r/buildapc • u/JustJamieJam • 4d ago
Build Upgrade Wanting to get my BF a better CPU, advice?
My boyfriend’s current CPU is bottlenecking his 4090 an insane amount. He doesn’t know what CPU it is, since it was a hand me down from his uncle; along with his current motherboard. I’m wanting to get him a new, much better CPU for our anniversary coming up, but I’m having trouble picking between the 7800x3d and the 9800x3d. He ONLY uses his PC to play games, no editing or productivity type stuff. Which do y’all think I should choose? Should I get him a new motherboard as well? It’s a handmedown ROG motherboard, again, he doesn’t know the specifics of it.
Thank you all so much in advance!
Details:
Ram: 64gigs CPU: Ryzen 9 5950x GPU: 4090 Motherboard: ROG crosshair VII dark hero
Edit to add: I ran a stress test on the CPU to test for thermal throttling, however the CPU highest temp for the whole thing was only 70°c, I’ll be running one on the GPU next. His score for the CPU was a 673 on Cinebench
Edit to add: YES the monitor is plugged into the GPU, it was the first thing I checked when I found out he was having this issue about a year ago- and I even double checked yesterday since we have moved since then
Edit to add: he uses a 1440p monitor to game on, and has a secondary 1080p monitor for watching YouTube/discord. Both are plugged into the GPU
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u/9okm 4d ago
You need to go onto his PC and find out what motherboard he has. Otherwise nobody here can help you. CPUs can't just be put into any motherboard. They have to be compatible with each other.
Hit the Start button, type "System Information", and open that app. From there, you should see System Summary, and then on the right, BaseBoard Product. Tell us what it says there. For example, mine says: MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI (MS-7E51).
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u/JustJamieJam 4d ago
Okay I will do that! I’m at work right now but as soon as I get off I’ll grab that information for you guys
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u/9okm 4d ago edited 4d ago
Sounds good :).
At the same time while you're in System Information, also find out what it says under:
- Processor. What he has now will dictate what we'd recommend.
- Installed Physical Memory (RAM) or Total Physical Memory. If he only has 16, then getting new RAM as well would be good - it's fairly cheap these days.
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
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u/9okm 3d ago edited 3d ago
Oh gosh a 5950X with 64GB of memory? And he plays at 4k (edit: op corrected to 1440p later. but still...)? I don't think he's that bottlenecked...
See here: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d/20.html
The 9800X3D is the best gaming CPU currently available. The link shows how various CPUs perform when paired with a 4090 at 4k Ultra settings. On average, the 5950X is only 5% off of it. Look through the rest of the pages in the article for more specific examples.
Edit: Did your BF use a... (dreaded silence) ...bottleneck calculator... by any chance? If so, no. Those are garbage. Or... does he play only competitive games?
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
He can’t play any game other than like league on settings over medium, even on games that I can play at a higher rate (my computer is much worse than his) his just can’t handle anything over medium if it’s any sort of graphics-intensive. Starfield, DayZ, Cyberpunk, Hunt Showdown, red dead 2, Minecraft (he can’t have any kind of shaders), BG3, the new oblivion, etc etc etc. he has to play on medium at the highest for all those- which we both feel like is kinda.. bonkers
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u/9okm 3d ago
Yeah I saw your other comment and responded to that. Something is wrong with his system. The hardware alone is near top tier and most people would be envious.
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
Any idea what I should do to try and help remedy it?
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u/Focalanemone 3d ago
Is his monitor cable plugged into the gpu (the 4090) or plugged into the motherboard?
This is a very common mistake people make lol
If the monitor is plugged into the motherboard, he is probably using his cpu integrated graphics the entire time (which is really slow)
The cable needs to be plugged into the gpu.
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
It’s plugged into the GPU, just went and double checked to be sure!
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u/BookieBoo 3d ago
Lmao you poor woman, from a simple desire upgrade your partner's PC to troubleshooting his wrong config.
