Is this a worth while mobo/cpu upgrade for the price?

The Cracker · Nov 27, 2014

Ok, here is a combo deal I keep going back to and I'm wondering if the community here, whom I find incredibly intelligent, could offer me their opinions.

First off here is my current PC which I have really not upgraded much in the five years I have had it.

AMD A8-3800 cpu 2.4GHz
8 gig memory
XFX R9 270x gpu
530w Rosewill psu

Now I saw this combo deal on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2011623

It contains:

AMD FX-8320E Vishera 8-Core 3.2GHz (4.0GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Desktop Processor FD832EWMHKBOX (Model:FD832EWMHKBOX)

ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (Model:M5A97 LE R2.0)

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS2KIT4G3D1609DS1S00 (Model:BLS2KIT4G3D1609DS1S0)

My questions are, is this a worth while upgrade for the price compared to what I already have? Will I notice a huge improvement playing games? And if it is, can I do this upgrade without replacing the current psu or should I get a psu with a little more beef?

Thanks for the help.

bootcher · Nov 27, 2014

Yes, you will get a good performance increase. Your current cpu bottlenecks your gpu, so the 8320 will take care of that.

About the psu I don't know, some rosewill psu are good while others are not so good. 530 watt should be enough though for your system.

spooky2th · Nov 27, 2014

That would be a nice improvement from what you have now.

The Cracker · Nov 27, 2014

Thanks for the answers guys, but do you think I should upgrade my psu as the new processor is almost twice the tdp or will the 530 be enough?

Whoops, just saw Bootcher's response to the psu question.

spooky2th · Nov 27, 2014

The 530W should be OK. I have used a lot of Rosewill PSU's in many builds and have not had any failures in the years since I have been building. Seems it is always something else that goes bad if at all. Am currently personally using a Rosewill Hive 850W PSU. It has more amp power than a lot of higher wattage PSU's.

The Cracker · Nov 27, 2014

Would this be overkill? Yes its refurbished but for the price is outstanding:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139102

bootcher · Nov 27, 2014

not really overkill, it should run it well. Here is a list and some explanation of good psu's:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

The Cracker · Nov 27, 2014

Bootcher and Spooky, thank you so much, you both have been so very helpful and gave me tremendous insight into making this decision easy.

spooky2th · Nov 27, 2014

That refurbished Corsair PSU looks decent. A single rail! 53 solid amps! (good) And it looks like you get the full 5 year warranty! And there's the price! You'll have peace of mind.

Let us know how it goes.

Dark Lord of Tech · Nov 27, 2014

All better upgrades for less.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $216.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-27 22:52 EST-0500

spooky2th · Nov 27, 2014

From what you could save according to SR-71 Blackbird's post, you could pay for that Corsair PSU.

Dark Lord of Tech · Nov 27, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $256.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-27 23:02 EST-0500

The Cracker · Nov 28, 2014

After checking out the parts, this is a nice little upgrade to the combo I originally wanted so I went with it. I also threw in a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo just to make sure it stays cool.

I'm frickin pumped now guys, thank you all for the tips and advice.

One more quick question, do I need to get thermal paste for the cpu? It says paste is already applied but should I get some just in case?

spooky2th · Nov 28, 2014

No real need to get any thermal paste. But I do put one drop of thermal paste in the center of the CPU along with the applied thermal paste. You will need some if you ever remove the CPU & cooler and are planning on re-installing.

bootcher · Nov 28, 2014

Don't know about the paste now, but last time I got a new cpu the paste on it was crap. So i would recommend getting new good quality paste, it's only a few bucks and it's something you will need if you ever switch cpu/cooler.

Search

Is this a worth while mobo/cpu upgrade for the price?

The Cracker

Honorable

Dark Lord of Tech

bootcher

Splendid

spooky2th

Splendid

The Cracker

Honorable

spooky2th

Splendid

The Cracker

Honorable

bootcher

Splendid

The Cracker

Honorable

spooky2th

Splendid

Dark Lord of Tech

Retired Moderator

spooky2th

Splendid

Dark Lord of Tech

Retired Moderator

The Cracker

Honorable

spooky2th

Splendid

bootcher

Splendid

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page