Help me choose a mid-high end graphics card for my Phenom II rig

[HenrySomeone]

nvidia is a bit less CPU dependent. I would go green with that Phenom. I would pick up a GTX1060 as max for this setup. The older like 980 work fine but also are more power hungry.

True and quite funny considering AMD's cpus are weaker (previously MUCH weaker) you would think they would do anything they can to make sure their gpus work best with them, but... Ah well, how did that joke go

 

[storm-chaser]

It has arrived! First game of choice, Battlefield 3 on Ultra!!
AND
Getting well over 110FPS in the Heaven benchmark... silky smooth!

As you can see, I have less than one half inch in terms of fitment in the case!
Sorry about the picture quality.... getting a new phone soon.

Some observations:
-This really puts a load on the CPU like I've never seen before!! LOL I will be switching over to my 360MM liquid cooling system to help mitigate some of the extra heat.
-Graphics quality is superb, and the card is actually pretty quiet even under load.
-Next up: Wolfenstein: The New Order!!

 

[HenrySomeone]

Is there a particul reason you're staying with an AM3 platform? I mean new gpu, talk of a 360 rad...doesn't look like you're completely strapped for cash. You do realize even an old 2500k would be miles faster for gaming and 2600k would dance circles around it, right?

 

[storm-chaser]

Sure the intel's bench better but the Sandybridge platform is very boring to be honest with you. Plus, the cost/performance ratio of the Phenom II 960T cannot be beat. Six cores for $40, sure I'll take that.

This is simply an experiment to see how well I can forge ahead with older hardware and all about utilizing said hardware to the maximum. I want to find the limits of this CPU with current games... and measure it's performance along the way.

I have a soft spot for the AM3 platform and while it may be obsolete it still packs a punch, especially when you maximize the CPU-NB speed to improve memory throughput. In terms of latency, we are in the low 40s which is still very respectable. My system is likely is just as responsive with general tasks when compared to newer technology.

 

[eidairaman1]

Sure the intel's bench better but the Sandybridge platform is very boring to be honest with you. Plus, the cost/performance ratio of the Phenom II 960T cannot be beat. Six cores for $40, sure I'll take that.

This is simply an experiment to see how well I can forge ahead with older hardware and all about utilizing said hardware to the maximum. I want to find the limits of this CPU with current games... and measure it's performance along the way.

I have a soft spot for the AM3 platform and while it may be obsolete it still packs a punch, especially when you maximize the CPU-NB speed to improve memory throughput. In terms of latency, we are in the low 40s which is still very respectable. My system is likely is just as responsive with general tasks when compared to newer technology.

Last I recall PH2 was SB Competition and AM3+ was Haswell Competition

 

[Deleted member 67555]

Sure the intel's bench better but the Sandybridge platform is very boring to be honest with you. Plus, the cost/performance ratio of the Phenom II 960T cannot be beat. Six cores for $40, sure I'll take that.

This is simply an experiment to see how well I can forge ahead with older hardware and all about utilizing said hardware to the maximum. I want to find the limits of this CPU with current games... and measure it's performance along the way.

I have a soft spot for the AM3 platform and while it may be obsolete it still packs a punch, especially when you maximize the CPU-NB speed to improve memory throughput. In terms of latency, we are in the low 40s which is still very respectable. My system is likely is just as responsive with general tasks when compared to newer technology.

I completely understand where you are coming from.
I have my 8700k/ 1070ti sitting on a unused TV stand at the moment because I'm having more fun on my $400 Ryzen 5-1600/ RX570 build.
AMD is fun to play with...you never know what they can do as opposed to Intel that just does it.

I have a lot of fond memories with AM3/+/FM1/2/+....and even with AM4 because I was able to see the next APU performance after my 7850k with the 9600.

 

[GoldenX]

The only thing killing an AM3 in the future is the lack of SSE4.1, if game devs are not idiots you could keep that PII for some good years.

 

[storm-chaser]

Well the system is back online, new and improved with the RX580 and freshly installed Fractal Designs S36 360MM liquid cooling system! There! Now my temps should remain under control while gaming!

 

[eidairaman1]

Msi gaming should stay pretty cool.

 

[Lorec]

that aio costs more than Your whole system.
or at least 3x as much as Your cpu crazy stuff haha.
Your Cpu will be cooler than

uh-oh nevermind.

the cost/performance ratio of the Phenom II 960T cannot be beat. Six cores for $40

There we go:

FOUR cores for $8

 

[lexluthermiester]

that aio costs more than Your whole system.
or at least 3x as much as Your cpu crazy stuff haha.
Your Cpu will be cooler than
View attachment 121260
uh-oh nevermind.



There we go:
View attachment 121259
FOUR cores for $8

The Q6600 was a good CPU, but the Phenom2X6 kicks the crap out of it.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1090T-vs-Intel-Core2-Quad-Q6600/393vs1038

 

[Lorec]

The Q6600 was a good CPU, but the Phenom2X6 kicks the crap out of it.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1090T-vs-Intel-Core2-Quad-Q6600/393vs1038

whats the point comparing q1'07 to q2'10 cpu?
but if we look at raw price/core count q6600 wins right?
33% less cores for only 20% of price of Phenom II.
heck, 4 cores for 8 bucks sign me in

 

[Ferrum Master]

Next thing will be running into SSE4.2 issues with modern games.

