Gaming rig major upgrade - Thoughts?

[cerebus]

Um mantle seems to nearly double the FPS in certain games, including BF3. That is proven value.

http://www.techspot.com/review/793-thief-battlefield-4-mantle-performance/

So far, Mantle isn't proving to be that groundbreaking. With AMD's API enabled, we only get another 5% performance out of Battlefield 4 using a Radeon R9 290X and an Intel or AMD processor. We found the same result in Thief using Intel's CPUs but AMD's benefited with up to 67% more performance by using Mantle at 2560x1600, though this is largely because AMD processors perform poorly in Thief to begin with.
In a way, Mantle proved some things we already knew: AMD's Bulldozer and Piledriver CPUs are inferior for gaming and DirectX 11 API processors such as the Intel Core range can push graphics cards such as the R9 290X to the limits in modern games such as BF4. Core i3 through i7 owners can hope to see a 5% boost (a few fps) with Mantle but that's not enough to recommend it over the more mature DirectX 11 API for now.

Mantle improves performance for AMD CPUs where they were previously horribly behind Intel, but otherwise it's nothing to talk about.

 

[GoofySmurf]

Mantal, as far as i know, works on both AMD and Intel CPUs. It is the AMD GPU (for now) that is a must.

No it doesnt mantle only supports AMD GCN cards ....

 

[cerebus]

So its better to stick with AMD in that case. Thanks!

Well there are other factors. I've got a 660ti after having a 270x and I still find the drivers with Nvidia to be better supported than AMDs. Subjectively the FPS with AMD cards tend to fluctuate much more, so you get numbers that look good on paper but dip frequently to a level that's noticeable; whereas Nvidia cards seem to stay at the same numbers more or less consistently.

 

[GoofySmurf]

http://www.techspot.com/review/793-thief-battlefield-4-mantle-performance/



Mantle improves performance for AMD CPUs where they were previously horribly behind Intel, but otherwise it's nothing to talk about.

Really I have two machines here that begs to differ. Its all nice linking an article but have you tested this yourself in real life?

Lets give a better example ...

Here is my main rig:

i7-2600k
16GB DDR3
2x 256gb SSD Raid
1x 2TB SATA
2x AMD 7970
Antec 850W PSU

1440p on everything Max Ultra 64 player multiplayer.

Avarage FPS Before Mantle: 85-95FPS
Avarage FPS after Mantle: 146fps-168fps
200% Resolution scale with D3D: 58-64fps
200% Resolution scale with Mantle: 80-90fps

If you want I can make youtube videos to prove this ....

This increase is because of the 7970's running of mantle not the cpu.

 

[wez1007]

No it doesnt mantle only supports AMD GCN cards ....

Re-read what i said...

Well there are other factors. I've got a 660ti after having a 270x and I still find the drivers with Nvidia to be better supported than AMDs. Subjectively the FPS with AMD cards tend to fluctuate much more, so you get numbers that look good on paper but dip frequently to a level that's noticeable; whereas Nvidia cards seem to stay at the same numbers more or less consistently.

I have noticed the AMD drivers are pretty shoddy... Basically a case of upgrading to the newest driver to try it and then downgrade again because it doesnt perform.


Found this on woot ware: MSI Z87-G43

Seems to tick all the major boxes im looking at. I wont be OCing much since the 4570 isnt unlocked and the 4670K costs a fair bit more.

I might also get the Seasonic M12II-620 instead of the 750 and save the odd R300. Didnt know the Intel CPUs used much less power!

 

[GoofySmurf]

Re-read what i said...



I have noticed the AMD drivers are pretty shoddy... Basically a case of upgrading to the newest driver to try it and then downgrade again because it doesnt perform.


Found this on woot ware: MSI Z87-G43

Seems to tick all the major boxes im looking at. I wont be OCing much since the 4570 isnt unlocked and the 4670K costs a fair bit more.

My god the fanboys are out today what do you claim AMD is the only manufacturer having this issue please see the Nvidia forum. I have just as many issues with drivers on my GTX 660 ti as my 7970's to claim its only AMD is irresponsible.