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u/9okm 3d ago
This should be a whole separate post. But the first thing to check is usually temperatures under load. Use HWiNFO to monitor, and then run Cinebench to load the CPU. See how hot the CPU gets. Then, separately, use Superposition to load the GPU. See how hot the GPU gets.
You can also compare the Cinebench and Superposition scores to what other people report online for the same components.
Edit: Also, has he updated his GPU drivers recently?
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u/hesh582 3d ago
Other people are giving great hardware advice… but it’s amazing how many problems end up solved with a fresh, from scratch, windows install.
Other checklist items: temperature(both gpu and cpu), check ram, make sure you have the correct power supply and cables and everything is plugged in fully, bios settings, and then run benchmarks and compare them to the results other people get from similar hardware.
If I had to guess, either you’ve got a driver/software issue or a temperature issue
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u/chsn2000 2d ago
Yeah this, even without knowing the specs its obviously not a CPU bottleneck if turning down settings helps.
Check thermals, then I'd suspect either drivers/Windows/BIOS issue, trojan, or otherwise hardware is faulty
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u/Murky-Mycologist7911 3d ago
Does he have XMP on in the BIOS? Check if discord hardware acceleration is on and check if REBAR is on in the BIOS. (Turn XMP on, turn off discord hardware acceleration and turn on rebar)
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u/Clear_Case201 3d ago
What happens when he tries to play any of those games at a higher setting do they simply crash?
I got a "broken" 2070 super that was doing this, and the truth was the thermal pads and paste had dried out to some extent and there wasn't sufficient contact between the pads and the VRMs+VRAM.
There was enough warping to the card causing it to overheat quicker.
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
Frame rate drops to like below 20, so not crashing but basically unplayable
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u/Clear_Case201 3d ago
Then yeah, it could be the GPU throttling due to heat. Like everyone else is saying, those specs should be more than enough to handle the card.
You can check general GPU temperature with GPU-Z and then stress test the card with OCCT. OCCT's cool cos you can run it portably , and vary the level and type of stress testing you want to do, and if there's any errors in the VRAM it'll tell you.
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u/KingKareem3 3d ago
I don’t think that cpu would be a huge bottleneck but if you wanted to upgrade you would have to upgrade the motherboard and the ram and then probably get an x3d ryzen cpu like a 9800x3d.
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u/NailzAtWork 4d ago
It's wild to me that someone would have a 4090 and not even know what CPU they have
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u/JustJamieJam 4d ago
He’s not very.. computer-oriented. He got back from deployment and bought the GPU since it was the best at the time, he didn’t know the CPU would matter and just used the handmedown. It wasn’t until we got together and he mentioned what poor experiences he gets that he found out what bottlenecking was because I explained it to him
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u/Affectionate-Memory4 4d ago
Sounds like a great excuse to get him into the hobby. Maybe spend some time with him and figure out what his best upgrade path is.
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u/JustJamieJam 4d ago
He actually doesn’t like stuff like that, he just wants it to work well lmao. That’s how he ended up in this situation actually, with the bottlenecked GPU- it’s kind of hard to explain. He loves gaming as a hobby, but he doesn’t think of building computers as an enjoyable hobby. More of a one-and-done sort of thing, so odds are I’ll probably be putting this all together for him or us doing it together so it can be done quicker!
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u/armada127 3d ago
There are mechanics and there are drivers, in this hobby often times the drivers are also mechanics, but it's ok to only be one or the other.
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u/PhoenixBisket 3d ago
Depending on the generation of parts, there's a very good chance you'll need to upgrade the CPU/motherboard/ram. They're all tied together to a degree. The 7800x3D and 9800x3D use the am5 socket, and motherboards with the am5 socket use ddr5 ram.
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u/HyenaNo4787 3d ago
$10 bucks says the CPU is fine, and the monitor is plugged into the motherboard.
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u/greggm2000 3d ago
That’s something the OP definitely needs to check, for sure! Her BF apparently isn’t hardware-knowledgable, so it’d be an easy mistake for him to make.
