worth the upgrade?

[Brendan Calkins]

I currently have a gtx 960 and an amd fx 4300 cpu. With large ships in kerbal space program I only get about 15 fps. Would upgrading to a i5 4460 be worth it? How much would it increase my fps?

 

[syked3]

its definitely worth the upgrade and I'd say you would get a considerable difference in fps (I cant tell you exactly how much) but i'd estimate at least 20% increase (http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/359/AMD_FX-Series_FX-4300_vs_Intel_Core_i5_i5-4460.html)

 

[Brendan Calkins]

Any other opinions?

 

[rmark45matsu]

By the time you buy the new motherboard for the i5, it's not worth the money. Get an fx 8320, if you plan on upgrading your cpu.

 

[Brendan Calkins]

Motherboard isn't compatible with it. Besides the 4460 is stronger as far is I've heard?

 

[Brendan Calkins]

I have $250. I just wanna know if it's worth putting into a new cpu and motherboard or if I should just spend it on something else because the upgrade wouldn't be very noticeable

 

[rmark45matsu]

Getting a better GPU with a 250$ budget would be way to marginal to consider doing. Could you provide me with your motherboard model, I want to double check that it doesn't support the fx 8320. The fx 8320 would out perform the i5 and do it at a lower cost.

 

[Brendan Calkins]

Gigabyte 78lmt s2p. I was told that the 4460 would be way better then what I have now

 

[rmark45matsu]

That's unfortunate, that board doesn't support the fx 8320. The 4460 is an improvement over what you have, but it's not leaps and bounds better. To save yourself some money, or present another option, the fx 6300 performs roughly the same as the 4460 and it's only $99. Either way you'll be getting what you want.

However, you'll want to verify which revision of the board you have, the earliest model doesn't support the fx 6300.

 

[Brendan Calkins]

I have the later version of the board. So with 250 would you get a new board and cpu? Or a 6300 good cooler and over clock it? What would give me the best performance

 

[rmark45matsu]

The problem I see with the fx 6300, is that you're going to be forced to get a new motherboard if you ever want to get a better CPU. However, with the 4460 you have plenty of upgrade options (expensive at the very least), without replacing the motherboard. It appears you're not much of a power hog, the fx 6300 would last you quite a while. If you don't have an SSD or 8 Gbs of ram, I would invest into the fx 6300 and then purchase one of the aforementioned items. If you've got both, then I would go ahead and go with the 4460.

 

[Brendan Calkins]

I have 10 gb of ram and 2tb. Don't care for ssd. What motherboard will work with the 4460 but won't go over 250?

 

[rmark45matsu]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128667&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

It seems there's a combo deal with this motherboard and the 4590, it's basically the same price. ($238) for both.

 

[Brendan Calkins]

So it'll be at least a pretty decent upgrade?

 

[rmark45matsu]

It's roughly a 30% faster CPU, whether your applications will utilize that, is up to the programmers.

Most of my upgrades have to be at least 25% faster, so I'd say it's a decent one.