Intel 1st gen to FX 6300, worth the upgrade?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

donkaykong123

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
9
0
4,510
I have an i3 530 that is really starting to show it's age and bottleneck my OC'D 7850 into the ground when it comes to modern games and even some older ones. I'm on a budget so my best choices for upgrades right now (from what I've found) are an FX 6300-Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 combo:http://www.microcenter.com/site/products/amd_bundles.aspx or a 1st gen i5 760 or i7 860 from eBay. Is it worth it to swap out my entire motherboard and reinstall Windows for the FX 6300 or would a 1st gen i5/i7 work well enough for gaming?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
S

slyu9213

Honorable
Nov 30, 2012
1,054
0
11,660
Upgrading from i3 530 to FX 6300 will be worth it. In your situation I might try a 1st gen i5 or i7 as they're very similarly priced anyway on eBay. They will overclock really well just like the Phenom II CPUs. From looking at older benchmarks of the 1st Gen i7s they will perform better than Bulldozer based 8-Core CPUs in games like Battlefield 3 and Skyrim in stock speeds and at 4GHz. On the other hand it will be less performance in some games. It seems to peform nicely in Shadow of Mordor too.

I would honestly enjoy getting a 1st Gen i7 and seeing how well it performs in games. I would go the i5/i7 route if it's cheaper, which I believe it will be.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
LookItsRain

LookItsRain

Distinguished
Jun 4, 2013
2,014
0
20,160
I would skip the fx and buy a new i3 and an h97 board. The old first gen i series are power hungry and lack newer instruction sets.

Microcenter has the i3 4370 and asrock h97m pro 4 for 180 usd, which is what i bought.

If you do get the 6300, dont buy that cheap 760 board, it offers no overclocking and does not have sata 3.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

donkaykong123

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
9
0
4,510


Why skip the FX chip for the i3? Also if the Gigabyte board is low-quality (kind of expected considering it's price) I could get the ASROCK 970, since my main concern is gaming and overclocking is a feature that I would like to have for that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
LookItsRain

LookItsRain

Distinguished
Jun 4, 2013
2,014
0
20,160


The reason i would skip is because AM3+ offers zero upgrade ability.
If you get the 6300, the the asrock 970 is a good choice.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

donkaykong123

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
9
0
4,510

Better performance than a Bulldozer FX 8150 would mean better than a cheap Piledriver like the 6300 though, right? Lol now I'm confused as to what to get, I want to save money and effort by just upgrading to a same-socket CPU but at the same time the 6300 might be more future-proof and efficient gaming-wise compared to an old Intel Core.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

slyu9213

Honorable
Nov 30, 2012
1,054
0
11,660


I don't think AMD has anything that can be 'future proof' even with all it's cores. The architecture design is just too weak and old compared to Intel's. With AMD you will have to be happy with what you have or upgrade to something newer of Intel. It will be the same way with the 1st Gen i5/i7. You'll have to be happy with how it performs otherwise you'll have to build a whole new PC. The best way to know what you need/want is to be able to test the hardware you are interested in. At least then you know what performance is acceptable and what is not. An i5 750 can be had for as low as $50 or lower in some cases and i7 860 for ~$100 or a little lower. To tell you the truth I don't think a 1st Gen i5 or i7 will be a bottleneck to your 7850. But it does suck that the older CPUs will be lacking new instruction sets.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

donkaykong123

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
9
0
4,510


Where did you find the bundle for the i3 4370 and Asrock? It's not on the cpu-motherboard combo page and the total price for both of them is over $220. I found this bundle though that's LGA 1150 and overclockable, but I'm not sure if the Pentium is that good with or without an OC.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

slyu9213

Honorable
Nov 30, 2012
1,054
0
11,660


In a pure FPS # standpoint the Pentium G3258 will get good numbers for being a Dual-Core. But from what I hear they have a big frame-time variance in games which isn't a good thing. It's not horrible CPU though. I've recommended it a lot of times for people wanting to go to i5's eventually. I think an i3 at $1XX is a waste if you're going to buy an i5 down the line. At least a Pentium will be $70 or lower although not as strong as an i3.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
LookItsRain

LookItsRain

Distinguished
Jun 4, 2013
2,014
0
20,160


If you open up there monthly add, there is a full list of mobos to bundle with the i3 4370.
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/2287b82d#/2287b82d/33
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom