I'd like to buy the AMD FX-8350 4.0Ghz CPU but not sure if it will be bottlenecked

[koushick92]

Hi all,

Built a system 6 months ago for the first time for gaming but admittedly I have had mistakes and feel like I have bought crappy components just so that I can stay under budget. This is my first gaming PC.

Here is my current build:

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache Hard Drive
8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory
AMD HD 7870 2048MB GDDR5 Graphics Card
BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black
AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4130 Black Edition 3.80GHz
Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3 AMD 760G (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard
EVGA 600W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (100-B1-0600-KR)

For gaming purposes is there a big performance boost from the AMD 4130 to the FX-8350? It's £135 on amazon. Is my motherboard rubbish and will it bottleneck my cpu? Is this CPU mainly popular for its OC potential? Or is it a great CPU without the OC. Because I was considering OC it but I don't think my MOBO is good enough for that.

If I have to buy another MOBO to make the most of the 8350 then I don't think I will purchase the CPU at all. I had a budget to begin with and if I have to practically buy a whole new system then there's no point to it. Might as well wait a few more years.

Thanks!

 

[Gutlesswolverine]

There will be considerable improvement but the motherboard wouldnt support the 8350.
I recommend you to buy an i5 and mobo if you really want to see an improvement.
If you want a cheaper upgrade, buy an 8320 and an okay mobo and overclock it to 8350 level ( both are completely same chips just clocked at diff speeds).

 

[leeb2013]

According to gigabyte, it does support the fx cpus. The 8320 would be a superb upgrade. No need to pay for the 8350

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4305#ov

 

[koushick92]

According to gigabyte, it does support the fx cpus. The 8320 would be a superb upgrade. No need to pay for the 8350

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4305#ov

Hmmm my current CPU is 3.8ghz and the 8320 is apparently 3.5/4ghz. I know it has 8 cores but how much of a performance upgrade would it be really? And also if I wanted to OC it probably won't do it very well would it due to my motherboard?

 

[Danimal1q2w3]

You'd really get a HUGE benefit from an i5

 

[leeb2013]

Clock speed is not a good comparison, its more core architecture and number of cores. 8320 would be more than twice as good for modern aaa games. I prefer intel, but no point spending more on a new mobo.

 

[koushick92]

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Clock speed is not a good comparison, its more core architecture and number of cores. 8320 would be more than twice as good for modern aaa games. I prefer intel, but no point spending more on a new mobo.

Ah okay so you are saying that the core architecture of the 8320 is superior to the 4130. If I decide to overclock though - it wont do much good would it because of my MOBO.

Only reason why im thinking of buying a new CPU is because i recently bought Watchdogs and im getting poor performance on all settings. Now I know that its poorly optimised and that unisoft is working on a patch but still it gets me thinking about future games like dragon age 3 and witcher 3 and how my system wont be able to run them

 

[leeb2013]

Run open hardware monitor first to see if your cpu or gpu are at 100%

I'm not sure why you wouldn't be able to oc with your mobo. At least up to 8350 clock, should be more. Have you seen information saying otherwise?

 

[JOOK-D]

What's your budget for an upgrade? Which particular titles are you looking to play?

I'd feel much more comfortable recommending an intel setup in this case. Even if you did get an 8350 it would still be behind intel offerings, and with that motherboard you shouldn't be overclocking (as you've identified).

 

[koushick92]

Run open hardware monitor first to see if your cpu or gpu are at 100%

I'm not sure why you wouldn't be able to oc with your mobo. At least up to 8350 clock, should be more. Have you seen information saying otherwise?

