Which upgrade will provide best performance / longevity

joho5

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Dec 28, 2013
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Current system:

motherboard: asus m5a97r2.0
cpu: AMD FX-8320 (clocked up to 4.0)
graphics card: HD Radeon 7870 OC edition (not overclocked now)

If I had the money to upgrade, would yal recommend going Intel with my cpu and motherboard (i5 4670k and suitable motherboard), or keeping my motherboard and cpu and upgrading my GPU to something like a 280x or 290

Looking for longevity.

thanks
 
Solution
The FX-8320 is still fine for playing games so I would simply upgrade the graphics card for now.

In general, an Intel CPU will provide you with better performance, but the generally depends on the game. For something like BioShock Infinite which is not very CPU intensive getting an i5-4670k will probably only increase performance by 2 FPS (assuming using stockspeed). However, for games that definitely does benefit from an Intel CPU like Skyrim then you are looking at about a 20% increase in performance (again, stock speed). The performance difference would probably increase when CPU intensive mods for Skyrim are installed. However, Skyrim is an extreme example of a game where you will see a dramatic increase in performance. Roughly...

guitarmatt99

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Definitely upgrade your GPU if you a looking to play games, it will provide the most noticeable difference. A new CPU would not provide a huge increase in performance. The 8320 is a very capable CPU anyway, especially overclocked.
 

joho5

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side note, I don't have a problem running most games out right now as it is. The only adjustment I have had to make is with bf4...in multiplayer matches, I have to run everything on high but the top two settings (shadows and textures maybe, and they are on ultra), but most every other game I play I can max it out.
 
The FX-8320 is still fine for playing games so I would simply upgrade the graphics card for now.

In general, an Intel CPU will provide you with better performance, but the generally depends on the game. For something like BioShock Infinite which is not very CPU intensive getting an i5-4670k will probably only increase performance by 2 FPS (assuming using stockspeed). However, for games that definitely does benefit from an Intel CPU like Skyrim then you are looking at about a 20% increase in performance (again, stock speed). The performance difference would probably increase when CPU intensive mods for Skyrim are installed. However, Skyrim is an extreme example of a game where you will see a dramatic increase in performance. Roughly speaking, you will generally see a 6% - 12% increase in performance going from a FX-8320 to an i5-4670k (stock speeds).
 
Solution