[SOLVED] AM3 CPU's for gaming

[r2t262]

I recently finished building my first gaming rig and the processor I have installed currently have is an AMD FX-4100 and i'm aware that the CPU is not good for gaming but it works for the games I play but I plan to upgrade it in the future to something better but I don't know which CPU's are better for gaming.

Motherboard: 970a-g43 PLUS
GPU: Radeon hd 6450
(The GPU is cheap but I was on a tight budget)

 

[COLGeek]

The strongest CPU that motherboard can support is the FX-8350 or FX-8370. See here to confirm:

https://asset.msi.com/file/test_report/TR19_117211.pdf

 

[delaro]

FX 8350 $69.99 New or $50-$60 Used is as far as you reasonable want to go but your going to need something more than a Stock cooler if you plan to overclock at all.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284

I would definitely consider replacing that GPU though or the CPU upgrade becomes kind of pointless.

 

[r2t262]

sorry for the other reply's i'm fairly new, but I found this on ebay but wasn't sure if its trust worthy since the remarks don't match.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/223177127867

 

[delaro]

Or you could just get this one and do a very basic BCLK overclock of .3 and have the same CPU for nearly half the price.

AMD FX-8350 US$59.98

To be honest it's just not worth paying over $100 on any AM3+ CPU.

(Had to fix the link it seemed to have died)

 

[COLGeek]

Delaro's suggestion is a far better value. Performance is nearly identical as well, especially if you tweak as suggested.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Delaro's suggestion is a far better value. Performance is nearly identical as well, especially if you tweak as suggested.

Except for gaming either one won't benefit very much over the 4 core FX processor he's already got. Games only use two cores heavily so adding 4 more cores on that platform just isn't going to do much unless he's trying to do something that multi-tasks while gaming, such as streaming.

I'd suggest overclocking the crap out of that 4100. Push for something like 4.6, 4.7 maybe even 4.8 Ghz. Your board is much better suited for pushing a 4 core really hard than an 8 core even moderately. And don't worry to much about putting voltage to it: that platform is barely relevant as it is, you will be looking for more well before it dies. Doing this lets you save some now to put towards a real upgrade when that time comes

Only thing you might need is better cooling on the processor to keep it stable but you'd have to do that with one of those 8 core processors too. And if you pick the cooler wisely it will fit right onto the upgrade system when the time comes.

 

[dudeman509]

Delaro's suggestion is a far better value. Performance is nearly identical as well, especially if you tweak as suggested.

Except for gaming either one won't benefit very much over the 4 core FX processor he's already got. Games only use two cores heavily so adding 4 more cores on that platform just isn't going to do much unless he's trying to do something that multi-tasks while gaming, such as streaming.

I'd suggest overclocking the crap out of that 4100. Push for something like 4.6, 4.7 maybe even 4.8 Ghz. Your board is much better suited for pushing a 4 core really hard than an 8 core even moderately. And don't worry to much about putting voltage to it: that platform is barely relevant as it is, you will be looking for more well before it dies. Doing this lets you save some now to put towards a real upgrade when that time comes

Only thing you might need is better cooling on the processor to keep it stable but you'd have to do that with one of those 8 core processors too. And if you pick the cooler wisely it will fit right onto the upgrade system when the time comes.

Depends on the game.

More and more modern games are using >4 cores/threads these days.

Battlefield, for instance, beats the crap out of even the 8-core FX series.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Delaro's suggestion is a far better value. Performance is nearly identical as well, especially if you tweak as suggested.

Except for gaming either one won't benefit very much over the 4 core FX processor he's already got. Games only use two cores heavily so adding 4 more cores on that platform just isn't going to do much unless he's trying to do something that multi-tasks while gaming, such as streaming.

I'd suggest overclocking the crap out of that 4100. Push for something like 4.6, 4.7 maybe even 4.8 Ghz. Your board is much better suited for pushing a 4 core really hard than an 8 core even moderately. And don't worry to much about putting voltage to it: that platform is barely relevant as it is, you will be looking for more well before it dies. Doing this lets you save some now to put towards a real upgrade when that time comes

Only thing you might need is better cooling on the processor to keep it stable but you'd have to do that with one of those 8 core processors too. And if you pick the cooler wisely it will fit right onto the upgrade system when the time comes.

