I am a first time builder. I built my system with ab AMD FX 4170 quad processor. I am concerned that my system is not running as fast/smooth as I hoped it would. So am trying to cover my bases and make sure each component is working properly.

my motherboard program and windows 7 evaluation of my CPU both show it never going much above 4 Ghz. I wasn't for sure if this was saying per core and everything was fine, or if it meant total, and it is only running at about 25% of the speed it should be (4x4.2=16.8ghz)

My other concern is that my ASRock 970 extreme am3+ motherboard is 8-core compatible, and I got wondering if that would make the quad core not run as efficiently?

Also, how can I check to make sure my power supply is pushing enough to each component? (its a corsair builder 430w)

Finally, I also have 2x4gb gskills ram and an AMD Radeon HD 6850. do any of these components stand out to you as a bottleneck in my system that I could upgrade w/o to much expense?

It is running fine. Each core runs at the rated speed, e.g. 4.2Ghz....that does not mean that you multiply each core by 4.2.....that just means that the processor has 4 cores and singularly or all together the rated speed is 4.2Ghz. I would suggest that you read up a bit more on multi core processors to see how they really work, specifically in this case you should pay attention to AMD and not Intel.

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The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.

to answer your other questions the 970 chipset can handle up to a 8-core cpu so it will have no problem running a quad

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Corsair HX850W (Awsome)
NZXT Phantom case (too ***** big)

Your motherboard program should be showing the CPU operating at least 4.2 GHz, no less, unless you have some power/cooling management option enabled.

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