There is 800 pages of Nvidia problems have fun
https://forums.geforce.com/default/board/44/pc-games/


Carefull of the fanboys op ...

 

[cerebus]

My god the fanboys are out today what do you claim AMD is the only manufacturer having this issue please see the Nvidia forum. I have just as many issues with drivers on my GTX 660 ti as my 7970's to claim its only AMD is irresponsible.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/board/44/pc-games/

Carefull of the fanboys op ...

What makes you think I'm a fanboy? I go between models of cards practically monthly. It's a subjective impression but amd drivers always seem less substantial.

 

[GoofySmurf]

Re-read what i said...



I have noticed the AMD drivers are pretty shoddy... Basically a case of upgrading to the newest driver to try it and then downgrade again because it doesnt perform.


Found this on woot ware: MSI Z87-G43

Seems to tick all the major boxes im looking at. I wont be OCing much since the 4570 isnt unlocked and the 4670K costs a fair bit more.

I might also get the Seasonic M12II-620 instead of the 750 and save the odd R300. Didnt know the Intel CPUs used much less power!

https://forums.geforce.com/default/board/44/pc-games/2/

go read

 

[CamiKaze]

To make a long story short...Go with:

an Intel i5 CPU
8 Gigs Ram
R9
Asus Mobo (I am very much of a fanboy when it comes to Asus)
and an SSD.

You cant go wrong. I can give you some specific models as well but I don't want to be pulled into this little quarrel below.

AMD might have an edge in BF4 but are you building a machine for 1 game only???

Hell I'm on a AMD 7950 and it handles all of my games like the beast that it is.
It's also pointless going for these super high resolutions...what do you get out of it? telling your friends "oh I play my games on full graphics, I have the best PC in town"...small minded shst man. Just play the damn game on a smooth system. No need to go all out and be the talk of the town.

I also don't know why people OC their i7 CPUs as if the software that is out today really need that extra push.


/Sigh

 

[EmileS]

To make a long story short...Go with:

an Intel i5 CPU
8 Gigs Ram
R9
Asus Mobo (I am very much of a fanboy when it comes to Asus)
and an SSD.

You cant go wrong. I can give you some specific models as well but I don't want to be pulled into this little quarrel below.

AMD might have an edge in BF4 but are you building a machine for 1 game only???

Agree with all of the above. Although the mobo can be anything Asus, AsRock, Gigabyte, MSI, Intel, etc.

As it stand today price/performance (issues with GPUs aside) Intel i5 CPU and AMD R9 GPU is the way to go, anyone who wants to argue with that is living under a rock.

Hell I'm on a AMD 7950 and it handles all of my games like the beast that it is.
It's also pointless going for these super high resolutions...what do you get out of it? telling your friends "oh I play my games on full graphics, I have the best PC in town"...small minded shst man. Just play the damn game on a smooth systems. No need to go all out.

I also don't know why people OC their i7 CPUs as if the software that is out today really need that extra push.
/Sigh

The OP did mention he wants to do Photo and Video editing, so resolution would be important for him. And yeah, OCing an i7 is just trying to brag. Buying an i7 for just gaming is mad enough, unless it was a very good bargain!

 

[EmileS]

Mantle has zero proven value at the moment.

Cerebus... No dude.. Come on... You haven't even seen any benchmarks to date? Although, it's only the lower value AMD cards showing a big improvement. The top tier cards only shows slight improvement. But, improvement none the less, shoving Nvidia GPUs into more price-cuts... Nice!

 

[cerebus]

Cerebus... No dude.. Come on... You haven't even seen any benchmarks to date? Although, it's only the lower value AMD cards showing a big improvement. The top tier cards only shows slight improvement. But, improvement none the less, shoving Nvidia GPUs into more price-cuts... Nice!

Well, I posted the most recent article I could find with benchmarks. It's an improvement, but such a marginal one, and for so few games, that it's not what you'd consider a deciding factor. Although goofysmurf's results seem to differ with that, so I'll need to look more closely at it obviously.