Selecting cpu and mobo to pair with high end GPU (r9 290)

Litargirio · January 27, 2015

The 9590 will bottleneck the 290; you know this because the CPU load stays at 100% while GPU load stays below 80%. The 9590 is nothing but an overclocked 8350. Two graphics cards will give you no improvement over one with that chip, because the CPU can't handle it. This is because the single threaded performance of that chip (all AMD CPUs for the matter of fact) is terrible. And games need very strong single threaded performance.

The 4690K will give you (almost) the strongest single threaded performance of all chips on the market. It is, at the time of writing this, the best CPU available for gaming.

The AMD CPUs will give you stuttering and very low framerates in all games. If you buy one, you will regret it.

pitprok · January 27, 2015

@pitprok

The 9590 will bottleneck the 290; you know this because the CPU load stays at 100% while GPU load stays below 80%. The 9590 is nothing but an overclocked 8350. Two graphics cards will give you no improvement over one with that chip, because the CPU can't handle it. This is because the single threaded performance of that chip (all AMD CPUs for the matter of fact) is terrible. And games need very strong single threaded performance.

The 4690K will give you (almost) the strongest single threaded performance of all chips on the market. It is, at the time of writing this, the best CPU available for gaming.

The AMD CPUs will give you stuttering and very low framerates in all games. If you buy one, you will regret it.

And what about the 4590 ?

i_build_nanosuits · January 27, 2015

And what about the 4590 ?

the i5-4590 is a very capable CPU when it comes to caming...much more potent than even an FX-9590 (which is an overclocked FX-8320, nothing more and nothing less)

i had an FX-8320@4.6GHZ and it was noticeably limiting the performance of my single GTX 780 in many (if not MOST) games that's i've tested and i owned this CPU for around 3 months and i own a ton of games and i love to test this stuff and make videos about it and i'm telling you this: EVEN back in 2012 when those AMD FX chips came out they couldnt compete with intel CPU's from 2009 (i7-960 for example) when it comes to gaming...then intel launched sandy-bridge and it was all over for the AMD FX already even before the first piledriver based cpu hit the market...they have never been good cpu when it comes to gaming and they will never be, and they are 4 years + old now it's quite a few generations behind technology wise already and they do already bottleneck higher end graphics solutions in most games...so if you look to play games for a while get at least an intel i5 CPU...if you can afford a unlocked core i5-4690K or even an i7, even better.

pitprok · January 27, 2015

the i5-4590 is a very capable CPU when it comes to caming...much more potent than even an FX-9590 (which is an overclocked FX-8320, nothing more and nothing less)

i had an FX-8320@4.6GHZ and it was noticeably limiting the performance of my single GTX 780 in many (if not MOST) games that's i've tested and i owned this CPU for around 3 months and i own a ton of games and i love to test this stuff and make videos about it and i'm telling you this: EVEN back in 2012 when those AMD FX chips came out they couldnt compete with intel CPU's from 2009 (i7-960 for example) when it comes to gaming...then intel launched sandy-bridge and it was all over for the AMD FX already even before the first piledriver based cpu hit the market...they have never been good cpu when it comes to gaming and they will never be, and they are 4 years + old now it's quite a few generations behind technology wise already and they do already bottleneck higher end graphics solutions in most games...so if you look to play games for a while get at least an intel i5 CPU...if you can afford a unlocked core i5-4690K or even an i7, even better.

So, since we've established that 9590 is sure to bottleneck crossfire r9 290, is either the 4590 or 4690k capable of not bottlenecking the crossfire 290's ?

I've already decided not to buy a more expensive gpu than the 290 so my limit is going to be 290 crossfire, i need a cpu and mobo that won't limit them

i_build_nanosuits · January 27, 2015

So, since we've established that 9590 is sure to bottleneck crossfire r9 290, is either the 4590 or 4690k capable of not bottlenecking the crossfire 290's ?

I've already decided not to buy a more expensive gpu than the 290 so my limit is going to be 290 crossfire, i need a cpu and mobo that won't limit them

your cheapest soluton to run dual higher-end GPU's and not having the GPU loads drop while running games would indeed be an i5-4590 or better...some games are litteraly CPU bound games and even an overclocked core i7-5960X couldnt maxout two R9 290's in crossfire at 1080p...so this is of course relative to the game being played but overall the i5-4590 should be more than capable of feeding dual high end cards like that in most modern demanding games indeed.

