Upgrading for AC

Chris James · Jul 22, 2013

I recently bought an AMD 7970 to replace my old 6870, with AC and rF2 in mind. I was disappointed that the upgrade didn't provide the boost I was hoping for, and I now suspect that my aging CPU are what's holding me back. I have an AMD Phenom II 1100T X6, but I'm looking at the AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core, and a new Mobo to go with it. Obviously it's a faster chip, and it scores better on benchmarks, but will it actually bring an improvement in AC? Will AC utilize that many cores?

I run 3 screens, so with my current hardware, I have to keep everything on low, which will not do at all. Don't get me wrong, even on low settings, the AC TP looks awesome, but I want more.

So, is this a good upgrade? I welcome and appreciate any suggestions on a different proc.

Thanks guys.

current specs:
AMD 1100T X6
Asus M4A89TD Pro
Radeon 7970
12g

Peter · Jul 22, 2013

I have a good suggestion, buy a Intel i5 cpu and a new mb and keep the rest. I had the choice of upgrading my AMD cpu but I never regret going overe to Intel.

Sebastian Wolff · Jul 22, 2013

Peter Koch said:
I have a good suggestion, buy a Intel i5 cpu and a new mb and keep the rest. I had the choice of upgrading my AMD cpu but I never regret going overe to Intel.

My advice too: get a decent i5 or i7.

David Ignjatovic · Jul 22, 2013

Chris James said:
I recently bought an AMD 7970 to replace my old 6870,

I went from e8400/4gig/6850 to......i3570/16gig/7950, and in some instances it was 3-4x the boost as the old CPU and ram were definitely holding me back.

A 7970 is approx 2x the power of a 6870, but only when the 6870 is in a modern system, otherwise you'll be limited by old CPU/ram/mobo etc.

Jorge Alves · Jul 22, 2013

moddern games like AC dont use much CPU ... so i dont think changing your CPU will perform a big boost in AC FPS ... but will be nice to see benchmarks for same recent GPU with different CPU's in AC ... i also upgraded recently from a 6850 (burned

) to a 7850 and kept my old MB and my old Phenom II ... and i saw a good improvement on FPS in AC TP

Bram Hengeveld · Jul 22, 2013

I am keeping my pc intact but will try to find a better videocard. Currently using a nVideo GTX 260 but its showing its age.

Any good affordable vNidia cards I should look for?

Peter · Jul 22, 2013

Bram Hengeveld said:
I am keeping my pc intact but will try to find a better videocard. Currently using a nVideo GTX 260 but its showing its age.

Any good affordable vNidia cards I should look for?

Don't know what CPU you have but I won't go less than a 660ti/760.

Bram Hengeveld · Jul 22, 2013

i7 CPU still does the job fine.

Peter · Jul 22, 2013

Bram Hengeveld said:
i7 CPU still does the job fine.

I have the MSI 660ti power edition after upgrading from a GTX250/260/460.
http://tweakers.net/categorie/49/vi...SiYiWraiUjIxBZlpijZBWtZGZiZgFUb25gYagUW1tbCwA

Bram Hengeveld · Jul 22, 2013

Would the GeForce 760 GTX do the job?

Peter · Jul 22, 2013

Bram Hengeveld said:
Would the GeForce 760 GTX do the job?

The 760 is a bit better than a 660ti and that card eats every thing you throw at it. If you don't want to spent more money, this is the way to go.

Jari Vinnari · Jul 22, 2013

Bram Hengeveld said:
Would the GeForce 760 GTX do the job?

Yes.

Its not the fastest but very good value for money.
I have GTX 670 which is just little bit faster than 760gtx and AC tech demo runs very well.
review->http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GeForce_GTX_760_TF_Gaming/32.html

Juise · Jul 22, 2013

Best bang for buck in nVidia cards is GTX 770 at this time. I't pretty much 100% same card as GTX 680 with more optimised power consumption etc.

Prices start in europe from 340€ (Mindfactory.de) and it will take you long in to the future.

My suggestions are used GTX 670 if you want to save money. They go for about 200€ (new GTX 760 is about the same card and cheapest i've seen so far is 210€).
Or if you want to upgrade for the future then GTX 770

Paul Lock · Jul 22, 2013

Juise said:
Best bang for buck in nVidia cards is GTX 770 at this time. I't pretty much 100% same card as GTX 680 with more optimised power consumption etc.