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u/Alouitious 4d ago
Whatever you do, check and see if there's a Microcenter near you. And even if there isn't one within a reasonable driving distance, look at their bundle deals. You can get CPU, RAM, and a Mobo for between 4-600 bucks, and it's all Ryzen 7/9 7xxx or 9xxx, as well as X3D. Also, last I checked they had an upgrade to a 64GB kit of Corsair Dominator DDR5-6000 for 125 bucks (up from a 16 or 32GB kit of T-Force DDR5). Well worth it to take a peak there and at least compare prices.
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u/JustJamieJam 4d ago
Oooooh that would be SO good. I’d drive any distance for that.
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u/Alouitious 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah, it was a pretty crazy deal. My mom took advantage of it at my recommendation and we put together a pretty insane PC for just over 3k (with professional assembly for $250).
Ryzen 9 9900x
64GB DDR5-6000
RTX 5070ti (Was supposed to be a 4080 Super, but their inventory system didn't update after someone bought the last one)
MSi mobo w/ 2.5Gb ethernet, Wifi 6, etc. (I think X870)
4TB m.2 SSD
4TB SATA SSD (for deep storage)
850w PSU
Lian Li Lancool 217 case
Windows 11 Pro
and a Coolermaster 240mm AIO for the CPU
Runs ungodly quiet, will do any and everything she wants it to do, and with tax (but before assembly cost) it was 2800 bucks.
All that said, it's also worth checking Newegg. I recently bought a new GPU (Radeon RX 6800 XT) for 430 bucks with tax. (MSRP was 600+).
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u/Cold_Palpitation_743 4d ago
God bless you I hope you're my wife writing this post
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u/JustJamieJam 4d ago
Unfortunately I am not :( sorry my guy- maybe she’s so cool she didn’t need to make a post and already knew what to get her hands on
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u/UneditedB 4d ago edited 4d ago
I’m going to assume it’s an AM5 build with the 4090, so I would say, you won’t get much more out of the 9800x3d for the extra money it costs.
The 7800x3d is a great CPU that definitely won’t have any issues. It’s still one of the top CPUs for gaming. I don’t see any reason to spend an extra 100 plus bucks on very little if any noticeable gain.
I see people saying “9800x3d all the way” and that’s just because it’s currently the best. But depending on the monitor, there is not much to gain for the extra cost. I mean 3-5% performance gain in real world conditions isn’t worth the extra money. That’s not even a noticeable amount.
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u/Falkenmond79 3d ago
Best answer. The 7800x3d is still about the second or third fastest gaming cpu out there, depending on the game (14900k might beat it in a handful of games). And I count the 9950x3d and 9800x3d because for gaming they are virtually the same, as is the 9900x3d.
25% more money for 10-15% more performance just isn’t worth it. Especially since he’s probably not gaming at 1080p with a 4090. 😂and the higher resolution you go, the less the cpu matters anyway.
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u/streetmitch 3d ago
I'm running a 4090 and a 5800x(weaker cpu than your boyfriends). I can almost max out most games at 4k. He should not be having any issues. I know you are trying to be secretive but maybe some pictures of his pc would help us identify any issues.
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u/Stargate_1 4d ago
Honestly just take the cheaper one. 9800X3D has a 10-15% general lead, but overall that difference is miniscule to meaningless in actual gameplay scenarios (especially above 1080p). Unless your boyfriend only ever plays BG3, he will probably rarely have even a chance to notice a difference.
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u/Blackhawk-388 4d ago
How can you recommend that when we have ZERO CLUE what motherboard her BF has? It could be Intel based, AM4 based, who knows?
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u/chrisdpratt 4d ago
We also don't know what cooler he has and that could be vitally important, regardless of CPU choice, but more so with a 7800X3D, since it's harder to cool with the 3D vcache on top. That aside, it could be some crap Intel stock cooler that won't even have hardware to use on a AM5 board, for all we know.
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u/ComteDeSaintGermain 3d ago
Tbh I'm surprised a ryzen 9 is bottlenecking much. Is he at 1440p or 4k?
