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I need advice for a good cpu upgrade
hey everyone, i need some advice on which cpu i should buy to get optimal performance from my radeon hd 7950. for some reason i feel that the cpu im using now (AMD Phenom II x6 1045T) is bottle necking my gpu and i could be getting better performance out of it. what would be the best upgrade thats under $150 or under? i may be able to push $200 but only if its significantly better. any ideas?
Comments
Your motherboard's CPU socket determines what processors you can install. The AMD Phenom series uses an AM3 socket. The next step up from your CPU would use an AM3+ socket. Some motherboards are capable of supporting AM3+ CPUs with a BIOS update even though they were designed for AM3. Post your motherboard model and version if it has one, or look on your manufacturer's web site for a list of supported CPUs and the BIOS version required.
If your motherboard isn't capable of supporting AM3+, you will have to upgrade it with the CPU. You can go with AMD again, but you will run into issues with games which are CPU-bound, or you can go with Intel and pay a lot more but get a lot more performance out of it. Simply put, AMD has not advanced their single-threaded performance much since the Phenom. If you are playing a game which relies on single-threaded performance, you won't see much of an increase in FPS by upgrading with AMD.
I have not done extensive price research. That is up to you. Here are some examples of your options.
AMD FX-8150 with motherboard: $215 (not a major upgrade in single-threaded performance; not likely to be upgradeable later)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1360731
Intel i5-4670K with motherboard: $395 (latest Intel socket; likely upgradeable to even better in the future)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1355066
Intel i3-3225 with motherboard: $240 (upgrade to i5-3570K when you can afford it; performance won't be an upgrade until then)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1361134
1. wait for Quizz, to weigh in, seems to me to be the resident tech guru.
2. For that price, to actually upgrade, I think you will have to stick with AMD. I don't know much but the opinion seems to be the zambeizi <phenom<vishera
3. I don't know about BIOS updates to run an AM3+ in an AM3 socket, but it seems and option.
4. I would head to Newegg and dtart checking on CPUs, looking at the combos with CPU and MB.
5. Again, don't take any advice from me, wait for Quizz.
Your processor is already good enough, that anything within your price range won't offer reasonable speed increase. You'd need to either spend more money, or wait a year or two for technology to improve and prices to drop.
If you really need to upgrade your processor now and can't use more money, I'd say your best alternative is buying a good cooler and overclocking.
i was looking at buying this, its on sale right now. what do you guys think?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=19-113-286
Unless your motherboard supports the chip, you'd be wasting your money. What kind of motherboard do you have?
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Looks like your motherboard will only support an AM3 socket processor, not the AM3+, which is what the FX series is.
I think the poster who said you'll need to upgrade your motherboard along with your cpu to get a decent bump in speed is right.
Save your money and wait awhile, maybe adding some more money to the pile to be able to do a better upgrade later.
**
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/890GXM-G65.html#/?div=CPUSupport
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Looks like your motherboard will only support an AM3 socket processor, not the AM3+, which is what the FX series is.
I think the poster who said you'll need to upgrade your motherboard along with your cpu to get a decent bump in speed is right.
Save your money and wait awhile, maybe adding some more money to the pile to be able to do a better upgrade later.
**
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/890GXM-G65.html#/?div=CPUSupport
Agree.
Sorry.
The good news is, that for around $200 you could be able to do that.
Something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872, $84, with a $10 rebate (if you do rebates), comes in right at around $200 with the FX-6300.
Exactly which power supply do you have, and which case?
Have you considered getting a decent CPU cooler and overclocking your current processor rather than replacing it? MSI says that the motherboard can handle 140 W, while your current CPU has a TDP of 95 W, so that gives you a good bit of headroom. It's likely that you could safely overclock your CPU to somewhere in the ballpark of 3.6 GHz.
Are there any particular programs where your CPU notably struggles, or do you just think it would be nice to have something faster on general principle?
I agree with the suggestion to overclock. Get a decent air cooler for $50 or so and wait until you can afford a real upgrade. The FX-6300 suggested by Ridelyn will not be a significant upgrade for many games which rely on single-threaded performance. It just isn't worth spending the money.
The link I posted for the i5-4670K looks like a good deal, but I haven't been following the market as closely as some. The i5-4670K uses Intel's latest CPU architecture, Haswell. Since the socket is also new, there is a good chance you will be able to upgrade the CPU significantly in the future.