Prices start in europe from 340€ (Mindfactory.de) and it will take you long in to the future.

My suggestions are used GTX 670 if you want to save money. They go for about 200€ (new GTX 760 is about the same card and cheapest i've seen so far is 210€).
Or if you want to upgrade for the future then GTX 770

Have just upgraded from 2x 4870's in crossfire to a single GTX 770 with this sim in mind. Did a lot of research and its true the 770 is best bang for buck. Especially so when coming from AMD4000 or nVidia 200 series.

Check out the Gigabyte 770 OC 4gb Windforce 3.
Popped it in my i7 930 rig which in i7 terms is showing its age a bit, but knocks out a ludicrous frame rate on my sim of choice, and solid 80+ on bf3 set to ultra. No showmanship just putting performance into context.

To answer OP, I would defo go for a new CPU/mobo/ram combo before a gpu, and Intel is definitely the way to go.

Paul Lock · Jul 22, 2013

There is a 2gb flavour Gigabyte 770 if you dont ever plan going triple panel.
Oh and make sure you can take 11inchs because the thing is mahoosive.

Travis · Jul 23, 2013

Given Stefano posted he was getting "57fps on the grid at monza with 16 cars in front, 1680x1050... nvidia 570", I'd suggest the GTX 660Ti would be a very good upgrade. The GTX 660Ti offers between 25% to 40% more frames per second than the GTX 570 in certain games. A good place to look at raw numbers would be here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU13/583

Keep in mind the 7xx series of Nvidia cards is largely rebranded 6xx series with a bit of fettling by Nvidia with the exception of the GTX 780 which is a cut-down Titan so you may be able to find a bargain priced 6xx series card. ATi offer some great GPU's in terms of performance for the money e.g. the 7950 and 7970 plus many of their cards come with free games which may also be a determining factor.

Don't forget to factor in the size of the card and the power supply required to run newer graphics card. Most newer cards will need at a minimum a decent quality (e.g. Corsair, SeaSonic, EVGA etc) 600 watt PSU with 6-pin PCI-E power connector and another 6 pin or 8 pin PCI-E power connector. Make sure you have enough power and the correct connectors.

FWIW my EVGA GTX 680 runs the AC TP just fine at very hight frame rates; prior to the GTX 680 I was using an stock overclocked Asus GTX 570 CUII which easily ran the AC TP in the mid to high 70fps range with 8xAA (no FXAA), 16xAF, HDR on, medium reflections (2 face cubes) and medium shadows at 1920x1080. The CUII range of Asus cards are huge for anyone considering buying one.

Chris James · Jul 23, 2013

Thanks guys, but I've already purchased a new video card, as mentioned in the OP. I got a 7970. I see now that I should've gotten an Nvidia, but there's no way to fix that now, so I'm hoping a CPU upgrade will help with FPS. From what I gather, I should go with Intel over AMD this time. Would this chip give me a significant boost over my 1100T?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

Leonardo Ratafiá · Jul 23, 2013

i guess any geforce GTX xxx ti videocard will work great, i currently have a gtx560ti (and according to the latest videos it's the one they are using on that pc) and a Q9550 quad core gives me very good performance in the TP.
and with a gtx460 works very good aswell, both of my cars have a few years now, i wouldn't go for the gtx650, of course the 670 and 680 deliver better performance.

Travis · Jul 23, 2013

Chris James said:
Thanks guys, but I've already purchased a new video card, as mentioned in the OP. I got a 7970. I see now that I should've gotten an Nvidia, but there's no way to fix that now, so I'm hoping a CPU upgrade will help with FPS. From what I gather, I should go with Intel over AMD this time. Would this chip give me a significant boost over my 1100T?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

It looks like it would provide solid gains whilst using less power: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/203?vs=701

If you do change over to Intel, you may have to factor in the cost of a new motherboard too.

As for your choice of GPU, there is nothing wrong with the 7970; in fact it's quite a performance bargain. As long as Kunos support AMD and Nvidia GPU's, there isn't any reason to regret buying the 7970 or any other ATI card.