What CPU should I upgrade to?

HarryInGaming · Mar 10, 2014

I have bought my own prebuilt gaming pc from amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ankermann-PC-FX-ULTRA-Athlon-Black-Edition-3-80GHz/dp/B00GE9FHUY Option one that is £479.00 with specs:
DDR3 SDRAM 8Gb
AMD Athlon X4 760K Black Edition 4x 3.80GHz
MSI GeForce GTX 650 2GB
450W power supply
Main Fan
CPU Fan

But I want to upgrade my CPU.
I don't really want to change anything else but if I have to,to get better performance I will.
What processor should I upgrade to that is under £300 / $500 (if adding other parts still has to add up to £300/$500)
I will upgrade other things if I have to.

ShadowsVoid · Mar 10, 2014

AMD FX 8350

IRyannHD · Mar 10, 2014

You will get much better performance by upgrading your GPU not CPU, I recommend a 760 or 770.

HarryInGaming · Mar 10, 2014

ShadowsVoid :

It looks good but will it make noticable difference from my current?

HarryInGaming · Mar 10, 2014

IRyannHD :

But with the GPU I thought I might need to get another fan if I want a higher up one and also the power supply Id have to upgrade.

IRyannHD · Mar 10, 2014

HarryInGaming :

The GPU won't overheat as they have good cooling solutions, especially ASUS and MSI, as long as you have good airflow.

RobCrezz · Mar 10, 2014

This would be a nice upgrade.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£137.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£77.74 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £215.73
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-10 16:17 GMT+0000)

Or this if you can afford more:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£137.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£77.74 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£176.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £437.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-10 16:19 GMT+0000)

logainofhades · Mar 10, 2014

HarryInGaming :

There is no better CPU for your current config. New CPU would require new motherboard, and possibly windows as well. I would upgrade your graphics card for starters. Is there any chance of cancelling the order or returning?

IRyannHD · Mar 10, 2014

If you upgraded your CPU you will have to upgrade a lot of other things, it would just be like buying a new PC.

Aristos99 · Mar 10, 2014

Yeah, upgrading your cpu would be more expensive due to your socket.The fx series needs am3+ and buying a new motherboard wouldnt be a good value.So i would suggest you to buy a new graphics card like r9 270x-gtx 760-gtx 770.

Eduello · Mar 10, 2014

ShadowsVoid :

A good suggestion... But the motherboard seems to be for the FM2+ socket. There are no CPUs for this socket in the requested price range so a new motherboard would be essential as well, maybe the Asus m5a99fx pro r2.0.(I can guarantee you won't be disappointed with it)

HarryInGaming · Mar 10, 2014

IRyannHD :

HarryInGaming :

The GPU won't overheat as they have good cooling solutions, especially ASUS and MSI, as long as you have good airflow.

Would it need more voltage and is it compatible with my motherboard?

bicycle_repair_man · Mar 10, 2014

I presume that you want to paly games with this spec? If so, your upgrade path is rather limited as the motherboard will support the AMD FM2 socket, which is only used by the Athlon X4 and APU series of processors. The more powerful six and eight-core ones use socket AM3+.

You can "upgrade" to an A8 or A10 APU, but all you really gain is better integrated graphics, which is redundant on account of your GTX 650. In order to gain a true upgrade you also need to replace the motherboard. That said, you can still get this and the processor within your budget.

If you are gaming, I'd urge you to replace the graphics card rather than the processor. The GTX 650 is quite weak unless you're playing at 720p and turn off some advanced settings, such as AA. If you do this, it's very likely that you'll also need a new power supply.

HarryInGaming · Mar 10, 2014

bicycle_repair_man :

I presume that you want to paly games with this spec? If so, your upgrade path is rather limited as the motherboard will support the AMD FM2 socket, which is only used by the Athlon X4 and APU series of processors. The more powerful six and eight-core ones use socket AM3+.

You can "upgrade" to an A8 or A10 APU, but all you really gain is better integrated graphics, which is redundant on account of your GTX 650. In order to gain a true upgrade you also need to replace the motherboard. That said, you can still get this and the processor within your budget.

If you are gaming, I'd urge you to replace the graphics card rather than the processor. The GTX 650 is quite weak unless you're playing at 720p and turn off some advanced settings, such as AA. If you do this, it's very likely that you'll also need a new power supply.

I'm probably going to upgrade my motherboard and power supply then later on upgrade my GPU

HarryInGaming · Mar 10, 2014

Thinking about http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ALK3QRS/ 600W and http://www.amazon.co.uk/M5A99FX-PRO-R2-0-Motherboard-eS-ATA/dp/B0089GN9KU
Then later on upgrading to http://www.amazon.co.uk/GeForce-DirectCU-Graphics-Express-Display/dp/B00CY5GP08/
Then http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX8320-Edition-4-0GHz-Socket/dp/B009O7YU56/

For PSU whats the difference between Semi modular cables and fixed cables?
Which ones should I go for?

RobCrezz · Mar 10, 2014

The only difference is that modular ones you only plug in the ones you need, so you can have less cable clutter.

HarryInGaming · Mar 10, 2014

RobCrezz :

K ill go for modular then

HarryInGaming · Mar 10, 2014

EDIT:NVM

bicycle_repair_man · Mar 10, 2014

HarryInGaming :

All that looks good to me, I actually have that PSU and can vouch for it.

logainofhades · Mar 11, 2014

I hate to say this, but you kinda shot yourself in the foot on this one, with the way you purchased your hardware. For less than your max upgrade, and what you paid for that rig, you could have had a far superior machine.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£185.88 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£55.93 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£78.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£60.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card (£286.43 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£45.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£37.29 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.96 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £820.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-11 14:45 GMT+0000)

logainofhades · Mar 11, 2014

Even better yet.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£185.88 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£55.93 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£78.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£60.00 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (£369.95 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£45.90 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.98 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.96 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £911.56
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-11 15:01 GMT+0000)

sora · Mar 12, 2014

I'd get the AMD 8350/8320. It would be better to build your own though like logainofhades said.

HarryInGaming · Mar 12, 2014

logainofhades :

Thats nearly double the price that I spent on the PC so you can't really say "for what you paid for that"

RobCrezz · Mar 12, 2014

He said, what you paid + upgrade.

logainofhades · Mar 12, 2014

RobCrezz :

^This

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