Question Ugrade to 8350?

Kenneth_59

Honorable
Feb 4, 2017
22
0
10,510
Looking at finally upgrading my CPU. I currently have a Phenom 965 BE and was wondering of it would be worth it to upgrade to a FX8350? Only reason I am considering a FX series is because I cant do a MB and CPU upgrade. My MB supports the socket for an FX series. I know I should probably just build a new system but just can not afford a full system build right now looking to get a little more life out of this on.

Current specs:
Phenom 965 BE
AsRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 MB
8 GB RAM
GTX 1060 6GB
Cosair 750 PSU
 
Unfortunately the 8350 is not going to be worthwhile at this point. Sure I think it would run the 1060, but I would look at Ryzen.

If you are on a tight budget, then I'd consider seeing about picking up something like an old Dell prebuilt business class system with an i7 2600 or better, as those are actually still half decent considering their age.
 
An FX 8350 will gain you a 21% performance increase, barely a worthwhile update as you are going to the top end of a dead platform. However, an Athlon 200GE which is an AM4 CPU will gain you a 15% increase and get you on a modern platform that has all the way up to high end offerings like the Ryzen 7 2700x. The Athlon 200GE is a $60 CPU, and with a low cost B350 or B450 motherboard plus 8 GB of RAM, you can get out of this for less than $200 if you reuse as much of your good hardware as you can.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Athlon 200GE 3.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $181.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-12 08:09 EST-0500


Now, if you wanted an actual REAL upgrade you could look at the 2200G with a 67% performance increase over your valiant but aging Phenom II.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $223.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-12 08:11 EST-0500


I would recommend either of these options, despite price, over getting the FX 8350. Sure, you'll get a performance boost, but it isn't really worth the investment.
 
As an FX8350 owner, there's really no point in upgrading to that CPU unless someone is giving you the CPU for free to drop into your AM3 board. Seeing that the platform is at least 7 years old at this point, I'd just make do with what you have and save your money for a full system rebuild. Depending on what you want to do and how much money you have to spend, there's a wide array of choices to suit your needs.

It would definitely be able to push that 1060. I'm running a 1080 without any issues whatsoever on a 1440p G-Sync monitor and have no issues with playable frame rates even on current games.
 

Dark Lord of Tech

Retired Moderator

Kenneth_59

Honorable
Feb 4, 2017
22
0
10,510
Feedback has been great! Thanks for the linked parts list. Great info and will probably get a boost with the Anthlon and be primed for upgrade when the new Ryzen procs hit.