Depends on the game.

More and more modern games are using >4 cores/threads these days.

Battlefield, for instance, beats the crap out of even the 8-core FX series.

Trying to play modern titles like Battlefield 4 or 5 on anything other than fairly high-end Ryzen or Intel platforms, and a lot more GPU than OP has, is just an exercise in frustration as you continually dial back detail to keep it playable in all scenes. But even so, none load more than the 2 principle threads really hard and that's really important to keep in mind.

OP's real problem is his motherboard: 4 CPU phases and no heat sinking on the VRM FET's. Sure, it will support those processors but an 8 core will toast it such that (even un-overclocked) it might throttle the processor in heavy use-age which is not very helpful at all when the action gets heated in a crowded scene. So overclocking it is really doubtful and he won't be able to get those two threads to as high a clock speed as he can. Those two threads being overclocked is what will prove most beneficial to improving gaming performance and that board should be able to do that with the 4100.

The most I'd want on that board is a 6300, 6-core, which could probably be overclocked to 4.4-4.6 Ghz. And even then put a fan blowing on those poor naked FETs, for god's sake, to keep from throttling like mad.

 

[dudeman509]

Delaro's suggestion is a far better value. Performance is nearly identical as well, especially if you tweak as suggested.

Except for gaming either one won't benefit very much over the 4 core FX processor he's already got. Games only use two cores heavily so adding 4 more cores on that platform just isn't going to do much unless he's trying to do something that multi-tasks while gaming, such as streaming.

I'd suggest overclocking the crap out of that 4100. Push for something like 4.6, 4.7 maybe even 4.8 Ghz. Your board is much better suited for pushing a 4 core really hard than an 8 core even moderately. And don't worry to much about putting voltage to it: that platform is barely relevant as it is, you will be looking for more well before it dies. Doing this lets you save some now to put towards a real upgrade when that time comes

Only thing you might need is better cooling on the processor to keep it stable but you'd have to do that with one of those 8 core processors too. And if you pick the cooler wisely it will fit right onto the upgrade system when the time comes.

Depends on the game.

More and more modern games are using >4 cores/threads these days.

Battlefield, for instance, beats the crap out of even the 8-core FX series.

Trying to play modern titles like Battlefield 4 or 5 on anything other than fairly high-end Ryzen or Intel platforms, and a lot more GPU than OP has, is just an exercise in frustration as you continually dial back detail to keep it playable in all scenes. But even so, none load more than the 2 principle threads really hard and that's really important to keep in mind.

OP's real problem is his motherboard: 4 CPU phases and no heat sinking on the VRM FET's. Sure, it will support those processors but an 8 core will toast it such that (even un-overclocked) it might throttle the processor in heavy use-age which is not very helpful at all when the action gets heated in a crowded scene. So overclocking it is really doubtful and he won't be able to get those two threads to as high a clock speed as he can. Those two threads being overclocked is what will prove most beneficial to improving gaming performance and that board should be able to do that with the 4100.

The most I'd want on that board is a 6300, 6-core, which could probably be overclocked to 4.4-4.6 Ghz. And even then put a fan blowing on those poor naked FETs, for god's sake, to keep from throttling like mad.

Ran reasonably well on my 8320 paired with a GTX 970.

But 100% agreed on the motherboard. This was not a good investment in an system with much in the way of future upgradability. The FX series were fine 6 years ago, but this is 2018, and a low-end Ryzen or Intel system could have been built with much more of a future for about the same cost.

 

[r2t262]

Thanks for the info, I didn't read it completely but I don't only do gaming, I also plan for YouTube and a better CPU would benefit me greatly especially if I'm running OBS and editing software. (I hope)

 

[drea.drechsler]

Thanks for the info, I didn't read it completely but I don't only do gaming, I also plan for YouTube and a better CPU would benefit me greatly especially if I'm running OBS and editing software. (I hope)

ahh...

Is that Open Broadcaster Software? that sounds like it could be a multi-threaded application and benefit from more cores. Video editing, depend on the application (Adobe Premier??), can also be heavily threaded. But do remember that your motherboard will limit what you can get out of an 8 core FX.

 

[r2t262]

OBS yes it is and no way on Adobe premier, I'm currently using power director 12 and shotcut