 

[Jetster]

Newegg had a GTX 1060 6 gb for $170 after rebate

 

[juiseman]

Just make sure you get the 8GB version and have at least 12GB of system ram to get the most out of such a setup. Out of curiosity, what Xeon are you running?

And you got a good one.

I have several; E5-2690v2, E5-2667v2, E5-2667v1, E5 2650v2, E5-1607v2, X5675 and X5680 in the mac pro.
I went all Xeon last year; sold all the Z77,Z87,Z97 & H81 based rigs And bought off EBAY used workstations and 3 import Intel C602 LGA2011 based China boards. all working good.
Some just took 2 months to arrive...

was going to use it on my 2690v2 rig; right now it has a RX560...Which is fine for the few games I play, WOT, War thunder.. mostly
the computer was built for audio production stuff if I ever get time to. but lately just do a little light gaming with it....

 

[storm-chaser]

I've already done the Q6600, Q9550 and Q9650. In fact, I still have my Q9650 rig around here somewhere, OC'ed to 4.3Ghz...
Phenom II platform is much more flushed out and latency is much lower, not to mention the two extra cores to crunch numbers with...

Guys, I'm running into my first issue with the new graphics card. After playing BF3 on ultra for 30 minutes the system crashed out and it was definitely related to the graphics card because I got an ATI driver error. Touching the heatsink on the graphics card is almost too hot to the touch so I don't think the fans are throttling up even though it's set to auto in MSI afterburner. If I set the fans to 50% in afterburner I don't have this issue, graphics card stays nice and cool....

 

[R0H1T]

What's the temps on GPUZ, also try a burn in test for a short duration if you think fans aren't spinning up?

 

[Keullo-e]

nvidia is a bit less CPU dependent. I would go green with that Phenom. I would pick up a GTX1060 as max for this setup. The older like 980 work fine but also are more power hungry.

Well, when I had a 965 BE as my gaming PC, even a GTX 470 felt like a total overkill. Upgraded to 2500K and it was like getting a new GPU.

Also, when my X99 platform broke, I used 955 BE @ 3.8GHz as a temporary solution, and GTX 980 as graphics. Way too overkill for that old Phenom.

 

[juiseman]

Oh no!!..was the card new? do you think someone try to flash the bios or something?

 

[Keullo-e]

I'd try a manual fan profile first. Maybe a driver issue?

 

[storm-chaser]

I'd try a manual fan profile first. Maybe a driver issue?

When I have the fans set manually in MSI Afterburner I don't have this problem. I set to 50% and everything stays nice and cool. its only when fans are set on auto...it gets way too hot! My current GPU driver is from April 03 2017, so perhaps an update would help...

 

[Ferrum Master]

Well, when I had a 965 BE as my gaming PC, even a GTX 470 felt like a total overkill. Upgraded to 2500K and it was like getting a new GPU.

Also, when my X99 platform broke, I used 955 BE @ 3.8GHz as a temporary solution, and GTX 980 as graphics. Way too overkill for that old Phenom.

I am using X4 955BE daily at work. I've tested dozens of mining cards on it ranging from RX570 to 1080Ti. The point remains same, AMD does need more performant CPU to have the same amount of FPS. The GTX1070 acted best with the 955BE.

It is not reasonable to invest into an old GPU just as a principle. As you see you can get a new one for a affordable price. You get warranty, fresh HW acceleration to offload browser, video playback tasks that older card didn't offer. You can gimp on CPU/MOBO platform still using older HEDT, but not the GPU.

 

[storm-chaser]

Oh no!!..was the card new? do you think someone try to flash the bios or something?

GPU was brand new, sealed in box and not tampered with... so the card is legit.

 

[Keullo-e]

When I have the fans set manually in MSI Afterburner I don't have this problem. I set to 50% and everything stays nice and cool. its only when fans are set on auto...it gets way too hot! My current GPU driver is from April 03 2017, so perhaps an update would help...

View attachment 121289

Well, it detects your card pretty... weak.

Update your drivers and give a new try!

I am using X4 955BE daily at work. I've tested dozens of mining cards on it ranging from RX570 to 1080Ti. The point remains same, AMD does need more performant CPU to have the same amount of FPS. The GTX1070 acted best with the 955BE.

It is not reasonable to invest into an old GPU just as a principle. As you see you can get a new one for a affordable price. You get warranty, fresh HW acceleration to offload browser, video playback tasks that older card didn't offer. You can gimp on CPU/MOBO platform still using older HEDT, but not the GPU.

Well, maybe in that use. What I mean, it's slow in gaming, and new games cause problems since it doesn't have all required instructions.

 

[vega22]

Check if their is a new vgabios for the card. It's not unusual for them to edit fan profiles after launch with them.

Also check if it's a case airflow issue, run it with the side off to see if it stops the issue.

If all else fails afterburner?