DDR3 gen CPU update in 2018 worth it?

[aurassai]

Hello, first time posting here. Since my question is primarily focused on a CPU update, I figured to post it in the CPU category. Hope it's not in the wrong place.

Anyway, in 2013 I bought the following PC:
AMD FX-6300 CPU (which is slightly overclocked now)
GTX 650 TI Boost graphics card with 2GB GDDR5 memory
2x 1600 MHz 4GB DDR3 KINGSTON RAM (11-11-11-28 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) @ 800 MHz timings)
ASRock 970 extreme 4 motherboard
2x WD 1 TB 7200 rpm Hard drives
a CM Thunder 600W CPU

2 years ago I bought a 120 GB SSD (think it was Samsung Evo 850) and last summer I got a Palit Dual GTX 1060 3 GB. I am using a 2560x1080 resolution 21:9 aspect ration monitor and play games on that resolution (at least for the games that support it).

I use my computer for gaming (most of the time) and work (which includes a bit of networking and virtual machines). Since my old FX-6300 is really starting to show its age and even with the GTX 1060, games do not perform as good as I'd like them to, my next update will be to the CPU.

Ideally I wish to get a Ryzen 3 1300X (or maybe a Ryzen 5 1500X) but with a new motherboard and RAM, the pricing in my country amounts to about 300 euro or even 400 if I wish to go for 16 GB of RAM (as I was planning). That is a bit over my current price range.

My cheapest option is on the side of AMD. An FX-8320 for about 60 euro, or if I am able to find a FX-8350 at about 80-85. This way I don't need to bother replacing other parts.

Due to my work I also have access to cheap second hand professional PCs and from them 2 catch my eye:
DELL Optiplex 7010 with 8 GB DDR3 RAM, Core i7-3770 (not overclockable), 360 GB Hard Drive and a DELL Optiplex 9020 with 4 GB DDR3 RAM, Core i5 4570 (again not overclockable), 500 GB Hard Drive. Both cost about 250 euro, have no graphics card and will most likely need a new PSU to support a graphics card (no 6 pin connector).
While buying a "brand new" PC when thinking about saving money from an update can be counter productive, I still have the parts of my old one. As such I can buy a new PSU for the new computer, add my GTX 1060, replace the hard drive with my 2 old hard drives and SSD and keep the best performing RAM modules. With the rest of the parts (I haven't sold my GTX 650 TI Boost yet) I am left with a fully functioning computer that can be sold to cover some of the costs.

This however depends entirely if the Dell's case is big enough to hold a 25,2 cm (9,9 inches) long graphics card.
7010's case looks like this
9020's case looks like this

So finally we get to the questions.
Is an update from an FX-6300 to FX-8320/8350 significant enough to be worth it?
If not, then how about to a Core i7-3770 or a Core i5-4750?
After such an update, would it be worth it to keep the new system for a year or more, or should I just save up more money for a "next gen" (or should I say "current gen" now) CPU+RAM update instead and stay with my FX-6300 for now?
If you have an idea about the size of those cases, would they even fit a big graphics card?

 

[theonerm2]

The Core i7 3770 would be a significant upgrade from an FX processor. That's the one I'd go for for now but it would really be best to save up for something newer. It looks like your graphics card would fit in the case.

 

[jr9]

- Going from one FX processor to another in 2018 is definitely something I woudn't recommend. Even the best FX CPU bottlenecks a 1060 GTX. I'd take a Sandy Bridge i5 (gen 2) CPU over even the best FX chip. They just aren't the greatest in terms of performance and efficiency.

- Both of those OEM machines are mini tower you will have issues. First is that the card may not fit, I would consider attempting an installation first. When you're cutting it that close sometimes measurements aren't enough. The 1060 is just under 10 inches long and that is a lot to ask for of a mini tower case. They are good machines it's just they are NOT designed to have giant 60 and 70 level graphics cards in them. The power supplies in either of them would definitely need to be upgraded. The 9020 uses a Dell proprietary PSU so you'd also need an adapter ( 24 Pin to 8-Pin DELL proprietary) in addition to buying a new PSU. Not sure if an ATX PSU will fit in the case, it may not. Basically there are a lot of potential issues and a lot of people try to do this and things don't work out. Dell makes it hard to upgrade. It's doable if you can get the card in either of them and source a PSU that would work and I'd consider the 9020 MT worth upgrading to.

I'd just wait for Ryzen or try to find someone selling an OEM PC that isn't in a tiny case or even an older gaming PC. As long as the CPU is good you could move whatever parts you want to keep into it.

 

[theonerm2]

It looks like there is enough space in the case but I don't like how those ram slots are positioned. The ram slots may block the card.

 

[USAFRet]

Is an update from an FX-6300 to FX-8320/8350 significant enough to be worth it?
If not, then how about to a Core i7-3770 or a Core i5-4750?

