Upgrading from FX 8350 to i5 6600k worth it?

[Minty649]

Hi guys, so the title says it all really. Is it worth me upgrading from an 8350 to an i5 6600k. I use my pc for everyday use and gaming, i dont use it for editing or encoding etc. Obviously i would have to upgrade my board and ram as well so was just wondering if its worth it all in the end.

Current build:

CPU: FX8350 @4.5ghz
Mobo: Asus Sabertooth 990fx
RAM: Crucial Tactical tracer 8GB
GPU: R9 280X
PSU: EVGA supernova 750w
OS: Windows 10

Thanks

 

[DonkeyOatie]

'Worth it' is a value judgment, based on cost and perceived performance improvement. The upgrade will certainly improve performance on many games, at a $500-ish cost.

Have you overclocked your existing CPU? You will get a meaningful performance boost at modest cost and the CPU cooler will be needed for your new build anyway. Most gaming systems are GPU limited.

What frustrations are you suffering with your existing system? If the answer is none or very little, overclock and wait.

 

[Minty649]

'Worth it' is a value judgment, based on cost and perceived performance improvement. The upgrade will certainly improve performance on many games, at a $500-ish cost.

Have you overclocked your existing CPU? You will get a meaningful performance boost at modest cost and the CPU cooler will be needed for your new build anyway. Most gaming systems are GPU limited.

What frustrations are you suffering with your existing system? If the answer is none or very little, overclock and wait.

Yes, its at 4.5ghz at the minute but i might push it a bit further today. The reason i wanted to change in the first place was because i play mostly CPU intensive games like arma etc.

It might be worth overclocking mine a bit more and wait for the new Zen CPU's and see what prices are then

 

[DonkeyOatie]

OK. 4.5 doesn't give you much more room. Zen is very likely to be a big step forward for AMD, but it is still likely to cost $400 + for the upgrade although you may still be able to use DDR3.

If it's CPU intensive games you want to play, the Skylake is a good choice. If gaming performance is all you want, then Haswell, using your existing memory, would do fine too. Haswell has only about 5% less IPC than Skylake. If you do other things, for $600, you could get an i7 5280K.

 

[Minty649]

OK. 4.5 doesn't give you much more room. Zen is very likely to be a big step forward for AMD, but it is still likely to cost $400 + for the upgrade although you may still be able to use DDR3.

If it's CPU intensive games you want to play, the Skylake is a good choice. If gaming performance is all you want, then Haswell, using your existing memory, would do fine too. Haswell has only about 5% less IPC than Skylake. If you do other things, for $600, you could get an i7 5280K.

Thank you for your input, I got my cpu to 4.8ghz today at good voltages. So I think the best thing to do is wait and see what prices are after the new cpu's are out. Thanks again

 

[acehavok97]

Thank you for your input, I got my cpu to 4.8ghz today at good voltages. So I think the best thing to do is wait and see what prices are after the new cpu's are out. Thanks again

While yes the upgrade is tempting because you are running an "old" possessor that out of the gate was being beaten by i5's for gaming. But as long as you are getting 50+ fps in your games your good.

Either A: Save a up a little more money and get a i7 6700k

Or B: Save up a little more money and wait until next generation

The i7 in the longer run will be better as more and more games are utilizing more and more cores due to the consoles now having 8 cores. If you only have a 4 core with no hyper threading while running a game that utilizes 4 cores, and then on top of that running the OS and whatever else is in the background, your performance will then be compromised.

Really I'd go with B, just ride it out until your average frame rate isn't staying above 50.

And hopefully AMD will release new CPUs in the next year that will be more competitive so that's a plus of waiting.

 

[azzazel_99]

the 5820k can be purchased new for $320. Match that with a $150'ish mobo or less and be done with it.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Plus upgraded CPU cooler, and DDR4 memory

 

[azzazel_99]

ddr4 ram is $50 and a cooler is even cheaper.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

If you go with only 8Gb dual channel. I didn't (4 x 4 2666Mhz) and hence my $600 estimate which is about the same with your suggestion, although $150 is a bit cheap,

Even the MicroCenter walk-in price for that CPU and the Cheapest board comes to a total of about $470 plus $40 or so in sales tax.

 

[azzazel_99]

8gb of some corsai vengeance lpx can be had for 50 range also gskill 2133 or 2400 8gb. But for 500-600 you can have the 5820k yes

 

[Minty649]

Thank you for your input, I got my cpu to 4.8ghz today at good voltages. So I think the best thing to do is wait and see what prices are after the new cpu's are out. Thanks again

While yes the upgrade is tempting because you are running an "old" possessor that out of the gate was being beaten by i5's for gaming. But as long as you are getting 50+ fps in your games your good.

Either A: Save a up a little more money and get a i7 6700k

Or B: Save up a little more money and wait until next generation

The i7 in the longer run will be better as more and more games are utilizing more and more cores due to the consoles now having 8 cores. If you only have a 4 core with no hyper threading while running a game that utilizes 4 cores, and then on top of that running the OS and whatever else is in the background, your performance will then be compromised.

Really I'd go with B, just ride it out until your average frame rate isn't staying above 50.

And hopefully AMD will release new CPUs in the next year that will be more competitive so that's a plus of waiting.

Yeah it's probably better to wait. Thanks

 

[azzazel_99]

Waiting is a dangerous game. Intel cpu's dont change in price much when the new stuff comes out so i wouldnt bet to much on that. AMD's may but hell a devils canyon is still $300+ and so is the new skylake which is faster so. You can wait and see what releases this year but heck a super overclocked 8350 like you got as long as youre getting decent temps i'd run it till it quit before i upgraded or sell it and make some money back then the cost of upgrading wont hurt as bad.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I agree waiting is often counter-productive. In this situation, because of the huge upgrade cost. I'd wait until the 'horse dies' or I just could not stand it any more, and save like mad for a major upgrade/rebuild. You are in a place where there is no easy 'up'. You need a radical change to get anywhere, and the 'worth' of that is impossible for us to judge.

In my own mind, I build my systems to last one great year, one good year, and one OK year, then re-build. I use budget, but solid, parts and make wise choices with 'forever' parts like cases and PSUs. The cheapest parts are nearly always too cheap, and the most expensive parts are not worth what they cost. There are many good lower mid-grade products with the 'right' feature set for me.

 

[Minty649]

Waiting is a dangerous game. Intel cpu's dont change in price much when the new stuff comes out so i wouldnt bet to much on that. AMD's may but hell a devils canyon is still $300+ and so is the new skylake which is faster so. You can wait and see what releases this year but heck a super overclocked 8350 like you got as long as youre getting decent temps i'd run it till it quit before i upgraded or sell it and make some money back then the cost of upgrading wont hurt as bad.

yeah atm i have it on 4.8ghz at 1.38v which is pretty good. Doesnt go above 45c under full load, Tbh i could probably push it further if i wanted to. And you never no the new amd zen CPU's might surprise us.

 

[Sumo999]

Your CPU is fine for gaming, even heavy use CPU games. I'd be upgrading the gpu first.

 

[Blaze Blazer]

for me i wouldnt upgrade the CPU both are good enough but you could search for benchmarks to make sure whats going on excactlly