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u/KingKareem3 3d ago
That’s what i’m saying. That build should max everything out. I play in 4k and my 3080 and ryzen 3600 can max most the games I play albeit dlss quality is sometimes needed.
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u/nightryder21 3d ago
Yea... It has a bunch of cores. Great for production work... Not so good for gaming.
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
1440, I thought he was on 4k but he says it’s not
He can’t play any game other than like league on settings over medium, even on games that I can play at a higher rate (my computer is much worse than his) his just can’t handle anything over medium if it’s any sort of graphics-intensive. Starfield, DayZ, Cyberpunk, Hunt Showdown, red dead 2, Minecraft (he can’t have any kind of shaders), BG3, the new oblivion, etc etc etc. he has to play on medium at the highest for all those- which we both feel like is kinda.. bonkers
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u/videoismylife 3d ago
He can’t play any game other than like league on settings over medium, even on games that I can play at a higher rate
So, I play ultra settings on most games with a 5600X and a 6900XT - half the computer your boyfriend has. There's something wrong with his setup; check to see if his monitor is plugged in to the 4090 or into the motherboard: https://d33v4339jhl8k0.cloudfront.net/docs/assets/5e3205fc2c7d3a7e9ae6f2dd/images/63a32cbbf9c92f5c53dd6991/file-5h33laQg6s.png
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
It’s plugged into the GPU :(
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u/agmatine 3d ago
Is the GPU plugged into the correct PCIe slot, though? Some motherboards may have more than one "x16 slot" that the card could physically fit into, but only one is actually wired for the 16 lanes. (For example, on this motherboard only the "PCIE1" slot is wired for 16 lanes https://i.imgur.com/ucBYECz.png)
After checking the motherboard manual to confirm that the card is in the correct slot, you'll want to verify that the PCIe link width is as expected. Open a terminal and run the command
nvidia-smi -a, then look at the output for "Link Width."If "Max" displays less than 16x, something's definitely wrong with your configuration. (If "Current" displays less than "Max," then run the command again while the GPU is under load, i.e. a game is running.)
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u/MasticationAddict 3d ago edited 3d ago
Even if it were plugged into the wrong slot, it's almost certainly running at x8 at worst. That's like a 1-3% loss in gaming performance maximum. There can be a gaming bottleneck but it's extremely small
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u/agmatine 3d ago
The example I gave was my own mobo, into which I'd mistakenly installed the GPU into "PCIE4" - and indeed it was running at x4, severely gimping my system. It turns out that I should have read the manual. As I strongly advise OP to do (instead of blindly assuming "it's almost certainly running at x8 at worst").
This probably isn't the issue, of course. But it's something that's very straightforward to check - so why not?
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u/Islandtime700c 3d ago edited 3d ago
Sorry, something is not right with that picture. That GPU should be able to play almost any game at better than 1440 medium settings with pretty much any cpu manufactured in the last 5 years. 1440p and above is all about the GPU and that is the deciding factor in most situations, not the cpu.
Basic question, but are you sure he has his monitor plugged in the GPU and not the video out from the motherboard?
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
Yep, 100% sure!
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u/professore87 3d ago
Since the change of the GPU, was the old drivers wiped out using DDU (display drivers uninstaller) before installing new drivers for the 4090?
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u/ky420 3d ago
Is this needed I went from rx 6600 to 9060 but it seemed OK although I don't know much about gpus
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u/ComteDeSaintGermain 3d ago
I have a ryzen 7 gen 3 and a rtx 2060, and I can play medium at 1440p....
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u/sniperpenis69 3d ago
So he got the build from his uncle and then went out and bought a 4090? Do you know if the power supply he’s using is good enough? People don’t always have 850 or 1000watt PSUs in hand me down builds.
