FX-8350 Paired With R9-280x

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Azndude263

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Currently, I have Fx-8350 (stock speed) cooled with a Cooler master Seidon 120m cooler along with a Sapphire 7870 GPU. I use this PC for casual gaming, normal daily tasks (having about 10 tabs open on chrome), and often some coding for school.

I'm thinking about playing a few more intensive games such as Guild Wars 2, Starcraft 2, BF4, Crysis 3, GTA, Skyrim, Titanfall, Diablo 3, Borderlands 2, and some newer games.

I understand that the intel cpus (such as i5) are better suited for gaming but I was just wondering if my FX-8350 is enough for these games. If it is good enough, I rather use that money to buy the R9 280x (can find used for about $180) (I want to keep Amd cpu with Amd gpu)

These are my options and plans

Opt 1: Keep the 8350 and just spend $180 on a used R9 280X then try to sell my old 7870 for like $100. Thus upgrading will only cost me about $80 or so

Opt 2: Replacing 8350 with 4770k (or even 4790k) along with new motherboard. After selling my 8350 and Asrock board, a used 4770k and a mobo will probably cost me around $250 - $300 I'm guessing.

Opt 3: Same as option 2 except to also replace my 7870 with a gtx 770 (I want to keep amd with amd, intel with intel) which will probably cost me total of $500. I barely have enough for this option so I don't want to go there if I don't have to
 
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wdmfiber

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If it was me I'd ditch the 8350 at all costs. But looking at new i7's is kind of ridiculous, as even an old locked i5-2500 would still be good today. So you could save money there.

Besides, open your task manager. 4 core CPU, MS had to patch Windows for those FX chips as FX cores in general are weak, but the 2nd core in each FX module is especially weak(shared resources), the CPU can't be loaded up like a true 8 core(although originally it was, performance was terrible, so there was a patch, 4 cores, 8 threads).

But budget may trump... and you already have the 8350 and board. Just don't go crossfire with 280's or with an even more powerful single GPU. The 8350 with bottleneck it. A single 280X is about max.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-core-i7-3770k-gaming-bottleneck,3407.html
 
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Azndude263

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I know the ideal choice would be going intel 4770k with a gtx 770...but given that I've already own the 8350, do you think it justify the money? What do you think about just upgrading the 7870 to the R9 280x? Do you think this set up will give me decent frames playing on a single 1080P monitor? I'm hoping to keep this rig for at least another 2-3 years until upgrading
 
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SpectreUnleashed

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Do not buy Intel until the end of this year. Repeat, do not buy Intel today. The time for buying Intel will be mid-2015 after Z99 and DDR4 gets released along 5th generation processors. Stick with 8350, it is more than fine for 280x. If you need a MOBO and CPU upgrade later, you can switch to an Intel MOBO with a 5th gen then. However, we still do not know how will AMD's octacores will perform in the future. They will probably perform better than todays. I can buy an AMD for my future build since 6/8 cores are getting mainstream (even Intel is releasing 8 cores next year).
 
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LucoTF

LucoTF

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This. If you didn't already own the 8350 I'd say look at intel, but the 8350 can still keep up with anything out right now and probably for a year or two yet. Keep the 8350

280x vs 770... massive price difference vs a few fps difference. Get the 280x :)
 
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LookItsRain

LookItsRain

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I vote to do nothing, at 1080p, your current build will deliver very good frame rates, i dont think an upgrade is really needed. To add, intel does not make graphics cards, the 770 is nvdia.

Also, option 1 would be the best if you set on upgrading, the 8350 is fine, overclock it when you pair it with the 280x.
 
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LucoTF

LucoTF

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Do nothing is also a viable option for sure, the 7870 is no slouch. Good call :)
 
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DubbleClick

DubbleClick

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Assuming you already got a pretty strong pc, I'd just stay with it until it stops being enough for games you play. IF you really feel like you need to upgrade, I'd go with a i7 4790k and the r280x. AMD gpu's work with intel cpu's. Nvidia gpu's work with AMD cpu's. I'd personally always go with nvidia over amd, but assuming the r280x is 100 bucks cheaper while delivering about the same performance in games, that would probably be the way for you to go. But as already suggested, if you don't force yourself to upgrade just wait a bit more.
 
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Azndude263

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I think I would like to save money and wait for a couple years to upgrade the CPU and mobo. R9 280X (used for around $180 - $200) is enough to play on highest settings along with 8350 right?

Do you guys know if the next AMD cpu generation will be AM3+?

Here are my specs:

Mobo: Asrock 970 Extreme 4
CPU: FX-8350 (stock clock)
Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120m Liquid Cool
GPU: Sapphire 7870
Ram: 16gb 1600

Guess what I ultimately want is to simply play those games on high settings with decent frames with just upgrading the least amount of parts as possible until the next generation of CPU comes along with newer GPU
 
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DubbleClick

DubbleClick

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And even if it was, time to jump on the intel train. AMD is still on 32nm iirc, intels next gen is 14nm. 32nm was sandy bridge time...

But for games your cpu should be enough for the next 1-3 years, then you can still think of a cpu upgrade. Along the games you listed, guild wars 2 is about the most cpu demanding as most it does goes over cpu. Most other games are way more gpu than cpu demanding.
 
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LookItsRain

LookItsRain

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Not even, the 7870 can run bf4 with high settings at an average fps above 60 at 1080p. Ps4 can only manage 900p with lower settings at 60 fps, also the ps4 can only run AC4 30 fps 1080p while the 7870 can get close to 60fps on the same settings and resolution.
Consoles are still far behind in terms of raw performance. 7870 is a 2 year old board.
 
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