At your suggestion I just ran this open hardware monitor for the first time. Not sure what to look at but I saved the report and here it is:

Sensors

|
+- Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 (/mainboard)
| |
| +- ITE IT8728F (/lpc/it8728f)
| | +- Voltage #1 : 1.368 0.924 1.404 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/0)
| | +- Voltage #2 : 1.5 1.5 1.5 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/1)
| | +- Voltage #3 : 2.016 1.992 2.016 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/2)
| | +- Voltage #4 : 1.632 1.62 1.632 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/3)
| | +- Voltage #5 : 1.956 1.944 1.956 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/4)
| | +- Voltage #6 : 2.22 2.22 2.232 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/5)
| | +- Voltage #7 : 2.22 2.22 2.22 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/6)
| | +- Standby +3.3V : 3.312 3.312 3.312 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/7)
| | +- VBat : 3.096 3.096 3.096 (/lpc/it8728f/voltage/8)
| | +- Temperature #1 : 35 35 36 (/lpc/it8728f/temperature/0)
| | +- Temperature #2 : 32 32 33 (/lpc/it8728f/temperature/1)
| | +- Temperature #3 : 22 8 25 (/lpc/it8728f/temperature/2)
| | +- Fan #1 : 573.492 573.492 590.035 (/lpc/it8728f/fan/0)
| | +- Fan #2 : 745.856 743.392 750 (/lpc/it8728f/fan/1)
| | +- Fan Control #1 : 100 100 100 (/lpc/it8728f/control/0)
| | +- Fan Control #2 : (/lpc/it8728f/control/1)
| | +- Fan Control #3 : (/lpc/it8728f/control/2)
|
+- AMD FX-4130 (/amdcpu/0)
| +- Bus Speed : 200.893 200.892 200.903 (/amdcpu/0/clock/0)
| +- CPU Core #1 : 3716.52 1406.25 3917.41 (/amdcpu/0/clock/1)
| +- CPU Core #2 : 3816.96 1406.25 3917.41 (/amdcpu/0/clock/2)
| +- CPU Core #3 : 3816.96 1406.25 3816.97 (/amdcpu/0/clock/3)
| +- CPU Core #4 : 3816.96 1406.25 3817.15 (/amdcpu/0/clock/4)
| +- Core #1 - #4 : 22 8.75 25.25 (/amdcpu/0/temperature/0)
| +- CPU Total : 16.5385 3.84616 31.5385 (/amdcpu/0/load/0)
| +- CPU Core #1 : 18.4615 0 100 (/amdcpu/0/load/1)
| +- CPU Core #2 : 10.7692 0 27.6923 (/amdcpu/0/load/2)
| +- CPU Core #3 : 15.3846 0 50 (/amdcpu/0/load/3)
| +- CPU Core #4 : 21.5385 0 49.2308 (/amdcpu/0/load/4)
|
+- Generic Memory (/ram)
| +- Memory : 24.8559 23.0271 25.2058 (/ram/load/0)
| +- Used Memory : 1.984 1.83802 2.01193 (/ram/data/0)
| +- Available Memory : 5.99799 5.97006 6.14397 (/ram/data/1)
|
+- AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series (/atigpu/0)
| +- GPU Core : 0.95 0.95 0.95 (/atigpu/0/voltage/0)
| +- GPU Core : 300 300 501 (/atigpu/0/clock/0)
| +- GPU Memory : 301 301 1250 (/atigpu/0/clock/1)
| +- GPU Core : 40 40 41 (/atigpu/0/temperature/0)
| +- GPU Core : 0 0 12 (/atigpu/0/load/0)
| +- GPU Fan : 1051 1049 1057 (/atigpu/0/fan/0)
| +- GPU Fan : 25 25 25 (/atigpu/0/control/0)
|
+- ST1000DM003-1CH162 (/hdd/0)
| +- Temperature : 35 35 35 (/hdd/0/temperature/0)
| +- Used Space : 28.0955 27.9075 28.0955 (/hdd/0/load/0)

 

[koushick92]

What's your budget for an upgrade? Which particular titles are you looking to play?

I'd feel much more comfortable recommending an intel setup in this case. Even if you did get an 8350 it would still be behind intel offerings, and with that motherboard you shouldn't be overclocking (as you've identified).

I'm not sure what budget really. And I think you're right about intel. But that would mean changing my motherboard and probably also changing my case. I don't feel like splurging out as I have only had this build for about 6-7 months now.

