Stick with AMD or switch to i5

[Caisteal]

I am low on budget and wondering what to do next.

I currently have:
CPU: AMD A10-5800K
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 430W ATX
GPU: R9 380
Mobo: ASRock FM2A88M EXTREME4+ Micro ATX FM2+
Memory: GeIL EVO Veloce Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Storage: 1 TB hybrid drive

The cpu died, I can't spend more than approx. £230 and can't decide whether to simply stick another FM2+ AMD cpu in (cheapest option) or switch to an i5 in which case the mobo needs replacing too. (PSU will also be replaced). I've never done a complete build so replacing the motherboard seems a bit daunting atm.

I play older games and don't care about ultra-high settings, more important is that it runs smoothly. What would you recommend me to do? Also a bit lost in the forest of i5 processors.

 

[cdrkf]

I am low on budget and wondering what to do next.

I currently have:
CPU: AMD A10-5800K
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 430W ATX
GPU: R9 380
Mobo: ASRock FM2A88M EXTREME4+ Micro ATX FM2+
Memory: GeIL EVO Veloce Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Storage: 1 TB hybrid drive

The cpu died, I can't spend more than approx. £230 and can't decide whether to simply stick another FM2+ AMD cpu in (cheapest option) or switch to an i5 in which case the mobo needs replacing too. (PSU will also be replaced). I've never done a complete build so replacing the motherboard seems a bit daunting atm.

I play older games and don't care about ultra-high settings, more important is that it runs smoothly. What would you recommend me to do? Also a bit lost in the forest of i5 processors.

Well given the age of your rig, I'd look on ebay for a second hand FM2 processor.... as you have a discrete gpu you don't need an A10, you can go for the cheaper 'Athlon x4' that has no gpu to save money. That is the cheapest option right now.

The reason I say this is *if* you want to upgrade to something more powerful, AMD are releasing their much improved 'ryzen' line of processors at the end of the month / early march. If the leaks we've been seeing are true (obviously wait for reviews but looking likely), they are looking set to offer i5 level chips at i3 prices, and a unified motherboard socket you can upgrade all the way up to 8 core / 16 thread enthusiast cpu's in future.

 

[why_wolf]

please note that both current Intel and the future AMD will require DDR4 RAM so you will need to upgrade that as well.

 

[neblogai]

The reason I say this is *if* you want to upgrade to something more powerful, AMD are releasing their much improved 'ryzen' line of processors at the end of the month / early march. If the leaks we've been seeing are true (obviously wait for reviews but looking likely), they are looking set to offer i5 level chips at i3 prices, and a unified motherboard socket you can upgrade all the way up to 8 core / 16 thread enthusiast cpu's in future.

That is a good advice. But for 230 pounds, your best options are:
1) X4 Athlon- very cheap fix if performance of A10 processor was sufficient.
2) G4560 Pentium, plus new motherboard and DDR4 RAM. Will cost ~150+ pounds, games will run faster, platform will be easily upgradable with i5-i7 processors (CPU prices drop in half ~3-4 years after release, while performance difference to latest tech is minimal).
3) New AMD Ryzen platform promises a lot of performance and latest tech at low prices, but is not released yet- so we need to see CPU and mobo prices. Leaks suggest 4 core processors starting at $129/pounds, so with 8GB of cheap DDR4 and one of the cheaper motherboards fitting into 230 pound budget is probable, but only if retailers do not gauge prices. Release is speculated at 2nd of March, but that might be for 8-cores, with 4-cores coming later.

 

[cdrkf]

The reason I say this is *if* you want to upgrade to something more powerful, AMD are releasing their much improved 'ryzen' line of processors at the end of the month / early march. If the leaks we've been seeing are true (obviously wait for reviews but looking likely), they are looking set to offer i5 level chips at i3 prices, and a unified motherboard socket you can upgrade all the way up to 8 core / 16 thread enthusiast cpu's in future.

That is a good advice. But for 230 pounds, your best options are:
1) X4 Athlon- very cheap fix if performance of A10 processor was sufficient.
2) G4560 Pentium, plus new motherboard and DDR4 RAM. Will cost ~150+ pounds, games will run faster, platform will be easily upgradable with i5-i7 processors (CPU prices drop in half ~3-4 years after release, while performance difference to latest tech is minimal).
3) New AMD Ryzen platform promises a lot of performance and latest tech at low prices, but is not released yet- so we need to see CPU and mobo prices. Leaks suggest 4 core processors starting at $129/pounds, so with 8GB of cheap DDR4 and one of the cheaper motherboards fitting into 230 pound budget is probable, but only if retailers do not gauge prices. Release is speculated at 2nd of March, but that might be for 8-cores, with 4-cores coming later.

My main thinking is it would be a bad move to buy a new platform *right now* from either side- as even if you want to go Intel I'm almost certain Ryzen is going to cause some price adjustment on the Intel side of things- although I agree the G4560 is a budget gaming bargain.