Replacing APU with a new CPU/Mobo Question

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Maverekt

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Dec 13, 2016
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Okay so currently in my PC I have a Athlon X4 860k, and a R9 290x 8gb. My APU seems to extremely bottleneck my GPU.

I want to buy the AMD FX-8350 and I was curious as to if it's worth it or other inputs to this. I'm trying to spend less that 250 and this is on both a CPU and Mobo.

Here is the PCPartPicker list https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NPjZXH

EDIT: The PCPARTPICKER list shows the new Mobo and CPU, my old mobo is an MSIGaming series and only for FM sockets.
 
Solution
Barty1884
Either i5 or the i3 have stronger single-core performance, with the i3 being dual-core + hyper-threading and the i5's being true quad cores. Obviously the 6500 has the higher clock speed of the two i5 's and would be the 'prefered' option (shy of a 6600K).

The 'boost' over an Athlon will vary depending on the title, with all 3 coming out ahead. The i3 will win out in some cases due to the higher clock speed, but the 6500 would be the better choice overall.

The full benefits of DDR4 are a little above my knowledge base to explain in detail, but all 'new' platforms (Skylake/Kaby Lake & Zen) are all DDR4, faster speeds etc.
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uguv

uguv

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Jan 2, 2008
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I don't think you're going to see any improvement going to the FX-8350.

For $250 you could switch to an i3-6100 setup.
PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qtRPyc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qtRPyc/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $236.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-13 16:14 EST-0500

For $270 you could even go with an i5-6400, though you'd eventually want to add a matching 8gb module for dual channel memory.
PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6cvCbj
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6cvCbj/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $268.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-13 16:17 EST-0500

Edit: You could also see what Zen pricing looks like but I highly doubt you'll be able to get a Zen processor, new motherboard, and new RAM for anything close to $270.
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Apr 16, 2015
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Either of these would be much better options than an investment in an FX:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($43.50 @ Directron)
Total: $200.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-13 16:18 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($43.50 @ Directron)
Total: $265.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-13 16:18 EST-0500

In an ideal world, I'd look to this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($191.91 @ Jet)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Avexir Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $308.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-13 16:19 EST-0500

Or just a 2x4GB kit, for a total of $280.
 
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WildCard999

WildCard999

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Jul 18, 2014
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The AMD Athlon X4 860K isn't exactly a APU. Its similar to the A10-7850K however doesn't have the iGPU. Before you start upgrading I would test your system first to ensure the CPU is holding back the GPU.
https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-determine-gpu-vs-cpu-bottlenecks-and-possible-solutions/
"If lowering the graphics settings has no effect on frame rates, then the bottleneck is your CPU"
You can help improve/fix this by overclocking the CPU. I would recommend the Cryorig H7 as its a great budget air cooler for the cost.

By doing this will hopefully allow you better performance and allow you to save up for a better upgrade such as a Kaby-Lake i5 & DDR4 RAM.
 
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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I dissagree in the commetn that you would not see a difference between a x4 860 and fx 8350.
There is a huge difference between the two.

With that said I agree that you should not bother with FX lineup at this time.
Now I am no fan-boy, i even have an fx-8320 in my rig. In 2012'/2013 the fx line was a killer bang-for-buck deal giving you near i5 gaming performance and better then i5 video-editing performance for 60-70% the cost.
Well it is almost 2017 and that fx platform is 4 years old so even an i3 can beat it at many tasks due to the much higher efficiency.

Any of Barty's builds would be good.
 
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Maverekt

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Dec 13, 2016
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Is there really much benefit to going DDR4? and also my case is ATX. I wanted to buy another 2 sticks of my current ram and minis only have 2 slots.
 
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M

Maverekt

Honorable
Dec 13, 2016
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10,510


What are the benefits of DDR4? And if I switched to a different mobo form will my watercooler still fit? What would be the performance boost for those 3 different upgrades
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Apr 16, 2015
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Either i5 or the i3 have stronger single-core performance, with the i3 being dual-core + hyper-threading and the i5's being true quad cores. Obviously the 6500 has the higher clock speed of the two i5 's and would be the 'prefered' option (shy of a 6600K).

The 'boost' over an Athlon will vary depending on the title, with all 3 coming out ahead. The i3 will win out in some cases due to the higher clock speed, but the 6500 would be the better choice overall.

The full benefits of DDR4 are a little above my knowledge base to explain in detail, but all 'new' platforms (Skylake/Kaby Lake & Zen) are all DDR4, faster speeds etc.
 
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Solution
burdenbound

burdenbound

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Aug 9, 2011
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No, you will not have a day and night experience going to DDR4. I would say if you go with an i3, get the newer LGA 1151 (DDR4) direction, because when your ready to upgrade the i3 you will still be able to find LGA1151 i5s and i7s. Where as if you get an LGA 1150 i3 now, by time you want to upgrade you may be unable to find an LGA 1150 i5/i7 for a normal price. But if you go with an LGA 1150 i5, the next time you upgrade you will probably want to go with the latest version that intel has out at that time, since the i5 will last you longer than the i3.

Hope that made sense.
 
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uguv

uguv

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Jan 2, 2008
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I don't think you'd notice any difference in going with DDR4, but it's pretty much your only option if you want anything that would be usable in the future. You could do with a haswell i5 and keep your DDR3 ram, but I wouldn't really suggest investing in previous generation hardware just to save $40-$80.

For Skylake processors, all H110 motherboards only have 2 slots for memory. If you wanted to be able to go with 4 dimms in the future you'd have to go with a B150, H170, or Z170 motherboard.
 
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