Looking for am3 socket amd processor

[sharchop kota]

I have amd phenom ii x4 555 black edition and want to upgrate my cpu. Please advise which one to buy.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Might want to go with a new platform AM4 or LGA 1151.

AM3 is outdated and been at the end of its lifespan for a while now.

 

[boosted1g]

Couldnt tell you want CPU you can get without knowing what motherbaord you have.

With that said I would save up for new build.
If your mothebroard even supports it, the going on 5 yr old fx-8350 will be beat by a cheaper i3-6100. So dumping $150 into a "new" dead end-of-life product from 5 years ago is just a waste of money.

 

[spdragoo]

It depends on some factors:

1) What motherboard you have. Some Socket AM3 boards are "AM3/AM3+" boards (which means they can also take AMD's FX series of CPUs), while others are pure Socket AM3 boards (so would be limited at best to Phenom II CPUs). And you also have some boards that can take full-power CPUs, while others are limited to CPUs with a 95W or lower TDP. Knowing which motherboard you have will help identify if there's any CPUs you can choose from for upgrades.

2) What your budget is/what other parts need upgraded. If you're lucky enough that your motherboard can handle an FX series CPU, the prices are pretty low. An FX-8370 will run you about $180-185 USD, while the FX-8300 is not only very cheap (~$100 USD), it also will not only run on boards limited to 95W TDP but is still one of Tom's Hardware's CPU picks. And, except for the low-power 'e' variants, all of the octa-core FX CPUs are right on the 2nd tier (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-hierarchy,4312.html) with the comparable Sandy Bridge & Ivy Bridge core i5 CPUs.

That being said...if your system is running a low-end GPU, is a bit sparse on RAM, or you just haven't gotten around to switching over to an SSD for your OS, then the cash is going to start piling up. Note, of course, that it will still be cheaper than going full new-build (which will not only add the cost of a new motherboard, but brand-new DDR4 RAM, to the other costs you're looking at). But it's something to consider, especially for...

3) What issues are you currently having/what uses are you planning for the system that requires the upgrade? If all you're doing is using it for social media/email/media storage, you probably don't need any kind of upgrade. If you're playing games, but they're the kind you pick up in the $10 bargain bin at Micro Center (i.e. the game was released more than 5 years ago), you might see a better boost by replacing your GPU (depending on what you currently have). If you're wanting to play some newer games...well, it comes down to budget & which games you're looking at playing. As I mentioned earlier, the FX processors would boost your system, but they compare best to the Sandy Bridge & Ivy Bridge CPUs. Not that that's a bad thing; some of the more recent games get decent performance out of an FX CPU or an Ivy Bridge i5 (in some cases not too far from even the modern Skylake/Kaby Lake systems), & even some other games show a noticeable difference in performance between Intel core i5s & the FX chips but you still get "acceptable" performance (my definition of "acceptable" = "able to reach 50-60FPS at High to Ultra settings when paired with the proper GPU"), but you will find some games where the FX chips don't perform as well. Not that they're totally bad, they're just more on the "budget" side now.

In short...if your motherboard can handle it, if your budget can handle it, & if you're not quite ready to build a new system from scratch, then for your system an upgrade to an FX chip would be just that: a nice, relatively inexpensive upgrade.

 

[sharchop kota]

It depends on some factors:

1) What motherboard you have. Some Socket AM3 boards are "AM3/AM3+" boards (which means they can also take AMD's FX series of CPUs), while others are pure Socket AM3 boards (so would be limited at best to Phenom II CPUs). And you also have some boards that can take full-power CPUs, while others are limited to CPUs with a 95W or lower TDP. Knowing which motherboard you have will help identify if there's any CPUs you can choose from for upgrades.

2) What your budget is/what other parts need upgraded. If you're lucky enough that your motherboard can handle an FX series CPU, the prices are pretty low. An FX-8370 will run you about $180-185 USD, while the FX-8300 is not only very cheap (~$100 USD), it also will not only run on boards limited to 95W TDP but is still one of Tom's Hardware's CPU picks. And, except for the low-power 'e' variants, all of the octa-core FX CPUs are right on the 2nd tier (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-hierarchy,4312.html) with the comparable Sandy Bridge & Ivy Bridge core i5 CPUs.

That being said...if your system is running a low-end GPU, is a bit sparse on RAM, or you just haven't gotten around to switching over to an SSD for your OS, then the cash is going to start piling up. Note, of course, that it will still be cheaper than going full new-build (which will not only add the cost of a new motherboard, but brand-new DDR4 RAM, to the other costs you're looking at). But it's something to consider, especially for...