As i said though since you already need a good Z97 motherboard that supports SLI it's probably worth spending a bit more to get the i5-4690K CPU that is overclockable and could net you a 25 to 30% performance increase once properly clocked.

These are the motherboards that are Z97 chipset and support for SLI (required for your crossfire to operate at full capacity)...as you can see there are some cheap ones in that list you should have no problem finding one you like:

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#c=99&l=2&sort=a8

personaly if i was in the US right now looking for one i would probably go with this one because its the cheapest if you dont factor in the mail in rebates which i hate anyways and it's a good quality motherboard for the price with lots of features:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132287&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Litargirio · January 27, 2015

And what about the 4590 ?

It is just slightly behind the 4690K (3-6 fps in games) at stock speeds, but it's a locked CPU, meaning that you can't overclock it. Other than that, if you don't want to overclock for extra free performance, you won't see any difference.

Litargirio · January 27, 2015

@i_build_nanosuits

SLI is requiered for crossfire to work properly? Wat? I'm confused.

pitprok · January 27, 2015

your cheapest soluton to run dual higher-end GPU's and not having the GPU loads drop while running games would indeed be an i5-4590 or better...some games are litteraly CPU bound games and even an overclocked core i7-5960X couldnt maxout two R9 290's in crossfire at 1080p...so this is of course relative to the game being played but overall the i5-4590 should be more than capable of feeding dual high end cards like that in most modern demanding games indeed.

As i said though since you already need a good Z97 motherboard that supports SLI it's probably worth spending a bit more to get the i5-4690K CPU that is overclockable and could net you a 25 to 30% performance increase once properly clocked.

These are the motherboards that are Z97 chipset and support for SLI (required for your crossfire to operate at full capacity)...as you can see there are some cheap ones in that list you should have no problem finding one you like:

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#c=99&l=2&sort=a8

personaly if i was in the US right now looking for one i would probably go with this one because its the cheapest if you dont factor in the mail in rebates which i hate anyways and it's a good quality motherboard for the price with lots of features:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132287&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

I dont think that SLI is needed, only crossfire

I just found an r9 290x that has a price close to the 290

If i get 290x instead of 290, should i go 4690k or keep with the 4590 ?

i_build_nanosuits · January 27, 2015

@i_build_nanosuits

SLI is requiered for crossfire to work properly? Wat? I'm confused.

I dont think that SLI is needed, only crossfire

I just found an r9 290x that has a price close to the 290

If i get 290x instead of 290, should i go 4690k or keep with the 4590 ?

SLI certified boards are equiped with dual pcie X16 slots operating at 16X (or 8X/8X while dual graphics are used)...the lower end boards that supports only crossfire had dual PCIe slots but one of them is a 4X speed slot only so your GPU's would run on pcie 3.0 4x/4x speed which is slightly limiting the performance on higher cards such as the R9 290 or R9 290X GPU's for example...motherboard with pcie 3.0 at 8x/8x speed is highly recommended and this means a board that is SLI certified because 8x/8x is the requirement for SLI and it should be the same for crossfire of higher end GPU's.

If you can afford both the i5-4690K and 290X then by all means go for that...if you can only afford to upgrade one of both to the best i'd suggest you pick the i5-4690K and R9 290 GPU instead of the i5-4590 and r9 290X for example. Having an unlocked CPU will prove to be useful in the future, not so much with most current games but still it makes your rig a little more futureproof as this will extend the useful life of your CPU when it comes to gaming and will allo you to upgrade GPU's for longer before having to buy an new motherboard and cpu and probably ram sticks as well...it's always easier to just upgrade the GPU.

