"I can still fight!" - Athlon x4 860k.

[just some guy]

Hey guys.

  - So I was wondering how far can an AMD Athlon x4 860k go?   ..I mean, the strongest GPU it can handle without any bottleneck.

Also, I'd like some recommendations about the best GPU to pair it with.

[Majestic]

don't. unless you already have it. I'd say a 390 at most.

 

390?? You mean 270X.

[Atmos]

370, 270X, 760, pick your poison. Anything higher will start to bottleneck hard.

[Mew]

i'm not on the AMD side very much, all I know is that it can't cope with much, 390=970 and seemed logical to be a card it wouldn't handle

 

My 4690k at stock bottlenecks my 970 in both League and GTA5. League is understandable since it's a single threaded game, but GTA5, always at 99-100% cpu usage and 75-98% gpu usage( averaging around 85%). 

 

Based off of this, the most I would go with would be a 280 if my assumption that the 860k performs roughly the same as a 25% oced i5 750 is correct.

[EliminatingAngels]

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Systems/Quad-Core-Gaming-Roundup-How-Much-CPU-Do-You-Really-Need

 

Use this and decide for yourself. 

[ace_cheaply]

My 4690k at stock bottlenecks my 970 in both League and GTA5. League is understandable since it's a single threaded game, but GTA5, always at 99-100% cpu usage and 75-98% gpu usage( averaging around 85%). 

 

Based off of this, the most I would go with would be a 280 if my assumption that the 860k performs roughly the same as a 25% oced i5 750 is correct.

Increase the resolution, or use DSR and that gpu  usage will go up to 100%

 

OP, 270X, or 280

[Hieb]

Depends on the game mate. The Athlon 860K could support SLI Titan Xs in Tomb Raider without a bottleneck... but then in World of Warcraft it would bottleneck even a GTX 750 Ti. Different games require different amounts of CPU involvement and will bottleneck easier than others... all depends on how much it takes for the game to load up a CPU core.

 

What games do you play, just some guy?

 

On average though I would say on the Nvidia side of things I'd say a GTX 770 or 960 is the upper end of what the 860K would support, while on the AMD side it'd probably struggle past the R9 270 / R7 370 range. You can get a bit more out of Nvidia cards because in DX11 games Nvidia cards don't require as much CPU resources.

 

MMORPG and RTS games are ones where the CPU will become a bottleneck much, much easier... meanwhile in a lot of single player adventure games and such (like Tomb Raider) it will be much higher. So if you play a lot of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Total War Attilla, etc. then you'll probably want to invest a bit more in the CPU than an 860K because it will limit any high end GPUs. But if you play a lot of games like Tomb Raider, mobas, source games, racing games, then you could do just fine with it.

 

For mainstream triple A gaming like Battlefield 4, GTA V, etc. the 860K will also struggle at higher settings and framerates (so likewise with higher end cards).

For most cases I'd recommend investing a bit more and getting an i3-4xxx even if that means getting something like an R7 370 or GTX 660 instead of a slightly higher end card.

[dragoon20005]

stock clocks:

 

270X

 

Slightly OCed: 4.3Ghz

 

R9 280/X

 

R9 285

 

R9 380

 

 

 

if fully OCed up to 4.7 GHz

 

R9 390X possible

[Majestic]

stock clocks:

 

 

 

Slightly OCed: 4.3Ghz

 

 

 

if fully OCed up to 4.7 GHz

 

Agree

 

Not really much changes at 4.3, 280 maybe.

 

No way.

[dragoon20005]

Agree

 

Not really much changes at 4.3, 280 maybe.

 

No way.

still depends on the game

 

note we have one guy here with a A10-7850K/860K paired with the R9 295x2

 

no issues with Tomb Raider which uses more of the GPU

 

but yea BF4 64 man game will be big trouble

[Nena Trinity]

AMD Red Team Plus says R9 285 so I think a GTX 960 or the better R9 380 & R9 280X max!

[Majestic]

note we have one guy here with a A10-7850K/860K paired with the R9 295x2

 

That doesn't make it a good idea.

[typographie]

Hey guys.

  - So I was wondering how far can an AMD Athlon x4 860k go?   ..I mean, the strongest GPU it can handle without any bottleneck.

Also, I'd like some recommendations about the best GPU to pair it with.

