FX-8120 4.8GHz Gameplay on BF3, MW3 and Dirt 3 (1/4)

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Seems like pretty good voltages for the clock but the temps seem a little high for an H100. The best settings for my 8120 are: CPU - 5000Mhz - 1.55v FSB - 250Mhz CPU/NB - 2500Mhz - 1.45v HT - 2750Mhz - 1.325v NB - 1.275v RAM - 2000Mhz - 1.575v VDDA - 2.65v CPU LLC - Ultra High NB LLC - High You should be able to get 4.8GHz no problem with 1.475-1.5v without temps going over 60C.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Kept temps around 55C. I have cold air intake attached to my H80 pulling 10-15C air through the rad. It wasn't easy to keep cool but it can be done. Just have to be a little creative. Also it doesn't have to be overclocked this high for it perform well. I usually ran this 8120 at stock because it handled anything I needed it to do without any issues. The FX chips are actually not too bad for being a 1st revision. As you will see with Vishera, power consumption has gone way down.

[@HLPC_2]

I OCed my 8150 to 4.4 stable, which compared to many other setups isn't much but I got an air cooler, which keeps it around 60-70 celsius only under extreme stress tests, usually on idle it stays around 25-30. Performs SO WELL even not so high!

[@gilbertespindola95]

finally a usefull review of this cpu thanks.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

No problem. I wish I could do more with it but I sold this system. I plan to start doing a lot of testing with many processors in the future but for now I just don't have the time or the money.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

@psanthuizen83 I was able to keep my temps below 55C due to my custom cold air intake. I had a good FX chip too. I owned three other 8120s and they did not overclock nearly as much as this one. Without the cold air intake I was able to get 4.8Ghz before temps got out of control.

[@emailme23]

That fan is really working

[@stanistheman12]

corsair h80? nice man you reckon its worth it or should i just got with the noctua d-14 or the thermatalke spin q

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I upgraded to 8120 from a phenom II 965 x4 and I noticed a big difference in performance. I think the upgrade is definitely worth it as long as you get an 8core. Now the 8120 prices are way down so its definitely a hell of a deal.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Depends on what program/application you are using. Most applications are only single threaded. Only heavily multithreaded apps and games with take advantage of all 8 cores. Check to make sure you have MS hotfixes installed as well for FX chips.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

YES definitely. BF3 multiplayer is a heavily multithreaded game and will definitely benefit from a 8120 over 1st gen phenom. It will also increase with a better graphics card too.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

@stanistheman12 Yeah 4.8HGz is a 24/7 clock though I did not do that myself. It is a 100% stable and can very well run 24/7. I usually kept at 4.2Ghz for 24/7 for basic app use then up to 4.8-5.1Ghz for gaming to save on power. 4.2Ghz is plenty fast enough for multitasking and general application use.

[@teeblack06]

yeah Microcenter has the cpu/motherboard deals at great prices. im thinking about grabbing a 8120 and asus m5a97 motherboard as i wont be doing any crossfire or sli.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

@militarycanadian I have the voltage at 1.475v when overclocking to 4.8Ghz. I have to bumb it up to 1.525v+ when overclocking to 5.0Ghz though. Then after 5.2Ghz voltage has to be increased exponentially so much so that the heat gets out of control. Usually wont even boot after that. I have had voltage up to 1.625v and still couldnt get it over 5.2GHz

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

CPU usage is about 40-50% on all cores when playing BF3 multiplayer. BF3 really takes advantage of all the threads and plays very smoothly with a 8 core processor.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Temps are around 55C but I have a cold air intake attached to the H80 pulling 10-15C air throught the rad.

[@MrAntiflash]

Ok, thanks! I will get one too.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

the piledriver chip is supposed to be on the am3+ socket and I don't see why it wouldn't if its relatively the same arch. You never know though.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

@cummings4409 My cpu temps during gameplay are around 40c. Max temps are 55c running prime95 and idle temps are 20c and these are all socket temps. The core temps are on average 10c lower.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

In this system I have a Corsair H80 with a cold air intake. There are also two radeon 6790s.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I was definitely happy with my 8120. It was defintely an upgrade from my Phenom II x4 965 chip, thats for sure. Its definitely worth the price of $180. It has amazing multitasking performance and the chip overall is pretty decent given it is a first gen chip. I was definitely satisfied with the 8core FX chips. I think the 8150 is overpriced seeing it is the same chip just a little better binned for much more $ and they both overclock just about the same.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I usually ran the chip at stock cause it did great without overclocking. Nothing bogs it down. Basically you can run 30 programs at once and not notice and performance decrease. You should be able to get to 4.6GHz with 1.475v or 4.8GHz with 1.525v. Try that. Make sure your disables all cpu power saving features (APM, CoolnQuiet, C1, C1E, C6,CC6) and also increase LLC or load line calibration ( decrease Vcore droop) pretty good. Also increase CPU/NB to 1.375-1.4v and you should be good.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

