Buying a GTX 980 Ti, but I have FX 6100

[SteveGrabowski0]

But I really wanted the 980 Ti, because I wanted something to last for a long time, I don't really care if it bottlenecks but I wanted to make the most out of the CPU I have until I get some more money for a proper CPU.

 

It would make no sense unless you plan on getting your i5 in a couple of months or something. You should care about cpu bottlenecks, they make gaming feel horrible. When I ran a GTX 970 with a heavily overclocked Pentium G3258 it was a horrible experience having a CPU that could not at all keep up with my GPU, with framerates constantly oscillating. You also should never buy a GPU for the long term. The tech advances too quickly and a $650 GPU as a long term investment is crazy. For example, consider the previous generation's version, the GTX 780 Ti. That sold for $700, and 11 months after release Nvidia came out with the GTX 970 that came very close to matching the 780 Ti for $330. The same thing is very possible to happen in June or so, especially considering Nvidia is dropping from a 28 nm process size to a 16 nm one, and these process shrinks have brought enormous performance gains in the past. I'm talking a doubling of the power of the flagships for example (compare the GTX 580 to the GTX Titan, which were the respective flagships of the 40 nm Fermi series and the 28 nm Kepler series).

 

Don't get me wrong, the GTX 980 Ti will still be a massively powerful GPU in a year, but it's not going to be a $650 class GPU. And the whole time you have it paired with an FX-6100 it's likely to perform at the level of maybe a $180 GPU if you're lucky. So it seems like a huge waste of money. I'd much rather get this combo for that money:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($199.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z170M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($51.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($309.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $661.95

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-27 08:17 EST-0500

 

You're actually able to overclock this cpu on this board if you take the time to learn BCLK and memory overclocking, but even if you don't want to take the time to learn it this is still a very strong setup. Alternatively you could skip buying the 970 and hold out until summer and probably pick up a gpu with 980 Ti level performance for $300-$400 from AMD's Polaris or Nvidia's Pascal releases then.

[SteveGrabowski0]

I know it will bottleneck a few games by a bit, but in about 3 to 5 months, I'll get enough money for a Z170 Gaming 5, 16GB DDR4 and a I7 6700K

 

Why not just put the money away in the bank and when you have the money for your platform upgrade add in your gpu money and get the top of the line card then in a few months? You'll get a better GPU and wouldn't have wasted your money on a weaker GPU that you never got to use to anything approaching its full potential. Having a $650 GPU with a $70 CPU is ridiculous.

[HKZeroFive]

you didn't really say "in some games" either

 

Considering OP wants to play DayZ standalone and H1Z1 (both CPU intensive games), an i5 is a better choice for him.

 

I have no problem if he can upgrade to an i5 quickly though. But the FX is going to start presenting problems.

[X99stattrak]

Just get a cheap Locked I5 with a cheap board, then buy a 980

[cleb]

Get the 980ti

Or wait for Pascal

Either will be fine the 970 arguably will set you back more when Pascal comes out

[Arinator]

Just get the GTX 980 ti.Don't worry for a bottle nect coz u will get the same amt of performance out of the i5 + 970 as you will get with the FX+980 Ti.

OR

you can get a used high end cpu,this won't affect anything as these things are built to last

[Rawity]

Could also upgrade CPU now, then Pascal/Polaris should be released when you've money for GPU

[FruitBasketSilex]

get the 980ti now and overclock your cpu

upgrade later when you can

or alternativle you could get R9 380 and spend the rest of the Money on hookers, since you're 18 now

Hookers AND BLOW!

[SteveGrabowski0]

If you want to pay $650 to play GTA V at 41 fps with drops to 28 fps at 1080p, I guess knock yourself out.

 

[ivryk]

If it was me, I'll want till Pascal, save up some more and buy Cpu+Mobo+new Gpu.

 

Imho I'll feel really shitty if i bought a 980 ti at these heights, then the 1080 ( or whatever is gonna be called ) comes out and is way better for less $$. But then again...thats the gpu cycle.

[DaBomm4]

I often play CS:GO, H1Z1, DayZ, FIFA 16, GTA 5. I'll probably start playing other things like Battlefront and other upcoming titles like Mirror's Edge 2 and future FIFA's

 

I know it will bottleneck a few games by a bit, but in about 3 to 5 months, I'll get enough money for a Z170 Gaming 5, 16GB DDR4 and a I7 6700K

 

Could also upgrade CPU now, then Pascal/Polaris should be released when you've money for GPU

 

Since you are planning on upgrading the CPU and motherboard eventually, and based on the current games you are playing, my suggestion would be upgrade the CPU now and in the summer get the 980ti unless something new comes out that you like better. Either option should work for you since you are the one you need to please though.

[debro]

You are all getting this the wrong way.

If he's getting more money in June to get an 6700k, he should get the 980ti right now. Period.

If he gets an i5+970 now, the money he will have to upgrade both those components in June in order to get a top of the line rig won't be enough.

He could end up having an i5+980ti or an i7+970.

If he gets the 980ti now and he upgrades the rest in June, he will have a top of the line i7 and a top of the line 980ti.

And waiting for an imminent new architecture release is not what I recommend. I was told to wait for the 3xx series of AMD cards when I bought my GTX960. I couldn't be happier with it, and I got it months before the release of the 3xx series. It's still enough for my gaming needs today.

[jjohnthedon1]

For the price of the 980ti u can get a i54460 mobo and 970/390

[Fetzie]

Then you're gonna have to live with something that performs close to a R9 270/X until you upgrade.

It won't throttle that badly.

[Coaxialgamer]

Massive bottleneck. An i5 would be better suited

[Nena Trinity]

get the 980ti now and overclock your cpu

upgrade later when you can

 

or alternativle you could get R9 380 and spend the rest of the Money on hookers, since you're 18 now

This unless DX12 makes it bearable...

[Arinator]

Yeah, maybe the OP can find a used 3570k or 3770k or hell, maybe even an oced 2700k

http://youtu.be/K9EJNa0y524

Just see this vid you will get to know about the performance difference