Attempting to (maybe) switch my mobo and cpu from AMD to Intel

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reptilicus

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Dec 14, 2013
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I built my first PC very early 2012. I went AMD because I read all these very nice things about them although Bulldozer had just come out and I didn't look into it much before taking a dive. Now 4 years later I am already considering building an entirely new PC but I am really really not trying to spend another 2000 bucks just yet unless I really have to...

Here are my specs:
-ASRock 870iCafe R2.0
-AMD 8120 FX (overclocked to 3.5)
-AMD R9 290X 4GB -- (Upgraded to this when it first came out)
-16 GB Ram 4X4GB 1600 dual channel
-Corsair AX860 psu
-Antec Kuhler H2O 620
-Antec LanBoy Air Modular PC Case

So the question to you all is: how possible/ easy would it be for me to swap out my mobo and CPU for.. I dunno.. an i7 4790K and an MSI Z97 Gaming 5 or something similar successfully? Or do you think it would make more sense to just start from scratch and salvage some of the good bits of my existing build? It had a good run but this CPU just isn't holding up anymore with these newer games coming out...

Also I do realize that I will probably have to reinstall everything, but I've never had to do it before so I am intimidated by the idea slightly

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
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You can build a very good quality gaming PC which will easily outperform your rig for $1000-1200. Less if you re-use case, PSU, HDD, DVD
You will need
i5 6600 with a h110 motherboard
16GB RAM 2400Mhz
Samsung evo SSD for the OS and apps, HDD for general stuff
GTX970, or use your GPU for another year, then get a next gen pascal GPU next Christmas
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lucas_7_94

lucas_7_94

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Dec 16, 2015
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You can swich to a i7 4th and you will get a higher improvement, yes like you said. At today, 4th generation still are pretty and goof for gaming.

Pro going for 4th generation: You can save some bucks with the ram, you can re-use it. But like your said, you will need a mobo & (capt obvius) CPU.

Its your choice.
 
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assassin445522

assassin445522

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Just upgrade your CPU and Motherboard to an I5 unless you need an i7 for the hyper threading.
Installing new Parts is a lot easier than you think but it will take a while to do, they're are plenty of tutorials on you tube and if you need help than you can always ask here for installing parts :D
Keep in mind if you dont own a retail copy of windows you will need to purchase one
Whats your budget? you might even be able to go skylake for an upgrade :)
 
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lodders

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Nov 2, 2015
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You can build a very good quality gaming PC which will easily outperform your rig for $1000-1200. Less if you re-use case, PSU, HDD, DVD
You will need
i5 6600 with a h110 motherboard
16GB RAM 2400Mhz
Samsung evo SSD for the OS and apps, HDD for general stuff
GTX970, or use your GPU for another year, then get a next gen pascal GPU next Christmas
 
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Outlander_04

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I would drop an FX 8320 into your mb if it is compatible . A minor OC to 8350 speeds and you have a decent upgrade for about $130 .


Upgrading to an intel i5 is a downgrade for many applications .
Here in this review of the 6600K you can see that intel i5's have still not become competitive in encoding , and even more so when you factor in the intel costing twice as much .
http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/core-i5-6600k-processor-review-desktop-skylake.html

As for gaming if you have a 60 Hz monitor you will probably see no benefit from an intel upgrade either . 60 Hz monitors can only ever display 60 fps so even if you play those games which favor intel you often get no actual change in user experience. The monitor just drops the frames above 60 and never displays them at all
 
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assassin445522

assassin445522

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If he is gaming it would be a massive step up (The FX does perform better at streaming while playing though for obvious reasons and other multi tasking tasks) but yes for non gaming a i5 is a waste. they cost more because they perform better in gaming.
 
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reptilicus

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Dec 14, 2013
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Thanks for all the INPUT! I was looking at skylake stuff as well and thinking I might even go in that direction... I am hesitant to upgrade to the 8350 because I see a lot of people complaining in forums about the same problems I experience with my 8120 (specific games mostly) and I think I would rather just go Intel honestly as I have been thinking about it for at least the past year..