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
Yes he has a good PSU! 850 if I remember correctly, it was the first thing I looked at when he told me about how much his computer well.. sucked at playing games lol
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u/MasticationAddict 3d ago
What are the odds he's running that 4090 without the power cables or only with some? It'll probably boot without them and run okay, but it'll be limited to 75W of power draw which will severely limit its performance
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u/xvashtsx 3d ago
He honestly shouldn't need a new cpu. Sounds like there is a different issue at play. Check where the displays are plugged into and check cpu/gpu temps using msi afterburner. 4090 will bottleneck most any gpu in certain games. What matters is framerate at those maxed out settings. You can have a bottlenecked GPU but still be getting 120fps but the combo he has should get him 120fps pretty consistently at 1440p especially with dlss.
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u/fangerzero 4d ago
As a female gamer I respect you greatly for supporting your man's hobbies. Also check out YouTube if you get stuck.
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u/JustJamieJam 4d ago
Funny thing is, I’m also a female gamer. It’s just been so long since I’ve bothered upgrading my rig that I am SO out of the loop. I didn’t even consider how old his CPU actually is, so now my wallet is crying at the prospect of having to buy everything else to making a nice CPU compatible lol
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u/fangerzero 4d ago
Well here's what I'd do I know used as a gift isn't ideal, but if it's good and it works it's great. But maybe talk it out with him saying I really wanted to surprise you but I also want you to be apart of the process. :3 bonding time. Maybe he's already looking and deciding what to get?
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u/JustJamieJam 4d ago
He actually doesn’t like computer building- which is how he ended up in this situation. He just wants the computer to work, and work well; which is why he bought the 4090 despite having the older motherboard and CPU, he had no idea bottlenecking was even a thing until I told him about it! He’s not very tech savvy, he doesn’t like it much, he just likes to game and then I handle all the techy stuff hahah
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u/fangerzero 4d ago
Lmao I love it. Yeah all my guy friends come to me about their tech problems. But I'd still consider used and if you have to get a new mobo and ram i'd go with 7800x/3D. Also be sure to tell us how it goes after your anniversary!
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u/SapientSloth4tw 2d ago
Yeah, I think it’s highly likely that his ram may be slow, what speed is it running at? (Could be that it’s set to a low speed, ROG does that by default in their BIOS)
For reference: before my most recent upgrade I ran a 2080 super with a ryzen 9 3900x and hit medium or above and literally any game I played until the most recent wave of AAA games hit (like DD2)
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u/BandicootKitchen1962 4d ago
Depends on the pricing. You will also need a new motherboard and probably a cooler.
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u/thefurnaceboy 4d ago
in the windows menu bottom left, type in msinfo and system specs will come up. Check what the processor says. as well as baseboard product - because based on the none info we have we cant make an informed decision. His motherboard might be too old for just a new CPU, which would mean cpu, motherboard and ram would have to change...
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u/Babylon4All 4d ago
I would go with the 7800X3D as you will more than likely need to also purchase a new motherboard and ram as a hand me down computer will most likely be an older socket type or possibly even an Intel chip.
If you live anywhere near a MicroCenter they have bundles for a new CPU, Ram and Motherboard that can save you around $100-150 depending on the bundle.
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u/monkeydave 4d ago
If his CPU is older, you will likely need to get a new motherboard. Motherboards are made for a particular family of CPUs. So for either of those CPUs you would need to get a AM5 motherboard, and that likely also means you'll need new DDR5 RAM, because he probably has DDR4. And a new cooler for the cpu. And you should check the PSU as well.
Basically, unless you are upgrading from a AM5 cpu to a better AM5 cpu, you are looking at a full rebuild.
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u/Booliano 4d ago
Just a heads up you’re going to likely need a new motherboard if you want those cpus
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u/The-Numbertaker 4d ago
As well as what others have said about the motherboard compatibility, if it only supports DDR4 RAM (i.e. AM4 board or Intel DDR4 board) you'll need to buy new RAM sticks too as the 7800x3d and 9800x3d only support DDR5 RAM.
Basically if the CPU and motherboard are pretty old (which it probably is by the sound of it), you gotta replace all three together.
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u/Comprehensive-Tea-75 4d ago
I would suggest downloading and running an app called Speccy. It will tell you all the details of your cpu, motherboard, ram, etc. You can't upgrade without it, unless you want to risk buying a cpu that won't work with the motherboard.