 

There is no single solid answer as to the strongest video card "it can handle." It's going to run slightly differently in every game. As mentioned above, in some specific games at some specific settings, it's possible you could still be GPU-bound with a R9 295X2 and 860K.

 

What is your budget, and at what resolution/framerate do you intend to play?

[just some guy]

Depends on the game mate. The Athlon 860K could support SLI Titan Xs in Tomb Raider without a bottleneck... but then in World of Warcraft it would bottleneck even a GTX 750 Ti. Different games require different amounts of CPU involvement and will bottleneck easier than others... all depends on how much it takes for the game to load up a CPU core.

 

What games do you play, just some guy?

 

On average though I would say on the Nvidia side of things I'd say a GTX 770 or 960 is the upper end of what the 860K would support, while on the AMD side it'd probably struggle past the R9 270 / R7 370 range. You can get a bit more out of Nvidia cards because in DX11 games Nvidia cards don't require as much CPU resources.

 

MMORPG and RTS games are ones where the CPU will become a bottleneck much, much easier... meanwhile in a lot of single player adventure games and such (like Tomb Raider) it will be much higher. So if you play a lot of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Total War Attilla, etc. then you'll probably want to invest a bit more in the CPU than an 860K because it will limit any high end GPUs. But if you play a lot of games like Tomb Raider, mobas, source games, racing games, then you could do just fine with it.

 

For mainstream triple A gaming like Battlefield 4, GTA V, etc. the 860K will also struggle at higher settings and framerates (so likewise with higher end cards).

For most cases I'd recommend investing a bit more and getting an i3-4xxx even if that means getting something like an R7 370 or GTX 660 instead of a slightly higher end card.

I just want to play modern games with 60ish fps and not necessarily maxed out settings. And yeah, I don't play much MMORPGs or RTS but adventure games, first- P.S, TPS. I'm also planning on playing MKX.

[just some guy]

That doesn't make it a good idea.

Yeah, I think the 860k is the A-10 without the iGPU. Therefore, the 860k the most powerful among FM2+ cpus.

[just some guy]

There is no single solid answer as to the strongest video card "it can handle." It's going to run slightly differently in every game. As mentioned above, in some specific games at some specific settings, it's possible you could still be GPU-bound with a R9 295X2 and 860K.

 

What is your budget, and at what resolution/framerate do you inte

 

There is no single solid answer as to the strongest video card "it can handle." It's going to run slightly differently in every game. As mentioned above, in some specific games at some specific settings, it's possible you could still be GPU-bound with a R9 295X2 and 860K.

 

What is your budget, and at what resolution/framerate do you intend to play?

I currently have a 1366x768 monitor and it would take a while to upgrade to 1080. My budget for CPU&GPU is around $250 and I intend to play modern games for like...50-60ish or better frames, not necessarily maxed out.

[typographie]

I currently have a 1366x768 monitor and it would take a while to upgrade to 1080. My budget for CPU&GPU is around $250 and I intend to play modern games for like...50-60ish or better frames, not necessarily maxed out.

 

You're looking at a somewhat low-end GPU with that budget, so my advice would be to not worry too much about the CPU. I think the 860K is a good choice for this budget, and you'll probably be GPU-bound most of the time, especially at 1080p.

[Prysin]

Hey guys.

  - So I was wondering how far can an AMD Athlon x4 860k go?   ..I mean, the strongest GPU it can handle without any bottleneck.

Also, I'd like some recommendations about the best GPU to pair it with.

AMD R9 280X or Nvidia GTX 970

 

Reason it cannot power a R9 290, 290X or 390 is because at that point, the lack of CPU overhead in AMDs graphics drivers will hold the 860k back.

 

Nvidia can get around this due to better CPU overhead, but do not expect any good "scaling" above 970. Youd start seeing bottlenecks with the 860k for sure.

[just some guy]

You're looking at a somewhat low-end GPU with that budget, so my advice would be to not worry too much about the CPU. I think the 860K is a good choice for this budget, and you'll probably be GPU-bound most of the time, especially at 1080p.

I would spend more for the GPU. I already have a crappy low-end card - Geforce 210. I just wanted a processor that can handle every game and a not-so-high-end GPU on the market.

I found the latest Nvidia GTX card in a store and it costs like hell.. 30000 Php?!! (=$670) for a frickin' card?