GPu also typicaly won't age very well when compaired to CPU...a good strong CPU like the i5-4690K should be relevant to gaming for a good 3 more years before limiting performance on higher end graphics cards, where as the R9 290 or R9 290X will require an upgrade (or to be crossfired) in a year or two MAX...wheter you pick an R9 290 or R9 290X it won't change much, the performance is pretty close between them.

pitprok · January 27, 2015

SLI certified boards are equiped with dual pcie X16 slots operating at 16X (or 8X/8X while dual graphics are used)...the lower end boards that supports only crossfire had dual PCIe slots but one of them is a 4X speed slot only so your GPU's would run on pcie 3.0 4x/4x speed which is slightly limiting the performance on higher cards such as the R9 290 or R9 290X GPU's for example...motherboard with pcie 3.0 at 8x/8x speed is highly recommended and this means a board that is SLI certified because 8x/8x is the requirement for SLI and it should be the same for crossfire of higher end GPU's.

If you can afford both the i5-4690K and 290X then by all means go for that...if you can only afford to upgrade one of both to the best i'd suggest you pick the i5-4690K and R9 290 GPU instead of the i5-4590 and r9 290X for example. Having an unlocked CPU will prove to be useful in the future, not so much with most current games but still it makes your rig a little more futureproof as this will extend the useful life of your CPU when it comes to gaming and will allo you to upgrade GPU's for longer before having to buy an new motherboard and cpu and probably ram sticks as well...it's always easier to just upgrade the GPU.

GPu also typicaly won't age very well when compaired to CPU...a good strong CPU like the i5-4690K should be relevant to gaming for a good 3 more years before limiting performance on higher end graphics cards, where as the R9 290 or R9 290X will require an upgrade (or to be crossfired) in a year or two MAX...wheter you pick an R9 290 or R9 290X it won't change much, the performance is pretty close between them.

I think this one has 2x pcie x16, right ?

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

i_build_nanosuits · January 27, 2015

I think this one has 2x pcie x16, right ?

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

yes...but one of the slot is a pcie 2.0 slot operating at 4X speed only:

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

This is okay to crossfire R9 270 or 270X for example...not so much for strong cards like the R9 290's

This is called ''limited crossfire support''

pitprok · January 27, 2015

yes...but one of the slot is a pcie 2.0 slot operating at 4X speed only:

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

This is okay to crossfire R9 270 or 270X for example...not so much for strong cards like the R9 290's

This is called ''limited crossfire support''

i cant find your screenshot anywhere, this is what i found

Litargirio · January 27, 2015

So I assume there aren't any boards without SLI support that do have full CFX support?

pitprok · January 27, 2015

yes...but one of the slot is a pcie 2.0 slot operating at 4X speed only:

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

This is okay to crossfire R9 270 or 270X for example...not so much for strong cards like the R9 290's

This is called ''limited crossfire support''

what about this one ? http://www.msi.com/product/mb/z97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

or this http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z97-GAMING-5.html#hero-specification

applesuxD · January 27, 2015

[PCPartPicker part list]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/PhvMD3) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/PhvMD3/by_merchant/)(

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790k) | £244.94 @ Aria PC

**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-h100i) | £84.99 @ Amazon UK

**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xud3hbk) | £133.20 @ Kustom PCs

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl9d8gbxl) | £64.99 @ Novatech

**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | £40.39 @ Aria PC

**Video Card** | [Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-r9290dc2oc4gd5) (2-Way CrossFire) | £208.00 @ Amazon UK

**Case** | [NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-cah440wm1) | £88.79 @ Aria PC

**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA P2 1200W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220p21200x1) | £179.99 @ Scan.co.uk

| | **Total**

| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £1253.29

| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 15:57 GMT+0000 |

The reason why there is no extra fans is that ur in the uk area

Its chill there unlike tropical countries

So r9 290x should be fine

Crossfire for max graphics and AAA games for 1080p should be fine

Ssd is not needed

You can switch out the i7 for 4690k and you can get the fans and ssd

It depends on whether you want hyperthreading

But it only improves by 10% so if i were you ill go for i5

Happy streaming

Add me i wanna record too haha

Litargirio · January 27, 2015

what about this one ? http://www.msi.com/product/mb/z97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

or this http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z97-GAMING-5.html#hero-specification

First one, nope.