 

[JOOK-D]

What's your budget for an upgrade? Which particular titles are you looking to play?

I'd feel much more comfortable recommending an intel setup in this case. Even if you did get an 8350 it would still be behind intel offerings, and with that motherboard you shouldn't be overclocking (as you've identified).

I'm not sure what budget really. And I think you're right about intel. But that would mean changing my motherboard and probably also changing my case. I don't feel like splurging out as I have only had this build for about 6-7 months now.

I wouldn't see a reason to change your case - why would you think so?

Indeed it would mean changing your motherboard. However, splashing more money on a new CPU in a dead socket (AM3+) on your already low-end motherboard is also a problem.

1) You could go with your 78LMT, then spend the extra on something like an 8320. However, both of these would again need an upgrade somewhat soon which means that money is essentially wasted.

2) Or, you could grab a H97 motherboard and say, an intel haswell i3/i5. High end i3's can often match FX6/8's in games that use less than 4 threads (which is all of them, except a few, and that number is in the single digits). You will then have an upgrade path to an i5/i7 Haswell, Haswell Refresh / Devil's Canyon, or Broadwell when it releases. All without having to change your motherboard again. An i5 will beat high-end FX's in every gaming scenario, and the i7 goes untouched when up to 8 threads are utilised.

Just my $0.02.

 

[koushick92]

What's your budget for an upgrade? Which particular titles are you looking to play?

I'd feel much more comfortable recommending an intel setup in this case. Even if you did get an 8350 it would still be behind intel offerings, and with that motherboard you shouldn't be overclocking (as you've identified).

I'm not sure what budget really. And I think you're right about intel. But that would mean changing my motherboard and probably also changing my case. I don't feel like splurging out as I have only had this build for about 6-7 months now.

I wouldn't see a reason to change your case - why would you think so?

Indeed it would mean changing your motherboard. However, splashing more money on a new CPU in a dead socket (AM3+) on your already low-end motherboard is also a problem.

1) You could go with your 78LMT, then spend the extra on something like an 8320. However, both of these would again need an upgrade somewhat soon which means that money is essentially wasted.

2) Or, you could grab a H97 motherboard and say, an intel haswell i3/i5. High end i3's can often match FX6/8's in games that use less than 4 threads (which is all of them, except a few, and that number is in the single digits). You will then have an upgrade path to an i5/i7 Haswell, Haswell Refresh / Devil's Canyon, or Broadwell when it releases. All without having to change your motherboard again. An i5 will beat high-end FX's in every gaming scenario, and the i7 goes untouched when up to 8 threads are utilised.

Just my $0.02.

Okay you make a convincing argument. Im afraid of having to buy a different case if I have to get another motherboard as I know some cases may have compatibily issues? Like where the USB 3.0 ports are situated or am I being stupid here?

Can you give me a link to the motherboard you are talking about? Also which i5 processor do you recommend? Is there one that has good value for performance and has good OC potential?

 

[JOOK-D]

Here's the cheapest i5 option with a good H97 motherboard:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vYRCD3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vYRCD3/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vYRCD3/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£119.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£74.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £194.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-07 18:14 BST+0100)

The problem with overclocking is that can only be achieved on intel's K series CPUs, and generally on a Z series motherboard. If you wish to overclock, you'll be looking at spending quite a lot more.

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/8PGndC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/8PGndC/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/8PGndC/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£155.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£103.43 @ Dabs)
Total: £259.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-07 18:16 BST+0100)

As you can see.

However, I think this would be a very happy medium. Generally, overclocking is not necessary for a good gaming experience on intel's i5+ lineups, they will not cause a bottleneck. The gains you get from overclocking are generally not worth the extra cost. But that's up to you. Here's my suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vhTZFT
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vhTZFT/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/vhTZFT/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£137.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£74.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £212.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-07 18:18 BST+0100)

It's a mid range i5, so it should handle any game you throw at it with ease without causing a bottleneck.

Also, I checked the compatibility of your case and it should be fine. PCPartpicker at least didn't find any errors.