CPU & Game Performance?

[Samsterstorm]

Hi Guys!

 

Have been thinking about computer upgrades for a while now and i just wanted to know how much diffidence a CPU makes to game performance? Now i am not stupid i do know that they make a big difference if you go from a Atom to a i7! I mean if u are going from a already pretty high CPU to a top of the range CPU!

 

I currently have a AMD FX-4170 quad core 4.2ghz CPU. I have had my current CPU and MB setup for a good year or so now and i am thinking of changing it up a little! I have been looking at there 4.2ghz 8 core CPU's, also been looking at R9 290's as well (currently running a R9 270x oc). I am wondering just how much difference it would make to go to a 8 core CPU? How many more FPS are we talking? Also would a 290 be to much for this CPU?

 

My third option is to just wait for the new graphics card and CPU line up to come out in 2015 some time and get a new CPU then with maybe one of there new GPU's as well? My pc runs game fine for now so shall I just wait it out for a little while?

 

Cheers,

Sam  B)

 

[RelentlessAF]

Very Marginal and not really worth it at this point. For Gaming a Quad-core from Intel is a great choice.

[Brandogg255]

if you upgrade to the 290 the 4170 will bottleneck it but the 8 core wont

 

EDIT: unless playing Star Citizen then i would go with i7 but an i5 for 8350 are wonderful cpus

[Arphenyte]

Hi Guys!

 

Have been thinking about computer upgrades for a while now and i just wanted to know how much diffidence a CPU makes to game performance? Now i am not stupid i do know that they make a big difference if you go from a Atom to a i7! I mean if u are going from a already pretty high CPU to a top of the range CPU!

 

I currently have a AMD FX-4170 quad core 4.2ghz CPU. I have had my current CPU and MB setup for a good year or so now and i am thinking of changing it up a little! I have been looking at there 4.2ghz 8 core CPU's, also been looking at R9 290's as well (currently running a R9 270x oc). I am wondering just how much difference it would make to go to a 8 core CPU? How many more FPS are we talking? Also would a 290 be to much for this CPU?

 

My third option is to just wait for the new graphics card and CPU line up to come out in 2015 some time and get a new CPU then with maybe one of there new GPU's as well? My pc runs game fine for now so shall I just wait it out for a little while?

 

Cheers,

Sam  B)

Modern games, benefit from 4 cores CPUs. That does not mean you wouldn't be able to game on a dual-core, since gaming is all about the GPU. CPU doesn't make a big impact on gaming performance, the worst it can do is to bottle neck your GPU. Having more cores doesn't mean you are gonna get SIGNIFICANT performance on a gaming machine, since more cores usually means more room for processing data, which video editing/rendering, and 3D modeling benefit A LOT. Hope it helps.

[Faa]

I am wondering just how much difference it would make to go to a 8 core CPU? 

 

None.

 

How many more FPS are we talking? 

0

 

Also would a 290 be to much for this CPU?

 

And for the 8 cores.

[Mush Brain]

I chuckled.

Mantle, oh only some games have it which fit into my right hand.

[Altecice]

I can tell you from first hand experience.

 

I had my old config of this build with an 8350 @ 5ghz + two 290x's and It was bottle necking. I would often get lower fps and juddering/stuttering. I moved (to the extreme) I7-4790k  and kept everything else the same and I was getting improved overall FPS and no juddering.

[Samsterstorm]

So is it worth switching over to intel and getting a nice I5 (I am not the richest sun of a gun ever) and staying with AMD graphics? Or would a 8 core do fine with just one 290 or 280?

[D2ultima]

Let me explain a little. OP.

 

Larger amount of cores is helpful in games that take advantage of them... few games use more than 2 (on a quadcore this looks like ~50% load split across most cores, as it divides a dual-core load across 4 threads). Some inherently use 4, but then even fewer still use 6 or 8 cores. What matters is something called IPC and clock speed. Clock speed and IPC go hand in hand, because IPC is "instructions per clock". For example: A CPU with an IPC of say... 20 at 3GHz would perform theoretically twice as "fast" as a CPU with the same number of cores also at 3GHz, but with an IPC of 10. AMD has a fairly low IPC in their current CPUs. In many games, an i5 4690K would be the ideal CPU for you.

 

I hope this clears some things up. The FX CPUs are better for people who do lots of multitasking, as other programs can use idle cores and threads that games won't use; allowing for more CPU power to be diverted to the game. But again, this will not benefit most gamers who close programs and just run the game fullscreen and close it when done.

[i_build_nanosuits]

So is it worth switching over to intel and getting a nice I5 (I am not the richest sun of a gun ever) and staying with AMD graphics? Or would a 8 core do fine with just one 290 or 280?

Get a core i5-4460 and a nice H97 motherboard and this is a good match for any high end graphics cards look for the R9 290(x) or GTX 970.