R9 270

[Mister Mister]

Quick question, I'm currently running an fx-4350 CPU with 8GB of ram and am running into an issue with my R9 270. Whenever I play games like Grand Theft Auto 5 my fps gets maxed out at 40 frames on High and Ultra settings. I have a 80 Hz refresh rate monitor and I don't have an fps cap or v-sync turned on so I'm thinking am I running into issues pairing a 270 with a 4350? If so what would be a good and budget friendly upgrade option? 

[Aytex]

Turn the graphics down.

[79wjd]

I'd guess your CPU is limiting you, whats your cpu and you usage?

 

Is your CPU over clocked? If it's not you can buy an aftermarket cooler (if you don't already have one) for $30~.

[Yoola]

That's hardware limited. If you start 'upgrading' on current chipset, it's not gonna be worth it. I'd rather save for X amount of time and get a new rig. You could also get some cash from selling that PC when buying new one.

[F7GOS]

Both CPU and GPU are limiting you here. GTA V loves high single core performance which your CPU does not have and the R9 270 is the same as a HD 7870, so you are rocking a PS4 level GPU.

I'm surprised you managed to crank the settings up to Ultra with 2Gb VRAM but if you lower the settings to something like medium you will get better frame rates. 

 

Also as has been said, if you can, overclocking your CPU will help also.

When gaming on hardware from around the 2012 - 2013 trying to keep the settings at current console levels seems to help a lot with smoothness and to be perfectly honest, theres not a massive difference when you drop some of them anyway.  

[Mister Mister]

Would it be more sensible to go for a skylake system and sell my current one? I don't have a huge budget when it comes to computer parts, I could maybe spend like $500 a month on them maybe.

[79wjd]

2 hours ago, Mister Mister said:

Would it be more sensible to go for a skylake system and sell my current one? I don't have a huge budget when it comes to computer parts, I could maybe spend like $500 a month on them maybe.

I would first see what specifically is limiting you, cpu or GPU -- it will vary by game. In GTA V, it looks like your CPU should be able to push up to around 60fps (probably a stuttery 60, but 60 nonetheless) and so you're GPU limited in GTA V.

 

If you want a big performance boost, then you have to upgrade and I would suggest a Ryzen R5 1400+B350 board+16gb ram+RX 470/570/480/580/GTX1060 ($500~). But, you may also be CPU limited in other games, and overclocking your CPU could help with that. 

[Aw_Ginger_Snapz]

If there is a microcenter near you, then I would upgrade that CPU. They sell AM3+ cpus for pretty good prices. You could also scrounge around Ebay for a second r9 270 and put them in crossfire. This is the best budget approach and shouldn't cost you more than $200. You are probably most restricted by your CPU because GTA V really likes its cores and threads.

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, Aw_Ginger_Snapz said:

If there is a microcenter near you, then I would upgrade that CPU. They sell AM3+ cpus for pretty good prices. You could also scrounge around Ebay for a second r9 270 and put them in crossfire. This is the best budget approach and shouldn't cost you more than $200. You are probably most restricted by your CPU because GTA V really likes its cores and threads.

Even an FX 4 can push more than 40fps in GTA V: 

 

But an FX8 is not worth spending $80+ at this point. AM3+ is dead. And crossfire 270s sounds terrible -- especially with such a weak cpu. 

[Aw_Ginger_Snapz]

13 hours ago, djdwosk97 said:

Even an FX 4 can push more than 40fps in GTA V: 

 

But an FX8 is not worth spending $80+ at this point. AM3+ is dead. 

Good point. My point was from a budget standpoint. My plan would allow him to get some improvement without having to move to a whole new platform.

[79wjd]

Just now, Aw_Ginger_Snapz said:

Good point. My point was from a budget standpoint. My plan would allow him to get some improvement without having to move to a whole new platform.

Yeah, but you're paying a lot for not a lot of improvement. 

[Aw_Ginger_Snapz]

13 hours ago, djdwosk97 said:

Yeah, but you're paying a lot for not a lot of improvement. 

But on the other hand, he would be spending more than double on a new platform for less than half of a performance gain.

[Mister Mister]

Ive planned it all out so far and when my paycheck comes in this thursday ill see what i have left over. If I have around $400~ish ill get a ryzen 5 system with 16gb and a b350 mobo if not then ill scrounge around for another r9 270.

[Spudbilly]

1 hour ago, Mister Mister said:

Ive planned it all out so far and when my paycheck comes in this thursday ill see what i have left over. If I have around $400~ish ill get a ryzen 5 system with 16gb and a b350 mobo if not then ill scrounge around for another r9 270.

Correct me if I'm wrong here guys, but if he is playing on high and ultra and has only hit 40fps max with his GPU running at 100%...would that not be a GPU "bottleneck"

 

I am running at i5 3470 and an r9 270x and only get slightly better performance.

 

Based on my understanding of GPU/CPU bottleneck scenarios and my own experience with a similarish system...I think his GPU is the problem here. Not his AMD FX platform.

 

Am I wrong or missing something?

[79wjd]

14 minutes ago, Spudbilly said:

Correct me if I'm wrong here guys, but if he is playing on high and ultra and has only hit 40fps max with his GPU running at 100%...would that not be a GPU "bottleneck"

 

I am running at i5 3470 and an r9 270x and only get slightly better performance.

 

Based on my understanding of GPU/CPU bottleneck scenarios and my own experience with a similarish system...I think his GPU is the problem here. Not his AMD FX platform.

 

Am I wrong or missing something?

It would be, but he never stated that his GPU was at 100%, although as I said earlier, an FX4320 is capable of 60fps in GTA V, so it is likely he is GPU limited. However, with that said, any GPU upgrade will lead to a CPU bottleneck as an FX4350 is pretty shitty.