Second one, yup.

pitprok · January 27, 2015

[PCPartPicker part list]http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/PhvMD3) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/PhvMD3/by_merchant/)(

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790k) | £244.94 @ Aria PC

**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-h100i) | £84.99 @ Amazon UK

**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97xud3hbk) | £133.20 @ Kustom PCs

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl9d8gbxl) | £64.99 @ Novatech

**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | £40.39 @ Aria PC

**Video Card** | [Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-r9290dc2oc4gd5) (2-Way CrossFire) | £208.00 @ Amazon UK

**Video Card** | [Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-r9290dc2oc4gd5) (2-Way CrossFire) | £208.00 @ Amazon UK

**Case** | [NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-cah440wm1) | £88.79 @ Aria PC

**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA P2 1200W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220p21200x1) | £179.99 @ Scan.co.uk

| | **Total**

| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £1253.29

| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 15:57 GMT+0000 |

The reason why there is no extra fans is that ur in the uk area

Its chill there unlike tropical countries

So r9 290x should be fine

Crossfire for max graphics and AAA games for 1080p should be fine

Ssd is not needed

You can switch out the i7 for 4690k and you can get the fans and ssd

It depends on whether you want hyperthreading

But it only improves by 10% so if i were you ill go for i5

Happy streaming

Add me i wanna record too haha

Is this for me or somebody else ?

Im in greece so you're probably replying to somebody else but you didnt tag him

i_build_nanosuits · January 27, 2015

what about this one ? http://www.msi.com/product/mb/z97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

or this http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z97-GAMING-5.html#hero-specification

The MSI Z97 Gaming 5 does have three pcie 3.0 slots operating at x16 speed..this one is a good one.

Look under the DETAIL specification page for slots description on MSI website...easier is to check via PCpartpicker...refer to the list i linked earlier.

For the MSI Z97 gaming 5 it says:

• 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, (support x16, x8/x8, x8/x4/x4 modes)

That is good, this board can run any dual high-end GPU's or even tripple lower-end cards on crossfire (3 way R9 270 for example)

applesuxD · January 27, 2015

Is this for me or somebody else ?

Im in greece so you're probably replying to somebody else but you didnt tag him

So many replies man

The topic creator

Mind helpin me tag lols im using phone i kennut :' -(

pitprok · January 27, 2015

So many replies man

The topic creator

Mind helpin me tag lols im using phone i kennut :' -(

Im the topic creator and im from greece lol, not uk

pitprok · January 27, 2015

The MSI Z97 Gaming 5 does have three pcie 3.0 slots operating at x16 speed..this one is a good one.

Look under the DETAIL specification page for slots description on MSI website...easier is to check via PCpartpicker...refer to the list i linked earlier.

For the MSI Z97 gaming 5 it says:

• 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, (support x16, x8/x8, x8/x4/x4 modes)

That is good, this board can run any dual high-end GPU's or even tripple lower-end cards on crossfire (3 way R9 270 for example)

so this one which supports sli is good ?

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z87-G55.html#hero-specification

its the cheapest here that supports sli and 1150 slot

i_build_nanosuits · January 27, 2015

so this one which supports sli is good ?

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z87-G55.html#hero-specification

its the cheapest here that supports sli and 1150 slot

This one is an older chipset (Z87) so if you go with an haswell refresh CPU (i5-4590 or i5-4690K for example are haswell refresh sku's) you will most likely require to have a non haswell refresh cpu in order to perform a bios update on the motherboard PRIOR to using the haswell refresh chips on it...therefore it would be best to have a Z97 motherboard to make sure it's compatible out of the box....

It can still be a good idea to go with this Z87 board if it's cheaper, just go with a non-refresh haswell CPU (i5-4570 or i5-4670K for example) provided that those are around the same price or cheaper than the previously mentionned haswell refresh.

In most cases it's better to go with Z97 and haswell refresh...but in some countries the Z87 boards and non-refresh cpu's are significantly cheaper, it depends on what's comonly available in your area.

applesuxD · January 27, 2015

Im the topic creator and im from greece lol, not uk

How does my suggestion sound to you???

i_build_nanosuits · January 27, 2015

How does my suggestion sound to you???

you designed a somewhat nice system but my guess is that machine is WAY above OP's budget here...

applesuxD · January 27, 2015

you designed a somewhat nice system but my guess is that machine is WAY above OP's budget here...

Sry ill redo in usd

Im such a derp

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Selecting cpu and mobo to pair with high end GPU (r9 290)

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