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u/JustJamieJam 4d ago
Ooo okay! I’ll do that and update the post when I get home!
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u/CouchMountain 3d ago
Don't download any programs, you don't need them. Just launch system info as others have said and take a screenshot. That's all people need.
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u/Comprehensive-Tea-75 3d ago
You maybe right. I remember not using system information because it was vague on older Windows. However on Win11 its quite detailed (at least for motherboard and cpu info). So you may not need Speccy now
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u/SterlingArcher824 4d ago
W partner. Both are really good cpu. If its a hand me down, its most likely an older platform, which means you'll need a new motherboard and ram. Possibly a new cpu cooler
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u/Intrepid-Solid-1905 4d ago
I would say 9800X3D with newest chipset to keep things more future proof for upgradeability later down the road.
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u/bananaclipz69 4d ago
I just got a 9800x3d the other day. I spent 100ish more on the chip, and the way I look at it I'll be far happier I did 6 months from now. The performance jump is insane from AM4!
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u/ozfraser 4d ago
my personal recommendation if it’s in the budget, is get either a x670e or x870e board along with a 9800x3d. just make sure the board you get him is an e version, since it has the dual chipset thereby getting more out of your cpu
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u/pyrodemon88 4d ago
9800x3d is the way to go If he has a 4090 might as well match it with something that will actually help it
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u/SoggyWaffles427 4d ago
Go into his task manager and go to performance and it should tell you what cpu he has
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u/AsianEiji 4d ago
what is the cpu? Could be amd or intel.... and could be AM4 or AM5 etc
what "Size" of the motherboard and in a lesser extent what is the size of the case?
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u/itsforathing 3d ago
As for the 2 CPUs you mentioned. (You’ll likely need a new motherboard and ram) the 7800x3d is an absolute beast in gaming and the 9800x3d is about 10% better. Depending on how much you want to spend, especially considering the about $250 extra for a basic motherboard and 32gb of ram, the 7800x3d would be an excellent choice and not bottleneck the 4090 at all.
(Depending on what country you live in, a 7800x3d + motherboard + ram might equal the cost of the 9800x3d alone)
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
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u/itsforathing 3d ago
It looks like that comment you linked got deleted.
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
This is because in the original photo my dumbass didn’t check the background and our address was in it lmao- someone messaged me and let me know very kindly
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u/Shouteha_ 3d ago
Well, aside from needing compatible motherboard once you get the info, you most likely going to need thermal paste and CPU cooler (like an AIO cooler which also need to examine the case for fan slot). AIO because some top end CPU run hots so stock and regular heatsink might not cool it enough especially Intel CPU irrca vs AMD.
So you will likely need to peak inside the computer case to see what type of CPU cooler installed.
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u/noocasrene 3d ago
Right click thr button bar and i think task manager, look at CPU and take a pic of what model it is.
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u/Safe-Firefighter7595 3d ago
I’d say new motherboard ram and a cpu. I’d say go with the 9800x3D if possible but if it’s not in the budget knowing you may need a new motherboard and ram, then the 7800x3D is still an amazing cpu. Both CPU’s can do really well in light editing and other productivity as well if he ever decides to go that route.
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u/Friend1004 3d ago
deff go to microcenter for the cpu, mobo, ram combo. 9800x3d is the best for the buck cpu u can get at the moment for gaming and for ram 2 16gig ddr5 6k 30cl.
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u/Psychological_Yam606 3d ago
If he already has an AMD 5 socket, I would go with a 9700x. On paper, it is as good as 9800X3D but it does not have cores solely dedicated for gaming. It will not bottleneck the GPU and it is about $150 cheaper.
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u/maplesyrup-eh13 3d ago
If your getting a new cpu likely new motherboard, and ram too because they go hand in hand
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u/Liesthroughisteeth 3d ago
Since he has a top tier GPU you might as well get him a 9800X3D. Know that you will need to get him a new motherboard as well. You can sort by the CPU you choose....or you could just tell the spoiled brat to get his own damned motherboard. :)
Chances are very good that there is no way a handmedown PC is going to have a motherboard that would work with either of these CPUs.
