Newbie Builder on PC Upgrade

[jjjanolino]

Hello guys, I am planning to do an upgrade for my rig. Current specs:

AMD FX-4100
Gigabyte GA-970-DS3P
2x4gb DDR3 HyperX Fury 1866mHz
1TB HDD
MSI GTX560ti Twin Frozr OC 2GB

I just want to know if I am good with upgrading the processor first, planning to buy AMD FX-8370 Vishera 8 Core, or should I start with GPU first, or it doesn't matter? Thanks in advance.

 

[jaslion]

Hello guys, I am planning to do an upgrade for my rig. Current specs:

AMD FX-4100
Gigabyte GA-970-DS3P
2x4gb DDR3 HyperX Fury 1866mHz
1TB HDD
MSI GTX560ti Twin Frozr OC 2GB

I just want to know if I am good with upgrading the processor first, planning to buy AMD FX-8370 Vishera 8 Core, or should I start with GPU first, or it doesn't matter? Thanks in advance.

You are looking a whole new system since getting any new fx chip is a bad idea since they are completely beaten by some of the cheapest cpu's out there today.

 

[jjjanolino]

Hello guys, I am planning to do an upgrade for my rig. Current specs:

AMD FX-4100
Gigabyte GA-970-DS3P
2x4gb DDR3 HyperX Fury 1866mHz
1TB HDD
MSI GTX560ti Twin Frozr OC 2GB

I just want to know if I am good with upgrading the processor first, planning to buy AMD FX-8370 Vishera 8 Core, or should I start with GPU first, or it doesn't matter? Thanks in advance.

You are looking a whole new system since getting any new fx chip is a bad idea since they are completely beaten by some of the cheapest cpu's out there today.

I see, makes sense. so you are suggesting for that its better to move on with am3+ and upgrade all components instead of investing to an old system?

 

[geofelt]

What is hurting your performance now??
Here is my stock approach:
Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer with many participants tend to like many threads.

You need to find out which.
------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one or more cores/threads. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, your game does not need all the threads you have.



It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system,
and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

If you think your cpu is the culprit, you do not have good options.

FX cores are slow and adding more of them with a FX-8370 is not a big help.

$200 buys you at a minimum, a G4560, 8gb of ddr4 ram and a lga1151 motherboard.
You can upgrade this considerably, or with a larger budget go to ryzen or I5 kaby lake.

If you decide that graphics is more important, make it a big jump or you may be disappointed. Something like a GTX1060

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

I don't usually like Intel but cheapest way out (with new equipment) would be Pentium g4560, 8gb ddr4, and a new card, maybe like a GTX 1050 or 1050 ti.

I suppose if on a strict budget, maybe you could pick up a used ivy bridge or haswell cpu and board online.

 

[jjjanolino]

What is hurting your performance now??
Here is my stock approach:
Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer with many participants tend to like many threads.

You need to find out which.
------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one or more cores/threads. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, your game does not need all the threads you have.



It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system,
and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

If you think your cpu is the culprit, you do not have good options.

FX cores are slow and adding more of them with a FX-8370 is not a big help.

$200 buys you at a minimum, a G4560, 8gb of ddr4 ram and a lga1151 motherboard.
You can upgrade this considerably, or with a larger budget go to ryzen or I5 kaby lake.

If you decide that graphics is more important, make it a big jump or you may be disappointed. Something like a GTX1060

Whoa nice. I was kinda looking forward for a good graphics. esp CS:GO. I can go play on high settings but sometimes it literally froze for a milisecond. I'll do that and I'll figure out what I need to upgrade after the tests. Thanks!

 

[geofelt]

My understanding is that CSGO is largely single threaded and cpu limiting.
FX-4100 has a passmark performance rating of 4054 with a single thread rating of 1221.
FX-8350 is 9012/1532.
G4560 is 5079/2070.

Be careful how you interpret task manager cpu utilizations.
Windows will spread the activity of a single thread over all available threads.
So, if you had a game that was single threaded and cpu bound, it would show up on a quad core processor as 25%
utilization across all 4 threads.