@stanistheman12 I had the Corsair H80 Hydro Series Liquid CPU Cooler for this system. I now have a new system with Llano and Cooler Master TX3 CPU Cooler. I will be posting videos and pics as soon as I am caught up with my school work. I am pretty far behind right now but I will keep you guys updated. Thanks for the support.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Its in the video. The fps is shown in the corner of the screen when the game is playing. Its better for you to see the fps yourself then me tell you an average thats probably way off. This way you can see max/min/avg fps and determine what you are looking for easier.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Yeah sure. My system that I have now I purchased for under $450. I have Llano A8-3870K on ASUS F1A75-M Pro mATX FM1 motherboard including 8GB GSkill Ripjaws X 1866 RAM and Corsair Force 3 60GB SSD all in a Fractal Design Define R3 ATX case. I will posting videos of my new rig in the near future. I just haven't been able to get around to it because of school lately. If you are looking for a new build I would look into AMD's Accelerated Processors especially Trinity which will launch very soon

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

For some reason I cannot reply. 4.8GHz was stable with 1.525v. Max temps were around 50-55C with H80 and cold air intake pushing 10C air.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Yes, air flow rating is 125CFM at 12v. Turbine engines almost.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I had asus CHV board and it worked great for me. They sent me a new bios chip to replace the original. I had 990FX MSi board and it worked great but they had problems with bios at first to but should be fixed by now. Same with GByte but they should be updated as well. Personally I would go with ASUS, MSi, or GByte. I dont really like going with Biostar, ECS, Foxconn, but ASRock is okay though. Its all up to you but I would stick around a board with good power phases if ur planin to overclck

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Temps during gamplay are well under 50C but I have a cold air intake on my H80 CPU cooler.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

No this is running on all 8 cores. You can see in other videos I show the cores running.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

@cummings4409 Temps are great. CPU stays under 43C and GPU stays under 68C under load while gaming...

[@srdeath117]

Damn, that looks realistic as fuck, probably good monitor about 120 hz or higher

[@CustomCorporation]

for collage in the future and for editing use and i dont have a computer of my own right now

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I change the settings throughout the game to show different frame rates. At first I thinnk I have them at medium then I turn them to ultra.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Yeah thats pretty good. Though your fps depends more on your GPU performance more than the CPU. You should be able to get atleast 4.6GHz stable with 8120 if you keep it cool and tweak your overclock.

[@Maledis87]

I overclocked my 8150 to 4.2 ghz and bf3 ran good, then i tried to go for 4.8 ghz and now bf3 went from 60 average to 24 average. I used the graph for the in game monitor, and it showed that my processor was putting about 10 more power out. 8150 OC 4.2 watercooled gtx 660 msi twin frozer oc 8 gb 1333

[@calical26]

these fx cpu's are veary fucking good for gaming

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

These monitors are rated at 75Hz but they are running at 60Hz when in eyefinity like this. Resolution is 5760x1080

[@faheemthedream2007]

Played in Ultra. 8 core processor 3.1-3.4 gz. 8 gb ram, gtx 560 ti 1gb overclocked. Slight difference in high vs ultra

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

From what I have seen the chips from the very first wave were the best ones and they have just been getting worse since then. Though they are still a great multitasking processor, their overclocking capabilities vary widely from chip to chip but then again there are no garauntees with overclocking.

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

@stanistheman12 Yeah got the corsair H80 and it is very nice. This is my first experience with H80 cooler and its great. I have never tried noctua but have heard only great things about theirs. Depends on what you are looking for. I like water cooling because it allows for a much quicker cooling method. More direct. Noctuas are very nice though and very quiet. If you are looking for better performance then go with the H80 unless you are looking for more quiet then go Noctua.

[@PimSanthuizen]

@ChangoKong007 17 sec before it crashes back to the bios? On topic. what are your temps? I have the h100 and i can't seem to get it above the 4.6 ghz 24/7 :/

[@judgement069]

thumbs up for shooting at tank with gun :P

[@N11Ckk123472]

Depends on the rest of the specs.. Ram? Ram speed? Processor and speed? Also, I don't want to be a douchey pc elitest, but may I ask why you're getting an imac?

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I have heard of FX chips bottlenecking high end crossfire setups. I would wait until Vishera and see how they perform with high end crossfire configs. If it has the same problem I would switch over to intel 2nd/3rd Gen Core processors. To be honest with you I dont really think the FX chip affects the GPU performance all that much. You may want to make sure you have the latest drivers, correct settings and maybe try some overclocking. What are your complete specs??

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I can't remember, you'll have to watch the video. I do show it in the video.

[@mirzamujkanovic]

Hey! Could you tell me should i get the FX-8120 like for gaming and sometimes recording because i saw many vids that lagged with this processor! and everyone one said that if you overclock it then it will stop lagging!?

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

Yes they are two 6790's in crossfire.

[@ugotj20ed]

3, 3, 3, 3! And then all the 3 Games

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I would say to turn your NB clock down a little from 2700Mhz to 2500Mhz. I have found that the best performance and stability is right around the 2500Mhz mark. Try that and let me know how it goes....

[@dillonbritt865]

hey dude im thinking of getting this cpu. but i hear mixed reviews. tell me if i should? my current system: amd phenom x4 965 @3.8 ghz, amd 7950, 8 gb 1600 ram, 850 watt psu, and an am3+ cpu ready mobo. id love your response!