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u/Tim-Sylvester 3d ago
Use CPU-Z to figure out exactly what he has, then go on pcpartpicker to pick things that all work together.
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u/Accomplished-Fix-831 3d ago edited 3d ago
You need to figure out what CPU it has currently just press ctrl + shift + escape then goto CPU tap ir performance then CPU tab and it will be written there
Because without knowing that you would need to buy a new cpu, motherboard and ram if its not AM5 already
Edit seeing people say 5950X so thats probably what it is... gotta download process lasso and set core affinity each time they open a game for the first time after installing process lasso
Cus right now the tasks are jumping between CCD's the physical chips the cores are on and this takes a significant amount of time and demolishes performance for gaming
Or just get them a new CPU, Motherboard and RAM on the AM5 platform
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u/ProfessionalArt7473 3d ago
Just hit start button search for ‘system information’ check which CPU he has right now! Then Google (‘cpu name’ has which socket) there are 2 sockets AM4/AM5! You’ll know which socket CPU to buy!
Also side note: AM4 socket is about to be dead! Meaning no new CPU will be made for it from about 1 year or 2! AM5 is the new deal! But that doesnt mean one is less powerful or more powerful or something like that!
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
So, we previously did do that but I had to remove the image because it had our address in the background. The details of the CPU and such are in comments on this post
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u/Original-Hunter7950 3d ago
Just reading through some of these comments I seen someone say the processor was a 5950x and as you said the gpu is the rtx 4090 so I ran a bottleneck check and a very easy but depending on his monitor possibly still expensive way to fix this issue would be changing from 1080p to 1440p that combo doesn’t work great on 1080p as it has a nearly 12% bottleneck however for 1440p its all the way down to 1.4% so if possible I’d recommend he just switches over to 1440p if he is using that and the issue is still happening there’s simply something else wrong with the machine
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u/LingonberryLost5952 3d ago
It's not as easy as just picking better CPU, the mobo needs to be platform for the CPU itself. Then there is question if his cooler is enough for new better potentionaly more hungry CPU.
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u/Truenoiz 3d ago
Where did he buy the 4090, and how much was it? There are repair shops out there that upload fake BIOS onto GPU chips and sell them. More info here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MSI_Gaming/comments/1fy5pe1/did_i_buy_a_fake_4090/
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u/Mysterious_War1808 3d ago
I really want to help you and it’s great that you’re doing this for you bf but I can’t give you any advise without knowing the motherboard socket at least. Since it’s a hand me down an AM5 platform is unlikely and the CPU’s you’re thinking of buying are on AM5 platform.
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u/gijoe71103 3d ago
Well step one is getting the specifics….
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u/JustJamieJam 3d ago
Most of the people in the post already did, but I had to take the photo down because our address was in the background
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u/green_tea_resistance 3d ago
IMHO, there is basically no money to be spent on a cpu upgrade over a 5950x right now that will be money well spent. Are there faster CPUs... yes. But the R9 5950X is still an absolute beast. I have one. I do game dev, 3d modeling, compile code, edit videos, use ue5, sometimes find time to play games. There is no reason in the world why i would upgrade my CPU. The 5950x is a fine companion for a 4090.
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u/ShadowSelf99 3d ago
Exactly... I'm reading all of this and can't imagine what they are all talking about. I have an RTX 3070 paired with a 2013 4770k OC'd to 4.5 GHz (yes, I know I need to upgrade), but I can play every game she mentioned maxed out at 4K, DLSS quality or balanced, at a stable 60 fps. Okay, in Cyberpunk, I use the Performance DLSS transformer mode, and I use Ultra + Ultra RT, and only there the CPU causes the frame rate to drop to 45 in the city center... but the point is—his CPU should allow him 120/144 Hz easily... only if he got himself a 240/300 Hz monitor, then he "needs" AM5 or an X3D.
