HD 7850/7950 CPU bottleneck?

[Spruce]

Hi

Right now I'm running a Phenom II X4 960T @ 4 GHz, playing games like BF3, would a HD 7950 be notably bottlenecked by that? should I aim for a 7850/7870?

We'll see what Piledriver brings to AMD but I feels like a future CPU upgrade would have to be a new motherboard with Intel CPU to keep up

 

[Cobalt006]

Post Your system specs If it a build or a retail computer.This way someone can better assist you.

 

[Spruce]

System specs can be found in my profile

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Bottlenecking shouldn't be a problem; pretty much any modern quad-core CPU cannot easily bottleneck a single-GPU card.

 

[Spruce]

Ok, that sounds good, would prefer to invest into the new FX-8350 or FX-6300 when they reach the market instead of changing motherboard and go Intel instead which would be much more expensive.

 

[slh28]

Your CPU is fine with a single 7950. But I don't think it's a good idea to go for the FX-8350, you'll see very little if any performance increase and the FX-6300 might even be a downgrade. Switching to Intel won't be "much more expensive", a decent Z77 mobo is only about 50% of the cost of the processor and you can keep your existing DDR3 RAM.

 

[Sum Guy]

System specs can be found in my profile

I don't think bottle necking should be an issue, but you can definitely use some more ram, and maybe you have done what I have suggested already, but if not give it a shot.
My specs are in my profile
I have a very outdated card for the moment. I plan to get a better card soon. I have my eyes set on a 7950 or 7970. Money is my only issue for now.
I recently upgraded my ram from 4 gigs to 8 gigs, then to 16 gigs. I noticed a fps gain in BF3 when I went to 8 gigs. I was getting 29 to 34 before the upgrade now its about 48 to 59. difference. Unfortunately these setting are all on low, but at 1080p. I did not notice a big difference when I went up to 16 gigs though. Also set you virtual ram bottom number to match the ram installed and the top number double what your current ram is. It helps and increases your wei score.
If you upgrade your card and are disappointed with the gains, try upgrading your ram to at least 8. Ram is pretty cheap these days. 8 gb of PC3 12800 is under $50 these days. I have 16gb of PC3 14900 which also cost about 50 an 8gb set. Also you may want to run the direct X update utility.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35
Also the K--Llite codec pack helps with media tuning to give you a wei better score.
http://www.filehippo.com/download_klite_codec_pack/
Pay attention the check boxes both installers want to install a toolbar uncheck those if you like.
Finally defrag your hard drive often if you don't have an ssd. It helps with boot speed. My laptop boots in 23 seconds without an ssd.
http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html
another awesome program

Good luck.