1. No. Changing to a slightly 'better' AMD is not a good idea.

2. If you're changing to Intel, why go with such an old level of Intel? To keep the DDR3? False economy.

 

[dontlistentome]

First, you're asking for a bit more from the 1060 3gb than it is meant for. It's a 1920x1080 card, so gaming performance might take a hit past that. The 7010, assuming the card fits, would be the most cost effective move. Your FX 6xxx series is already giving you most of the performance you can expect from that platform, moving to an 8xxx isn't going to help much. You'll need to use the Dell case. You'll be moving your components to that case, not moving the Dell components to your case.

 

[aurassai]

Thanks for the answers everyone! The Optiplex 7010 with the i7-3770 will be the better option. Based on this video it seems the card will be able to fit, however it will cover the SATA cable slots, of which I will need all 4 of them (DVD, 2 Hard Drives and an SSD). The case and motherboards of the Optiplex 7010 and 790 seem identical.
Here is a picture of the motherboard. The other PCIe x16 slot is too far down and the card won't fit there. Also it doesn't say anything about the PCIe x16 slots being 2.0.

Guess I may go for an old discounted OEM PC, but wait till one with a larger case is available.
A Core i7-3770 seems to have a similar performance to a Ryzen 3 1300X and due to the increase in latency I don't think the increase in frequency of the DDR4 RAM makes it that much faster then DDR3 yet.

 

[madmatt30]

In all homesty I would not even consider going to an old platform dell even if it contains a 3770 which is still a decent cpu.

You are still not going to see huge performance gains over your fx 6300 & youre then buying into a system that is near impossible to upgrade still.

I dont believe a 6300 is holding back a 1060 3gb much if at all at 2560 x 1080.

At that res that gpu is going to be firmly between 50-70fps on Aaa titles at any decent settings & a fairly modestly overclocked fx 6300 can also manage that fps range .

 

[valeman2012]

Wait for Intel i7 8670

 

[deadsmiley]

If funds are limited, then go the cheap route now. I bought an HP Z400, slapped in a W3680 and overclocked it with ThrottleStop. Paired it with Win 10 and a GTX 780 and it's my backup gamer. Runs games like PUBG, WoW, Destiny 2, Fallout 4 very well at 1080p. Like others said, you might be limited with the 3GB of video RAM.

Setup MSI Afterburner with the OSD and *see* where your bottleneck is coming from. If you aren't using more than 3GB of video memory then that ain't it! You need to set it up so that you can see how each core is loaded up. If one core is close to 100% all the time, then you have found your problem. Don't guess at it, know!

 

[aurassai]

If funds are limited, then go the cheap route now. I bought an HP Z400, slapped in a W3680 and overclocked it with ThrottleStop. Paired it with Win 10 and a GTX 780 and it's my backup gamer. Runs games like PUBG, WoW, Destiny 2, Fallout 4 very well at 1080p. Like others said, you might be limited with the 3GB of video RAM.

Setup MSI Afterburner with the OSD and *see* where your bottleneck is coming from. If you aren't using more than 3GB of video memory then that ain't it! You need to set it up so that you can see how each core is loaded up. If one core is close to 100% all the time, then you have found your problem. Don't guess at it, know!

Funny enough I already had MSI Afterburner installed but never used it. Was using another app for my overclock settings and monitoring.
Based on what the OSD showed, on most games I didn't had more then 60% of CPU Core 1 and 2 usage, but my VRAM usage was close to 3GB so I guess the problems came from lack of VRAM. While tweaking the advanced settings I am still able to get 60 fps on most of the newest games on mostly High, but drop quite a lot with the Ultra settings. Since my monitor is 60Hz, I don't really need anything higher then 60 fps.

 

[deadsmiley]

If funds are limited, then go the cheap route now. I bought an HP Z400, slapped in a W3680 and overclocked it with ThrottleStop. Paired it with Win 10 and a GTX 780 and it's my backup gamer. Runs games like PUBG, WoW, Destiny 2, Fallout 4 very well at 1080p. Like others said, you might be limited with the 3GB of video RAM.

Setup MSI Afterburner with the OSD and *see* where your bottleneck is coming from. If you aren't using more than 3GB of video memory then that ain't it! You need to set it up so that you can see how each core is loaded up. If one core is close to 100% all the time, then you have found your problem. Don't guess at it, know!

Funny enough I already had MSI Afterburner installed but never used it. Was using another app for my overclock settings and monitoring.
Based on what the OSD showed, on most games I didn't had more then 60% of CPU Core 1 and 2 usage, but my VRAM usage was close to 3GB so I guess the problems came from lack of VRAM. While tweaking the settings I am still able to get 60 fps on most of the newest games at mostly High settings and since my 60 Hz refresh rate, I don't really need anything higher then 60.

Well there you go. Just reduce some settings (maybe textures?) to reduce the VRAM load and you should be good.