Looking to upgrade my cpu

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brendan9

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Aug 14, 2014
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Hey guys, I am in the process of figuring out an upgrade to my cpu/mobo in my gaming PC.
I currently have an AMD 4300 Vishera 3.8GHz cpu on an MSI 970A-G46 motherboard.
As you can see, an upgrade is probably not a bad idea.

My initial plan was to simply upgrade the mobo to something I could overclock on but I then found out that there is a micro center near my new house and they have great mobo/cpu combos. So I began to lean toward a new cpu and mobo by getting a Devil's Canyon i5 3.5 GHz and a bundled mobo.

I have a couple questions:

1) will this be a significant upgrade? I figure even though the frequency is lower, the smaller transistor size should more than make up, especially if I can OC. Which leads me to my second question.

2) Is it reasonable for a first time OC-er to get a respectable OC from this chip? I've heard things about Haswell/Devil's Canyon and heat issues... Which is why I bought a CM 212 EVO to help with heat.

3) What is the best mobo I can get from micro center as a bundle with this chip? Also, is MC even the best choice? Is Newegg better? I just heard great things about their bundles but you are limited to these choices....

Thanks guys, I know that was a lot. Just let me know if you need any more info.
 
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Obnoxious
My opinion, you don't need a GPU upgrade. My current GPU, the GTX 570 is a little weaker than yours but I am extremely satisfied with it; I am able to play all the games I desire, including Watch Dogs. It's completely your choice if you want a GPU upgrade or not; are you satisfied with the performance? Do you need to run multiple monitors and your current card is affecting frames per second? If so then you could consider an upgrade, but it's completely your call if you're not satisfied with your card.

In regards to upgrading your motherboard and switching to Intel, I would recommend that due to Intel's stronger single-core performance in comparison to AMD, hence you should receive better performance in games. If you're looking to...
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moozilbee

moozilbee

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What's the combo from Microcenter? What parts are included, and what's the price?

Unless you're getting a really good deal in the combo, you're better off upgrading the GPU. The FX 4300 isn't anything amazing, but it's a pretty capable processor, and you're better off either waiting and upgrading CPU + Mobo + GPU, or doing just a GPU upgrade now and overclocking the CPU (Hyper 212 is great for OCing), or do something else, like getting an SSD.

Upgrading to an i5 would cause you to be very GPU bottlenecked, and you wouldn't see that huge of a performance increase except in very CPU based games such as Skyrim, but even then it would be best to get a better GPU + OC your CPU.
 
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brendan9

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Aug 14, 2014
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The combos are listed here: http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx and they're basically the devils canyon i5 and a mobo for ~300. I considered a gpu upgrade and a mobo and cpu upgrade in like 6 months but the problem is my budge is still ~300 and the best I think I can do there is a 770 which I found for just <300. I thought maybe waiting on that would net me a more future proofed gpu around Black Friday. I do want to OC but I've read my current mobo is an awful overclocker and only has 4 phase power. What do you think?
 
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brendan9

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Whichever I ipgrade now, I'll upgrade the other pretty soon. I just thought that waiting for the next line of gpus will show a bigger jump in gpu process from this year than cpu does from year to year. Plus the combo, the chance to oc (on a good board) and having more money or a better deal down the line either during Black Friday or the next lines debut because I heard those two times are when gpus are cheap but CPUs don't fluctuate as much. But those are just my little rationale and I really want to hear everyone else's opinion. It helps me make decisions if I talk them out haha
 
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Obnoxious

Obnoxious

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My opinion, you don't need a GPU upgrade. My current GPU, the GTX 570 is a little weaker than yours but I am extremely satisfied with it; I am able to play all the games I desire, including Watch Dogs. It's completely your choice if you want a GPU upgrade or not; are you satisfied with the performance? Do you need to run multiple monitors and your current card is affecting frames per second? If so then you could consider an upgrade, but it's completely your call if you're not satisfied with your card.

In regards to upgrading your motherboard and switching to Intel, I would recommend that due to Intel's stronger single-core performance in comparison to AMD, hence you should receive better performance in games. If you're looking to overclock, you could purchase the bundle you've found on MicroCenter (I can't view the link you've provided, perhaps due to me residing within the United Kingdom) or get the following:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $298.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-14 18:33 EDT-0400

If you want my honest opinion again, don't bother overclocking or go down that route. It's costs too much whereas you could purchase a non-overclockable motherboard and CPU for the same price, yet providing better performance. For example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($247.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.38 @ Newegg)
Total: $299.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-14 18:39 EDT-0400

The above includes a Xeon E3-1231 v3 processor which provides similar performance to an i7-4770 (the Xeon is evidently a better performer over the i5); both the Xeon and i7 are quad-core and are Hyper Threaded (effectively Microsoft Windows utilising the 8 threads as cores). Note: The Xeon doesn't have integrated graphics, so you'll always need a dedicated/discrete GPU to boot; you don't have to worry about this factor as you already have a R9 270x. We recommend the Xeon E3-1231 v3 as it provides similar performance as the i7, yet more affordable.

The above with the Xeon costs $300, however the motherboard I've selected is great but it's not the best. It only has 2 memory slots, no USB 3.0 header port for front panel USB 3.0 support, and still has two SATA2 3.0 Gb/s connectors (you also have 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s however). If you're willing to spend $30 more, I'd spend it on a better motherboard, such as:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($247.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($85.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $332.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-14 18:48 EDT-0400

It's completely your choice on what you want to upgrade to, however personally from my opinion I'm not fond of overclocking and I don't believe you need a GPU upgrade yet. That's my opinion however.

Anyhow all the best. :)
 
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brendan9

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Aug 14, 2014
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Thanks, obnoxious, that was a very comprehensive answer haha. I appreciate the advice, I had no idea that a xenon could outperform the devils canyon. When did that chip come out?
 
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