Will upgrading from 760g to 970 increase performance?

[viven44]

I have a simple question guys.. For $15 I am getting an Asrock Extreme 3 R2.0 (Don't ask me how) which is on the AMD 970 chipset.

Currently I'm running an FX-6300 on a Asrock 960GM/U3S3 FX motherboard based on the 760g chipset with a PCI express Radeon HD 7950 graphics card.

Will I notice increased FPS in games?

 

[rockie_]

Unlikely since the mobo has PCI-E x16 gen 2.o slot and 5.2GT/s speed.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/960GMU3S3%20FX/?cat=Specifications

 

[geofelt]

No. FPS is determined by your cpu and your graphics card which will not change.
Possibly a better motherboard will allow you to overclock your FX-6300 a touch higher, but that's it.

Even then, you may be more limited by the graphics card than the cpu.

To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You could also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.

 

[viven44]

Thank you. I am specifically questioning the impact of going to a lower FSB (2400 MHz) vs the 2600 MHz on my old board. Also the board I am interested in comes with USB 3.0 header and 7.1 audio.. So just want to make sure I won't take a performance hit because of the FSB.

No. FPS is determined by your cpu and your graphics card which will not change.
Possibly a better motherboard will allow you to overclock your FX-6300 a touch higher, but that's it.

Even then, you may be more limited by the graphics card than the cpu.

To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You could also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.

 

[viven44]

Thank you. I curious why AMD decided to reduce to 4.8GT/s on the 970 chipset and if that means anything to gaming/general performance.

Unlikely since the mobo has PCI-E x16 gen 2.o slot and 5.2GT/s speed.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/960GMU3S3%20FX/?cat=Specifications