your CPU and have DDR3) and RAM.

 

[tiny voices]

HE stated he will be getting an i7 in the near future. It would be perfectly fine for him to use the 290 with his current system while he waits for his new CPU/motherboard/RAM?PAU.

 

[Rationale]

HE stated he will be getting an i7 in the near future. It would be perfectly fine for him to use the 290 with his current system while he waits for his new CPU/motherboard/RAM?PAU.

Yep. And I said it would have been better to balance the build out right away. There's not much difference between an R9 290 and an R9 280X at 1080p/60 fps anyway, just in a couple games.

 

[InnerConflict]

Yes, that CPU will bottleneck the 290 FOR SURE. In CPU intensive games at 1080p, it will be a decently significant amount. It will still be a HUGE upgrade over your 460, but you will not get the most pout of the card at all until you upgrade the CPU.

Get a new PSU ASAP. Yours is junk. The PSU is the most important part of a PC and if it fails (junk ones do all the time), it can ruin every single component in your computer. It happens all the time. Antec, XFX, Seasonic, Corsair (not CX, CS, RM) is what you want.

Thx for the answer. I already thought about getting a new psu. A Corsair should do it just fine. Or a be quiet. LC got quite a bad reputation over the years, but it was really popular around the Athlon II years 2006-2008. I know that a PSU holds really long if it´s high quality and I know its an important part of the PC but I didn´t have any problems even with low end PSU´s yet, so my experience is somewhat limited. By the way, why not RM? For me the RM or AX are both the best. Except for Gold vs Platinum, whats the most important difference between these two series? Since AX(i) costs easily 50 to 70 bucks more where I live.

 

[tiny voices]

There is a large difference between those cards. http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1041 20-30% in most games. This will strongly impact the longevity of the card before it becomes antiquated.

I disagree with you about balancing the rig now. There is no reason not to get the 290 if he is going to get a new CPU/motherboard soon. If he was not going to upgrade the CPU I would agree with you, but because he is, the 290 is definitely not a waste and if he has the money, I would definitely say it is the way to go.

 

[tiny voices]

The Corsair RM series uses the junk capacitors form the CX units. Don't let a gold rating fool you. They have already failed in spectacular fashion in many people rigs. The HX, TX, AX units are what you want.

 

[InnerConflict]

HE stated he will be getting an i7 in the near future. It would be perfectly fine for him to use the 290 with his current system while he waits for his new CPU/motherboard/RAM?PAU.

Yep. And I said it would have been better to balance the build out right away. There's not much difference between an R9 290 and an R9 280X at 1080p/60 fps anyway, just in a couple games.

Theres quite a difference even in 1080p. Easily up to 20-40% more performance. the 290 easily goes up to an 780 while a 280x is somewhat between a 770 and 780. Also 1GB more VRam if I should go 2k in the future. well. its only 50 bucks difference for me so i decided on a 290 instead of the 280x.

 

[tiny voices]

I totally agree with your decision. Once you get the CPU/motherboard/RAM/PSU it should be a great rig!

 

[InnerConflict]

The Corsair RM series uses the junk capacitors form the CX units. Don't let a gold rating fool you. They have already failed in spectacular fashion in many people rigs. The HX, TX, AX units are what you want.

ah. that was helpful. thx. i think i go for a AX then.

 

[InnerConflict]

First the GPU, then I buy the PSU and RAM, and then the CPU and Mobo. Already got a nice case Silverstone Raven 2 and the peripherals and OS so I can upgrade my hardware without any extra costs. CPU is 240€, Mobo 150€, GPU, 345€, RAM is 95€ and PSU goes for probably 150 to 180€. 800W minimum. hardware is quite cheap these days. But I was surprised about the R9 series delivery shortage in my area.

 

[tiny voices]

I would not use the GPU until you get the new PSU for fear of it failing and frying the computer.

If you are getting a single 290, a 650-750w unit is more than plenty.

 

[Rationale]

I would not use the GPU until you get the new PSU for fear of it failing and frying the computer.

If you are getting a single 290, a 650-750w unit is more than plenty.

Agreed.

 

[InnerConflict]

I would not use the GPU until you get the new PSU for fear of it failing and frying the computer.

If you are getting a single 290, a 650-750w unit is more than plenty.

I first was in the 650W category but the price difference between 650W to 800W PSU´s isnt that big either. I thought about a 760 Watt Corsair AXi Series Modular 80+ Platin. That should do it just fine. But with 145€ quite expensive. seems like a triple A PSU though. other brand im very interested in is be quiet. checked other PSU´s from be quiet, but corsair seems to offer the best quality for the 150€ price category. the gpu needs about 1 week cause it comes in at the seller on april 4th so i can buy the psu first. i will buy the ram after that alone and save som money for mobo and cpu then.

totally forgot the awesome feeling of building your own pc. did it often as kid, but took a break from 2009-10 until now. had to learn a lil bit bout the current state of tech and im impressed how powerful pc tech is now.