 

[jjjanolino]

My understanding is that CSGO is largely single threaded and cpu limiting.
FX-4100 has a passmark performance rating of 4054 with a single thread rating of 1221.
FX-8350 is 9012/1532.
G4560 is 5079/2070.

Be careful how you interpret task manager cpu utilizations.
Windows will spread the activity of a single thread over all available threads.
So, if you had a game that was single threaded and cpu bound, it would show up on a quad core processor as 25%
utilization across all 4 threads.

I see, well to be honest.. I needed more research in order for me to understand what you just said. But of course it's too much for me to request further explanation. I start here and read some more articles and reviews and after that I think I am all set. Thanks again my friend.

 

[jaslion]

My understanding is that CSGO is largely single threaded and cpu limiting.
FX-4100 has a passmark performance rating of 4054 with a single thread rating of 1221.
FX-8350 is 9012/1532.
G4560 is 5079/2070.

Be careful how you interpret task manager cpu utilizations.
Windows will spread the activity of a single thread over all available threads.
So, if you had a game that was single threaded and cpu bound, it would show up on a quad core processor as 25%
utilization across all 4 threads.

I see, well to be honest.. I needed more research in order for me to understand what you just said. But of course it's too much for me to request further explanation. I start here and read some more articles and reviews and after that I think I am all set. Thanks again my friend.

Thing is those 200 points of difference mean very little in terms of performance in cs go. Geting a fx 8350 will really only give you a little bit of extra performance not worth the investment. Best you can do is just oc the fx 4100 and get the same performance as the 8350.

 

[jjjanolino]

My understanding is that CSGO is largely single threaded and cpu limiting.
FX-4100 has a passmark performance rating of 4054 with a single thread rating of 1221.
FX-8350 is 9012/1532.
G4560 is 5079/2070.

Be careful how you interpret task manager cpu utilizations.
Windows will spread the activity of a single thread over all available threads.
So, if you had a game that was single threaded and cpu bound, it would show up on a quad core processor as 25%
utilization across all 4 threads.

I see, well to be honest.. I needed more research in order for me to understand what you just said. But of course it's too much for me to request further explanation. I start here and read some more articles and reviews and after that I think I am all set. Thanks again my friend.

Thing is those 200 points of difference mean very little in terms of performance in cs go. Geting a fx 8350 will really only give you a little bit of extra performance not worth the investment. Best you can do is just oc the fx 4100 and get the same performance as the 8350.

I see, well yah I actually decided to discontinue my plan to upgrade any part of my am3+ (such a shame I have actually just bought another ram before creating the thread.) I'll try to save money for a Ryzen build. or how about those 7th Gen AMD processors. Are they good as well? Coz I saw some and of those new am4 and seems pretty cheap. I mean, budget meal.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

7th gen AMD? Ryzen is the newest AMD platform worth buying. They did release some athlon quad cores, but those are based on older designs and not really worth getting except for a basic machine.

 

[jjjanolino]

7th gen AMD? Ryzen is the newest AMD platform worth buying. They did release some athlon quad cores, but those are based on older designs and not really worth getting except for a basic machine.

Yeah, those AMD A8's-A10's AM4 sockets.

Then I guess that sums it all up. Ryzen Build it is. Thanks for all the information guys.

 

[skitszo]

still waiting on info about the ryzen APU.s and prices.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

They'll probably be ok, but relatively strong CPU with a good GPU will be where you want to be for gaming. The apu's will probably better for simple machines that you parents use for web browsing or someone watching video, or using their system as a htpc.

 

[skitszo]

if your not a latest greatest gamer.. play the older titles. apu's are fine. lol

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

For old stuff yeah, but if you want to play new AAA titles from the last couple of years, or new ones coming up, don't bother.

 

[jaslion]

7th gen AMD? Ryzen is the newest AMD platform worth buying. They did release some athlon quad cores, but those are based on older designs and not really worth getting except for a basic machine.

Yeah, those AMD A8's-A10's AM4 sockets.

Then I guess that sums it all up. Ryzen Build it is. Thanks for all the information guys.

Those early apu's apperantly still use the old fx line architecture so don't get them.