Upgrading my AMD FX8350 to Intel i3 6th gen.

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Hi, I just want to know your opinions about my planned upgrade. What do you think?

Thanks in advance.
 
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The new i3-6100 skylake processor is significantly faster than the 8350 in most tasks, especially gaming, its a worthy upgrade. Now if you buy this, you open yourself up to a future processor upgrade as the same motherboard can take an i5 or i7 if you ever need more speed.

As for the K processors, to be able to overclock you need to get a processor that ends in a k, you also need to get a Z170 motherboard. If you don't get a k processor the Z170 motherboard is a waste, as generally it doesn't afford you many other benefits that most people would use to make it worth getting. That said if maybe youd want a faster processor someday, maybe you should get the Z170 board, as it will leave that overclocking option open to you for the future.
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We thought of the same thing. Thank you for the reply vlxedits. I was going for i3. I really don't know in real world performance if i got the same performance compared to fx8350. I just wanted to go intel due to less power consumption. I was also upgrading my PSU first then go for the i3 upgrade soon.

Do you think it is worth the upgrade from 8350 to i3? I've been doing research a little bit but I am not convinced enough. By paper fx8350 has some pros, i3 better single core performance and so on. I'm a newbie about pc parts. My apologies.

Also in the near future, I am confused on getting an i7, i don't know if I should go for the unlocked or locked version. Some say if I don't get a K version I should not go for the "Z" version of a motherboard. I don't know why. Could you help me understand this better?


Thanks for the response.

 
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The i3 will be faster in a majority of games, and about the same in a few, and slower in a handful. It will be slower in tasks that can load up all 8 cores, such as encoding or compression, but will pull ahead in tasks that aren't well threaded, which applies to a surprising number of programs you'd think would be multithreaded.

If you're primarily gaming, you might get slightly better performance out of the i3 and enjoy a much cooler, quieter, and potentially smaller computer. Going ITX is a breeze with an Intel CPU. In terms of performance alone, I'd say an i5 6500 is the cheapest worthwhile upgrade.
 
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Regarding "Z" and "K":

The i7 6700 and 6700K are your two choices in Skylake i7's. The 6700K has slightly higher clockspeed, an unlocked multiplier when paired with a Z170 chipset, a much higher TDP because of the clockspeed bump (65w vs 91w), does not come with a cooler, and is about $40 more expensive. In order to overclock your 6700K, you'll also need to get a Z170 chipset-based board, which will be more expensive than the H110, B150 and H170 boards.

A 6700K will probably warrant getting a slightly larger power supply, in addition to the extra cooler, motherboard, and CPU costs. It's not a very cost effective way to get an extra 5-10% performance, but many people overclock as a hobby and not because it offers much value.
 
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The new i3-6100 skylake processor is significantly faster than the 8350 in most tasks, especially gaming, its a worthy upgrade. Now if you buy this, you open yourself up to a future processor upgrade as the same motherboard can take an i5 or i7 if you ever need more speed.

As for the K processors, to be able to overclock you need to get a processor that ends in a k, you also need to get a Z170 motherboard. If you don't get a k processor the Z170 motherboard is a waste, as generally it doesn't afford you many other benefits that most people would use to make it worth getting. That said if maybe youd want a faster processor someday, maybe you should get the Z170 board, as it will leave that overclocking option open to you for the future.
 
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Wow! That is great news to me and I am happy to hear this information. I was aiming for gaming and some video rendering but maybe for the rendering situation is when I get an i7.

 
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Well, I really wanted an i5, but for my budget as of today, It seems I can't afford it. My plan is to buy i3 for now and save up to go for the i7. I am really not fond of overclocking because:

1.) I don't know how
2.) I am afraid to reduce its lifespan
3.) I don't know if it is worth it to overclock and gain performance by sacrificing lifespan
4.) No idea of how much performance will I gain from OC'ing.
5.) Afraid of spending a little more when I'm gonna overclock.

Do you think i7-6700 will suffice for gaming and rendering videos?

Thank you for your response. Really appreciate it.
 
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Hey, Thanks for the reponse . Still I don't know what's the difference between the Z and the others. What pros and cons are there. Do the Z and the others also differ in features aside from overclocking potential?

Will it be a wise decision to proceed in a Z board even if i just get the i3 for the mean time? maybe , if just maybe I am crazy enough to overclock in the future. Too scared right now and have a limited budget.

I really appreciate reply. Thank you
 
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The i3 will still be capable of gaming and rendering. The i7 will complete rendering tasks more quickly, but it won't be capable of doing anything the i3 can't.

Modern Intel CPUs are extremely difficult to kill without being grossly negligent. Even with a healthy overclock, it will likely outlast everything else in your computer. More important to me is that it's going to cost at least $100 extra to be able to overclock, due to the added costs of a "K" CPU, "Z" motherboard, and aftermarket cooler, and you'll probably only get 5-10%.
 
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Ok, so from what I've read and understand, For an average overclock there is an average gain on it. But for some overclockers who gets more means more performance, am i correct? If so, I think I might go for the non-K version for I am not confident enough to overclock in terms of knowledge and experience.

I was planning to air cool that intel i3. Since i am using a AIO cooler master seidon M right now. From articles and other people who have told me, they said that AIO has risk, so I will be back to air cooling.

For motherboard choices, I was seeing/eyeing gigabyte and asus for the 150 versions like H and B. If it's okay with you, are there any difference between the two? I am assuming it is features.

Thanks
 
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Asus, Gigabyte, ASRock and MSI are all solid brands. H170 and B150 aren't significantly different; pick the motherboard that has the ports and on the backpanel that suit you best.

