Help with a New Processor

Drominide

Hello everybody,
I bought this computer around 2 years ago, and at this point I realized I might wanna start upgrading certain parts. Right now my processor is a little weak, and I was hoping to get some help on what I should replace it with. I'm newer to this stuff, but I've replaced things like fans and such. Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks.

PC Specs:
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4130 Quad-Core Processor 4.20 GHz
GPU: Radeon R9 200 Series (It doesn't tell me the exact GPU.)
RAM: 8 GB
1TB Hard Drive

MarkAnthony

Everything in there is fine apart from the CPU. What ever R9 it is be it a 290 or 290x that's still near a top tier GPU.

I'd suggest getting an intel i7 CPU or i5 if you're on a budget - Skylake if you're willing to replace the RAM. Haswell refresh if you're not. Get an SSD you'll see 240GB units for peanuts. Lastly if you go have the cash get yourself 16GB RAM but put that at the bottom of the list.

BTW I'm assuming you're gaming. Maybe a bit more info and a budget?

Drominide

Yup, I've been using this computer for games, and have now started using it for more graphically intensive games (The Division), right now I'm looking at around a $200 - $250 budget, I just wanted to upgrade my processor, so I have a smaller budget.

Eoinmc97

Maybe just wait until the end of the year for Zen and Kaby Lake, because they should be interesting in performance terms.
You could always hop up to the FX-8370, at €190, but that wouldn't be the greatest value.

MarkAnthony

I'd probably still look to add an SSD. You should be able to squeeze that in with a second hand i5 2500K, which may or may not come with 8GB of RAM. You can either sell yours or combine them for 16GB, whichever takes your fancy, the performance gains for 16GB are marginal at best.

For example here's a deal with a load of extras, obviously look for something cheaper or do a bit of reselling.

http://www.adverts.ie/processors/i5-2500k-p8p67-8gb-tower-cooler-120mm/10001229

tuxy

Why wait for zen? If AMDs optimistic figures are correct it will be on par with haswell. Which would be nice btw but you can get that performance right now with out spending much.

A ddr3 skylake would be a nice upgrade if your problem is low cpu performance and you can reuse your ram.

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Asus-B150M-C-D3-Intel-B150-So-1151-Dual-Channel-DDR3-mATX-Retail_1013068.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Intel-Core-i5-6500-4x-3-20GHz-So-1151-BOX_1010023.html

This combined with your 290 gpu will perform great in games.

Mad Englishman

It sounds like a reasonably well rounded rig, if you are using it for gaming, I would find out exactly what GPU you have and "IF" you can cross fire them. Failing that, an upgrade in that department should do the trick. Most games only need a quad core CPU, and 8GB of RAM is plenty unless you run a lot of Virtual Machines! My rig has an Asus Motherboard, an Athlon II X2 @3Ghz, 8GB DDR2 RAM with a Radeon HD5670 1Gb GDDR and I am able to play games like Crysis 3,Far cry 3,and COD Black Ops at reasonable frame rates at 1080p. OK, some of the eye candy is not switched on but all very playable! I have even run the demo of BF4, and the new Tom Clancy title that eludes me at present. And all of that on a 7200RPM 1TB SATA2 HDD running Win7 X64 Ultimate. For some reason it has a brain fart when I try to play Minecraft on it, but other than that... No probs! :-)

I am looking for a quad FX Pile-driver/bulldozer CPU and an SSD to give to my wife who's Gigabyte motherboard took a dump! (She currently is hogging my laptop, and complains it is under powered! :-/ )

If you are doing a lot of video editing, or other speciality things then I am not the best person to give advise! But as a day to day/ gaming PC it "Sounds" up to the task.
Hope this helps you out! Have a good one! :-)

tuxy

Depends what games. If he does have a 290 he will want to be getting 60 fps minium on high/ultra setting in most games, most the games you listed are old. There's a difference between playable(30 fps) and enjoyable(60+)
In games that can fully utilise 4 cores AMD cpus are good but many games need strong performance on 1 or 2 cores and AMD can't provide that currently.
I have an i5 @ 4.8 ghz and off the top of my head I can list several games that have been cpu limited by it. GTA V, Witcher 3, ARMA 3, Rust. I can only imagine how bad these would perform on an AMD cpu.

Crossfire would be a terrible idea, especially if he's at 1080p. Anyone I know who has tried it soon gave up on it. The only place multi GPU is useful is when you have the best single card available and want to play in 4k.

Not having a go at AMD CPUs or your system but it sounds like the op wants a high end system and your recommendation wouold leave him with a mid/low end system.

K.O.Kiki

Drominide wrote: »

Hello everybody,
I bought this computer around 2 years ago, and at this point I realized I might wanna start upgrading certain parts. Right now my processor is a little weak, and I was hoping to get some help on what I should replace it with. I'm newer to this stuff, but I've replaced things like fans and such. Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks.

PC Specs:
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4130 Quad-Core Processor 4.20 GHz
GPU: Radeon R9 200 Series (It doesn't tell me the exact GPU.)
RAM: 8 GB
1TB Hard Drive

Download Speccy first so we know your specs.

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

TerrorFirmer

R9 200 doesn't mean 290, it could be 270, 270x, 280 or 280x. All of which are grand cards.

In your case, if you don't want to go re-building using Intel, you could do worse than get an Fx-6300 for €70 euro and call it a day, your next upgrade can be a new board and CPU. If you want to spend the money, go H110, i3, re-use your ram and get an SSD. You won't believe the difference. And you have tons of future upgrade options.

Athlon II X2 @3Ghz, 8GB DDR2 RAM with a Radeon HD5670 1Gb GDDR and I am able to play games like Crysis 3,Far cry 3,and COD Black Ops at reasonable frame rates at 1080p. OK, some of the eye candy is not switched on but all very playable! I have even run the demo of BF4, and the new Tom Clancy title that eludes me at present.

I would love to see the frame-rates and settings for The Division, Crysis 3 and BF4 on an AMD dual core with a 5670.

If by reasonable you mean 10fps at 800x600 lowest settings...

MarkAnthony

My bad - I started that, I thought the R9 was just the 290/290x and the others where R8, R7 - doh.

Why would you bother with a H110 on an i3 though? Just use the stock cooler.

tuxy

H110 is also the name of the chipset on budget SKylake motherboards.

MarkAnthony

tuxy wrote: »

H110 is also the name of the chipset on budget SKylake motherboards.

LOL - Doh again.