[@dillonbritt865]

and one more thing... is your gpu the 6790, or 6970? i cant believe you get over 100 fps with 2 6790s

[@Tsinepanos]

@ChangoKong007 I boot in 52 seconds in my ssd because all my programs that opens in start up are stored on me hdd . My ssd is only 60 gb so no space for othe rprograms only drivers and windows

[@onlyTreGa]

thanks motherboard asus crossfire formula v They have fixed the problem of the BIOS on this? i want to buy a amd fx 8120 But I am undecided on the motherboard i was told that the Asus had a problem and not the took advantage of all, that is why I am thinking of the asrock fatal1ty professional 990fxa which is also very good you could advise me a porfa type msi or something thanks

[@topbhoy88]

mate make sure you have the right drivers downloaded for bf3, either that it could be the servers you are in i get that sometimes. cant think of anything else after you told me!

[@Godlyhank]

I know cause i have your processor and have looked at countless game comparisons :x

[@dQ2o3]

hey why dosent all my 8 cores work together it only works the first core the other dosent work

[@dillonbritt865]

i had no idea 6790s even existed lol

[@CustomCorporation]

well if the 6970 itself would get that easily, how much fps would the hd 6970m for the imac get for bf3 because im getting the 27in imac for my 16th bday so please tell me

[@LowKeyContender]

what did you set your cpu voltage to when you were at 4.8ghz?

[@cheti1337]

at what voltage did you achieve 4.8ghz ? is it stable ? whats the max temps you reached while stres testing ?

[@toxiclovept]

ikr, 159€ for FX8120 + 89€ for ASUS M5A97 = epicly 249€ upgrade, more than good for a huge upgrade :p

[@teeblack06]

i have a amd 955be at 4ghz would be worth it to upgrade to a fx8120?

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

@ChangoKong007 I highly doubt your HDD boots up in 17 seconds. Unless you have like at least 3 of them in raid. Its not possible with one HDD even at sata 6gbps and 10000rpm. Just not possible. Quite trying to blow smoke up everyones arse.

[@topbhoy88]

plus choose european servers.. if i do a russian or american server it can get really laggy

[@brtcobra]

did you shut down 4 cores to get this speed? :)

[@Tsinepanos]

Because the fps is very high for ultra with antiallizing

[@Vex338]

it really has nothing to do with overclocking the CPu - it is the graphics card.

[@Vince-DM]

That has less lag than my FUCKING PS3. Holy hell.

[@SuperHolySheep]

Not really, it would be a parallell update. So you won't see any difference.

[@Tsinepanos]

What is your cpu usage when playing battlefield 3 online ?

[@CustomCorporation]

i already am building a pc and im getting to mac now so i can game and bring to collage

[@brtcobra]

then the temps must be sky high :) prime95 it lol

[@Homieto]

I am just ashamed of mine AMD HD 2600 PRO...

[@Godlyhank]

Dont change.... in games your CPU is a tiny bit better, especially at 3.8-4 GHZ

[@MrAntiflash]

Will my FPS in BF3 increase when i buy and overclock FX-8120 instead of using my phenom 9850 2,6ghz?

[@saschion]

Why you don't record with Fraps and how many FPS you have, when you recording with Fraps?

[@stanistheman12]

What cooler cpu you got?

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

I am running two 6790s, not 6970s. Also if I were you I would not waste money on a mac. They are way too expensive for the hardware and you can build a PC twice as powerful for the same money. Just a thought.

[@dillonbritt865]

and what settings did you play bf3 on?

[@N11Ckk123472]

Wouldn't you think it would be easier, and cheaper, to build your own?

[@stanistheman12]

Oh and is this a 24/7 clock? thanks

[@DerekJojenCummings]

how are your temps?

[@onlyTreGa]

It is worth the fx81xx?

[@Tsinepanos]

It is high setting or ultra without AA

[@4LOWeRUNNER]

You must be looking at Phenom II x6 which is a 6 core. No x2 or x4 phenom II will outperform an 8120 in cpu performance in cinebench unless running in single threaded test. But then overclock both to the max and youll see 8120 win every time. Again, 8120 is definitely an upgrade from any Phenom II x2 or x4 chip. If you have a x6 then there is no reason to upgrade to zambezi. Your vague statement of 'II' really doesnt mean anything. Be more clear in your statements.

[@ChangoKong007]

SSD and 22 sec to Boot?? on my 7200 RPM runs like 17sec!! U_U.....

[@ashwilliams1633]

Looks like he has AA turned off.

[@RemX405]

Short answer, go 1155.

[@RemX405]

RMA or screwed.

[@faheemthedream2007]

obviously ULTRA

[@brtcobra]

show how many cores you have running lol

[@calical26]

this game is easy on my fx 6100 4.2ghz and xfx R7770

[@brtcobra]

i have this cpu and it bottlenecks every card i put to it at mo i have an hd 6870 and it bottlenecks the shit out of it bf3 runs well here because its all gpu and not cpu intensive my friends phenom ii 965 performs in games better than this cpu and i have mine at 4.2ghz dont buy it