3) What issues are you currently having/what uses are you planning for the system that requires the upgrade? If all you're doing is using it for social media/email/media storage, you probably don't need any kind of upgrade. If you're playing games, but they're the kind you pick up in the $10 bargain bin at Micro Center (i.e. the game was released more than 5 years ago), you might see a better boost by replacing your GPU (depending on what you currently have). If you're wanting to play some newer games...well, it comes down to budget & which games you're looking at playing. As I mentioned earlier, the FX processors would boost your system, but they compare best to the Sandy Bridge & Ivy Bridge CPUs. Not that that's a bad thing; some of the more recent games get decent performance out of an FX CPU or an Ivy Bridge i5 (in some cases not too far from even the modern Skylake/Kaby Lake systems), & even some other games show a noticeable difference in performance between Intel core i5s & the FX chips but you still get "acceptable" performance (my definition of "acceptable" = "able to reach 50-60FPS at High to Ultra settings when paired with the proper GPU"), but you will find some games where the FX chips don't perform as well. Not that they're totally bad, they're just more on the "budget" side now.

In short...if your motherboard can handle it, if your budget can handle it, & if you're not quite ready to build a new system from scratch, then for your system an upgrade to an FX chip would be just that: a nice, relatively inexpensive upgrade.

1) My Board supports only AM3 Sockets (checked using CPU-Z software). Mobo is manufactured by ECS, A785GM-AD3 v1.0
2) At the moment, if possible I'm planning to upgrade only CPU with the budget limited to $100. And yeah my mobo supports up to 95W TDP only and does it mean that i cannot upgrade any CPU?
Recently, my GPU was upgraded to 2 GB graphics card from 1 GB with 16 GB DDR3 RAM and 3x 500 GB WD Drive and AMD Phenon IIX2 555 (sorry it was not X4).
3) I am more into Gaming like Need for speed series, War games and also I do 3D animation. Akthough current systems can pretty much with games but since I am using Maya for 3D modelling, it lags and its hard to proceed any further. Main aim of trying to upgrade CPU is to handle Maya software and hoping it will do if i upgrade.

And my system was assembled and bought in 20111.

Please advice me. Thank you

 

[sharchop kota]

Might want to go with a new platform AM4 or LGA 1151.

AM3 is outdated and been at the end of its lifespan for a while now.

Please advice on this:
If I switch to AM4 or LGA 1151, will new mobo fit into my Tower (Cooler Mater) which was purchased in 2011?

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

What GPU did you upgrade to and which cooler Master case do you have? Getting a Phenom X4 or X6 would help some in gaming, but not as much as a newer motherboard and CPU.

 

[sharchop kota]

Might want to go with a new platform AM4 or LGA 1151.

AM3 is outdated and been at the end of its lifespan for a while now.

How about buying and using of this 2nd hand or used processor AMD CPU Phenom II-X4 955 3.2GHz Socket AM3 TDP 95Watt? My mobo support upto 95Watt TDP

 

[spdragoo]

1) My Board supports only AM3 Sockets (checked using CPU-Z software). Mobo is manufactured by ECS, A785GM-AD3 v1.0
2) At the moment, if possible I'm planning to upgrade only CPU with the budget limited to $100. And yeah my mobo supports up to 95W TDP only and does it mean that i cannot upgrade any CPU?
Recently, my GPU was upgraded to 2 GB graphics card from 1 GB with 16 GB DDR3 RAM and 3x 500 GB WD Drive and AMD Phenon IIX2 555 (sorry it was not X4).
3) I am more into Gaming like Need for speed series, War games and also I do 3D animation. Akthough current systems can pretty much with games but since I am using Maya for 3D modelling, it lags and its hard to proceed any further. Main aim of trying to upgrade CPU is to handle Maya software and hoping it will do if i upgrade.

And my system was assembled and bought in 20111.

Please advice me. Thank you

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Support.aspx?DetailID=1084&CategoryID=-1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=19&LanID=0

Best CPU your board can handle is the Phenom II X4 955. That would definitely move you up on that X2 555. Whether you can find one might be problematic, but at least it would provide some benefits.

Another thing to consider is perhaps getting some more RAM. Your board can support up to 32GB (8GB per slot), & more RAM would probably help with Maya rendering.

 

[sharchop kota]

1) My Board supports only AM3 Sockets (checked using CPU-Z software). Mobo is manufactured by ECS, A785GM-AD3 v1.0
2) At the moment, if possible I'm planning to upgrade only CPU with the budget limited to $100. And yeah my mobo supports up to 95W TDP only and does it mean that i cannot upgrade any CPU?
Recently, my GPU was upgraded to 2 GB graphics card from 1 GB with 16 GB DDR3 RAM and 3x 500 GB WD Drive and AMD Phenon IIX2 555 (sorry it was not X4).
3) I am more into Gaming like Need for speed series, War games and also I do 3D animation. Akthough current systems can pretty much with games but since I am using Maya for 3D modelling, it lags and its hard to proceed any further. Main aim of trying to upgrade CPU is to handle Maya software and hoping it will do if i upgrade.



Thank you. Hoping to help with your advice.

And my system was assembled and bought in 20111.

Please advice me. Thank you

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Support.aspx?DetailID=1084&CategoryID=-1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=19&LanID=0

Best CPU your board can handle is the Phenom II X4 955. That would definitely move you up on that X2 555. Whether you can find one might be problematic, but at least it would provide some benefits.

Another thing to consider is perhaps getting some more RAM. Your board can support up to 32GB (8GB per slot), & more RAM would probably help with Maya rendering.