The cooler that comes with the i3 will be more than adequate, given how little power it generates. Be aware that you might see it run in excess of 60c under torture testing; this is normal and safe, these chips will hit 100c before throttling, and most would agree that 80c is of no concern. Intel CPUs don't necessarily run hotter than AMD CPUs; I more expect the sensor is just closer to hotter parts of the CPU.
 
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My question for you is what are you using your computer for?

If you objective is to use Photoshop CS6 or CC2015, or playing Rainbow Six: Siege or Stellaris, then the 8350 is still good enough. Going i3-6100 would help, but how much improvement do you get for the money (with the new mobo, DDR4 ram), I don't know.

The i5-6500 is currently the sweet spot for value-for-money. i5-6600k or i7-6700k are definitely good enough for gaming and steaming, if you have a good graphic card.
 
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Noted. Thank you for the reponse and any information is never too late.

Thanks again.
 
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Hi and thank you for pointing that out. My reason for changing from amd to intel is because of the power consumption. I'm sorry to say that my fx8350 is causing some hiccups even in 4.0 Ghz frequency( using 1 game and a browser: CSGO and chrome or Dota 2 and chrome).

Been using After Effects, Media Encoder, Sony Vegas for rendering videos.

For the i3, the plan is going to i3 for the recent budget plan, and going for the i7 non K if the budget comes up.

for the DDR4, I've seen in stores nowadays that it is getting cheaper fast. Maybe I can afford it a little bit( maybe 1x8GB module).

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate it.
 
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Really the biggest difference is the overclocking potential. There are plenty of non Z boards that have the same or more features than any Z board.

Personally I would get it, if you have any interest in overclocking at all. Price wise a Z170 is not that much more money, and it leaves things open for if you want to get a k processor some day and try overclocking.
 
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I agree with you. Very wise indeed. Probably gonna get a z170 and an i3 just for now. Later on with an i7(non-K or K). It depends on what I will learn during that time.

Anyway guys, Thank you so much.

And now, I have a new problem, I don't know which solution should I pick. haha
 
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1) Z boards are "unlocked". Since they are prepared to sustain the heat that come with overlocking there they have higher heat tolerance.

I also found Z boards are generally $10, $20 more expensive than their H equivalent these days, maybe it is just a Canadian thing.

To overclock you would need a top tier power supply (think EVGA P2/T2) and a dedicated CPU cooler, which after all you would throw in another $50 and $60, respectively.

Then when you upgrade your i3-6100 to i7, you need to reapply thermal paste which is another $5, or $10.

By spending those extra $10, $20 to get a Z board these days, you are setting yourself up to spend another $120.

If you are not going to spend those $120 when you upgrade in 2 years, then why spend extra $10, $20 now...

2) My other concern is that you said you want to upgrade to i3-6100 because of the power consumption concern.

8350 consumes 125W while the i3-6100 consumes 60W or so.

What PSU are you using? My system consumes ~290W and I am running a 600W with it. I just don't want to run a cheap PSU at over 70% capacity.

Because if you PSU is already a 4 year old tier 3, then even you upgrade your system to i3-6100 with H170, your PSU fail and take a component or 2 with it, it is not really an "upgrade".
 
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Hi, thank you for pointing that out. My current PSU is corsair vs550 which is a bad psu in my opinion since my pc is starting to get random reboots( i made a thread just a while ago).

My up coming PSU is seasonic 620watts m12 evo. just a few days left.

As I pointed out, I have no knowledge of overclocking. I am merely curious of it. If given a chance, I will try.
For the budget, if able , then I will pursue. As of right now, I'm trying to broaden my option when upgrading/purchasing new hardware.

For overclocking, I might be on the average side or the slight overclock. I don't want to reduce too much of its lifespan.

Maybe someday I might try overclocking if I'm brave enough.

For the power consumption, yes, 125w is for 8350, Now i prefer lower wattage to produce less heat and less power supply requirements.

Good news for "Z"(actually for me) for they are more heat tolerant.(Now I know)

Thank you for the information you provided. I really appreciate it.

 
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Couple misconceptions there, first off you do not need a Platinum or Titanium PSU to overclock, in fact the one you are getting will overclock fine.

Z boards do not have any "better heat tolerance" they just have the Z chipset, now they do tend to be higher end boards so they may have better VRM heatsinks, however high end H and B boards have this as well.

You can do a mild overclock with a $40 Cryorig H7, it comes with the thermal paste for free in the box.
 
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So you are getting a i3 6100 and a z170 motherboard. You can overclock non K cpu's with some mottherboards, check here - http://overclocking.guide/category/intel-oc-guides/skylake-non-k-oc/ . Not recommended for faint of hearts. You will need to buy a slightly higher speed rams, like 2666MHz. Saw many 6100 go to 4.3 GHz speed.
 
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Hi, thanks for your reply.

I agree with you in terms of PSU rating. As you've mentioned, I maybe do some very "mild" OC'ing in the future.

For the Air cooling, I was aiming for Noctua NH-D15 (based on reviews and peers) <--- is this a good cooler?

Any aftermarket thermal paste you can suggest?
 
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Hi, thanks for the tips, I might now be overclocking the i3. I am not that ready yet(forgive my fear).

I was eyeing a kingston ddr4 ram 2133Mhz. Is that a good one? Thank you.
 
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Thats an excellent cooler I have one in my wife's PC, it is super quiet and very efficient. I use a low profile noctua in my server as well.

It comes with a large tube of an excellent thermal paste in the box, no need to buy another.
 
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