Can anyone recommend a better CPU for me?

[banana_bread]

My current CPU is an AMD FX-4100 Quad Core 3.6GHz...Rather old.

I currently use it for stuff like graphics processing. Lots of Adobe programs, mainly Photoshop, After Effects and Illustrator. I would love to upgrade to something that would allow me to play modern games for a while, but I don't want to spend too much money. The ~$300 price point on some of the higher end ones might be too much for me.

Current CPU: AMD FX-4100 Quad Core 3.6GHz
Motherboard: GA-78LMT-USB3
Bios: Award Software International, Inc. FA, 4/23/2013

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[zaberansary]

Sorry that I cant Suggest Any New CPU for ya.
You can get an FX 6300 (2 More Cores) and a Hyper 212 Evo with that Mobo.
If You wanna go with an FX 8350 (8cores) Id suggest getting a new 990fx Mobo too. Still It stays under $300.

You can also consider an i5 4690k ($230) and a Good H97 Board at around $70-80.

 

[blazorthon]

Why get a K edition with an H97 board? You might as well get a Xeon E3-1231 and get hyperthreading for the same price.

 

[Sergeant_Sneaky]

Sorry that I cant Suggest Any New CPU for ya.
You can get an FX 6300 (2 More Cores) and a Hyper 212 Evo with that Mobo.
If You wanna go with an FX 8350 (8cores) Id suggest getting a new 990fx Mobo too. Still It stays under $300.

You can also consider an i5 4690k ($230) and a Good H97 Board at around $70-80.

Why would he get a 4690K and a H97?

If you are considering an i5 OP:

Overclocking: Z97 & 4690K
Not Overclocking: H97 & 4690.

 

[banana_bread]

I would prefer not to change the board if possible...The i5 for 230 and the H97 would bring me to/over the 300 price point.

 

[blazorthon]

There are cheaper i5s and cheaper motherboards to go with them. An i5-4460 and a B85 or H97 motherboard could be had together for around $250. You may even be able to throw in a RAM upgrade without going over budget.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54460

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85mds3ha

Here is one option for $239.97.

EDIT:
Another good option if you don't mind to jumping ship to Intel is to get a Xeon E3 with HTT such as the Xeon E3-1231 V3. That and the motherboard I linked come in a little under the budget at $298.97.

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646e31231v3

 

[ComputerSecurityGuy]

Yes, but even a FX-8370E would be a sizeable upgrade for threaded editing. The reason that an i5 is a possibility is that the 780 motherboards are cheap and don't really like 125W CPUs.

 

[banana_bread]

I think I'm going to go with the AMD fx 8320. It's $119 and I don't have to change the motherboard.

 

[NightAntilli]

That is indeed one of your best option for now in terms of price/performance. You probably are not going to overclock on that board, so, the FX-8350 is a better choice for you rather than the FX-8320, since you'll be at 4.0 GHz rather than 3.5 GHz (your FX-4100 is 3.6 GHz). Yes, that little boost in frequency does make a difference.

Make sure to update your BIOS to the F3 version first. You will see a slight performance upgrade in games, and a very significant performance upgrade in your editing.

 

[banana_bread]

I was able to get the 8350 on sale this past black Friday. Works great.

 

[NightAntilli]

Glad to hear it