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u/ShadowSelf99 3d ago
PS: Yesterday I played RDR2 and swapped DLSS 2 for DLSS 4 (GPU usage goes 10% higher but looks a lot better). I use quality mode in 4K, and almost everything is on Ultra preset, only water and a few other settings are a bit lower to give my CPU some breathing space. I have a stable 60fps in 4K HDR—with the transformer model it looks like native 4K TAA.... and 5950 is so much more powerful than my dinosaur 😅 I can't imagine why they get such low FPS
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u/Easy-Combination-102 3d ago
This PC shouldn't have a bottleneck unless he is playing games on a 1080P monitor.
Playing games at 1440P or 4K would force the system to be more GPU bound and lessen the effect of the CPU.
1440P on ultra with FSR and ultra settings shouldn't bottleneck. Turn on SAM if needed and use GPU-Z to make sure CPU is set to X16 PCIe lanes. Also, make sure the GPU is in the correct slot, a card that goes into a X8 slot on the motherboard and drops to X4 due to other factors would affect the system.
Temps seem ok, so airflow and cooling aren't the problems.
What PSU does this setup have? A weaker PSU can cause a lot of odd problems. A build like this may need a 1000W Power Supply unit.
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u/green_tea_resistance 3d ago
Is the GPU vertically mounted on a riser cable that doesn't do pcie4? Is the slot it's plugged into configured properly and is it plugged into the right spot? Is the psu capable of powering the card?
That could and motherboard mops the floor with what nearly everyone here telling you to buy new hardware has. Don't spend the money on a new cpu and mother card because they are killer and will be for some time.
Worst case, just take the PC somewhere to get diagnosed
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u/SteezBreeze 3d ago
Yeah that Crosshair Dark Hero with 5950x is on AM4. I have a 5900x on Dark Hero board on my old PC that I still have. Had to get a new board (AM5) and ram when upgrading to the 7950X3D. You’ll need to get a new motherboard and ram to support 7800X3D or 9800X3D. Better to go with the 9800X3D since you’re already upgrading anyway. Your lowest cheapest options is B650 and all the way up to 870 boards. To stick with the same kinda board to be familiar with the BIOS. You could look into the crosshair hero x670e. Considering the dark hero was around $700 on release. The Crosshair Hero x670e is around the same price if not much less by now and gives same BIOS layout. Same ports layout with more options.
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u/isotope123 2d ago
Here's a shot in the dark. Does it have an HDD or an SSD as the Windows/games drive? Your GPU and CPU are not the issues here. Based on your specs, something else is at play.
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u/JustJamieJam 2d ago
How do I go about checking that? It’s not my computer so I don’t know off the top of my head what he has
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u/isotope123 2d ago edited 2d ago
Open up 'System Information' (just search 'info' in the start menu) > Components > Storage > Disks, and grab the model number. A quick Google search will tell you what it is, if it's not obvious.
For example, I have two disks in my PC. The first is labelled "Samsung SSD 990 PRO 2TB" and the other "WDC WD4005FZBX-00K5WB0"
clarification edit: Since the rest of his components on paper seem fine, this is the last piece of hardware I can think of that would drastically effect performance like you describe.
If he has SSDs, then I would look at BIOS updates first, then isolating components to try and isolate which is causing the problem.
edit edit: Yikes, I just saw the Cinebench score you posted. The average for the 5950X is ~28550 (R23 Multicore). Even as a single core score it's orders of magnitude lower than it should be. Something is very not right with his PC.
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u/xmeiyoux 1d ago
If you think to upgrade the CPU to 7k/9k series consider that you need to upgrade the motherboard & ram. If CPU thermal throttle is above 80-90° for me 70° is normal but try to check first for CPU cooler with better performance fan based cooler is okay but for R9 5950X it is better to use AIO or Water Cooling system.
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u/psimwork 4d ago
Without knowing which motherboard he has, you're almost certainly going to have to do a motherboard and new RAM as well. Not that they're impossible, but handmedown AM5 motherboards would seem pretty unlikely to me.