I do indeed have a 60hz monitor as well, which I honestly never even considered as being related.

What is everyone's opinion on buying pretty much all new stuff but trying to get more life out of my GPU and PSU? Honestly if I got a solid 60 fps on the games I play I wouldn't even complain because I'm not all that picky but I experience much more game ruining problems than that such as massive stuttering/ lag, frames dropping into the teens randomly.. Things that basically ruin the game altogether and like I said, people with the 8350 always have the exact same issues that I do (for the most part)
 
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Outlander_04

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If you look at the guru3D article you see that in Bioshock and Tombraider the intel is NOT better in any way . Once a computer hits 60 fps/60 Hz the monitor is the limitation

My experience says that BF4 multiplayer the FX is actually a little better than an i5 .

So just swapping to an intel cpu/mb/RAM and retaining the current graphics card is going to make ZERO difference to game performance in all but a very few games
 
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reptilicus

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Well thanks dude but I'm not asking if I should swap to Intel. I am 100% going to. The question that I asked is: should I upgrade those 2 components or start from ground zero.

I will absolutely take your advice and look into getting a new monitor but you have to understand - I don't need more than 60fps. I would absolutely love a constant 60fps. You are right about BF4, Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider. I played all those games especially BF4 I still play sometimes and they ran great. However with (no exaggeration) more than 90% of all other games I play I experience very very low frame drops, stuttering/ lagging, rubber banding, texture pop-ins all sorts of things that make games unplayable for me and after 2 years of looking and looking and going on Steam forums, etc etc the only conclusion I can come to is that my CPU is bottlenecking my otherwise perfectly good GPU, not to mention on it's own just simply cannot hang with my serious gaming habits.

I toyed with the idea of getting an 8350 for the past 2 years as well. Why didn't I? Because every single time (for example) I Googled something along the lines of "Mad Max random frame drops and stuttering" - replace Mad Max with Rust, Dying Light, Arma 2, Arma 3, Batman Arkham City, Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, Fallout 4 etc etc etc - I have literally googled all of those games with problems and more, and everytime I do, I don't get results for the 8120 having those problems. I get results for the 8350 having those problems. Lots of results. I also see a LOT of people saying that after swapping out their CPU the bottleneck literally disappears.

I am very interested and excited to see what AMD does with Zen, but I am also very impatient and want to play the games I own and can't currently enjoy. Until I hear that Zen is killing it, however, I am switching over because I have sworn no allegiance to either company.
 
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Outlander_04

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I was confused by the title of your thread then . The word "maybe" doesnt imply 100% about anything .

Believe me we do get any number of intel users on this forum having similar issues to the ones you describe . And usually if the AMD owners are willing too listen and learn then their stuttering problems can also be fixed .
Its your money though so spend it how you want
 
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reptilicus

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That is the title, not the question. Try reading more than the first few sentences of my posts please. If you had you'd see that I spent the last "ahem" 2-years... trying to fix the stuttering.
 
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RazerZ

RazerZ

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Bulldozer was known for its poor single threaded performance and one way to get around that would be to switch to Intel.

Your motherboard is also not meant for FX CPUs, very poor 4+1 power phase design. I would not be surprised if thermal throttling caused your stuttering issues but it could just be the CPU itself.
 
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assassin445522

assassin445522

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LOL obvious AMD fanboy, an 8 core FX crushes an i5 in bf4 because it uses all 8 cores only an AMD fanboy would compare an i5 to an FX CPU in an AMD optimized game haha, well im leaving this thread because i dont feel like arguing with a fanboy

that would be like me saying an i3 4130 beats a fx 9590 overclocked in starcraft2 so that means the FX series is a rip off.
The person who asked this question already roasted you so... BYE !
@OP enjoy your new CPU :D
 
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