Thinking of Upgrading my CPU, will it work with my system?

TayWh1te · Mar 18, 2017

My current PC specs are as follows:

AMD Fx-4100 CPU
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Motherboard
MSI Gtx 970 GPU
750w power supply
8GB single stick RAM (not sure exactly what the make/model is)

The CPUs that im thinking of upgrading to are just like and AMD Fx 8300 series because I know they're the same socket as my current one and Id want to be able to get the best cpu that I can get without having to change my motherboard and all those bits. Ive been eyeing up a new cpu for ages now but been a little timid of buying one just in case it didnt work for any reason with the rest of my system but maybe I'm just being a little paranoid. I use my system primarily for gaming and routing office working. Thanks in advance for any replies and if I've left anything out then please let me know.

vrumor · Mar 18, 2017

Save your money until you can upgrade to a new platform. Either of the new architectures from AMD or Intel will bury whatever CPU you want to put on that motherboard. Wouldnt be much difference in gaming from a 4100 to a 8300 series anyhow.

Jordenjj · Mar 18, 2017

When the CPU's are the same socket, you can upgrade your CPU most of the time without a hassle. Just check whether your motherboard already has updates for newer CPU's available.

laviniuc · Mar 18, 2017

you need to check which revision of the motherboard you have and update to the latest bios before you switch cpus. check under support which cpu;s your version can support.

DSzymborski · Mar 18, 2017

The low-end AM3+ motherboards don't support 125W CPUs (which includes this motherboard). Without being able to use a 6350/8320/8350, the upgrade options aren't terribly worthwhile. The next dollar you spend on your CPU should be spent on a new platform/CPU.

TayWh1te · Mar 18, 2017

What I'm thinking is though that difference in price between this new cpu and an almost entirely new system seems like a large amount to warrant doing that. Surely there would be a large enough to notice increase in performance difference from my fx-4100 to a fx-8300?

vrumor · Mar 18, 2017

For under $200 you could have an i3, 8 gb of RAM and a motherboard. What would a 8350 cost ya? Even a new multi threaded Pentium would game better than either of those and thats cheaper if im not mistaken. Just looked, its pretty close with an i3. Id go that route rather than a 5 year old platform that is dead. At least downt he road you could upgrade from an i3 if you feel the need.

TayWh1te · Mar 18, 2017

When I change my motherboard wouldn't I also need a new copy of windows with it?

DSzymborski · Mar 18, 2017

TayWh1te :

Not really. The per-core performance of an 8300 is only about 10% faster than a 4100. You'd only really see that much of a real-world gain in applications that use all the cores, much less so in games, in which the single core performance is *still* the most important, with marginal gains for additional cores. If you use productivity apps for things such as Monte Carlo simulations or video processing or things like that, *that's* where you would see an actual benefit.

But from what you describe, I see no scenario in which you'll get $100 of value from an FX-8300, or even $50, really. With a better motherboard (no, it's not worth buying one in 2017), we could talk about an 8320/8350 with an overclock, but it just isn't an option - it's an entry-level motherboard that can't handle 125W CPUs and with a 780G chipset from 2008 which isn't even designed for the FX Series, but retrofit afterwards.

It's your money, of course, but I can't recommend this because I see little real benefit to you. Save the money for a modern Kaby Lake/Ryzen platform.

DSzymborski · Mar 18, 2017

TayWh1te :

Depends. If you took advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade, you have options if you're linked to your Microsoft account.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-tweaks-activation-rules-for-the-windows-10-anniversary-update/

TayWh1te · Mar 18, 2017

No I didnt do that, when I tried to I had other issues with it and reverted back to Windows 7, after that I completely forgot about it and never tried to upgrade again.

DSzymborski · Mar 18, 2017

TayWh1te :

If you didn't upgrade, then a motherboard switch becomes a bit trickier. If you have a *retail* version of Windows 7 (outside of an OEM builder version or one that came in a pre-built), you can easily install Windows 7 on your new PC. The other two options, you essentially have to plead your case to Microsoft for the former and you're almost certainly out of luck with the latter.

TayWh1te · Mar 18, 2017

So if I was to buy an intel cpu and change out the motherboard as well as the RAM and possibly have to buy a new operating system on top of that... then what kind of intel cpu build would be the best to try and keep the budget down as much as possible and still give the performance?

DSzymborski · Mar 18, 2017

TayWh1te :

A Pentium G4560 will do better in games than any of the AMD CPUs that will run in your motherboard, so think 60 for the CPU, 60 for the motherboard, 60 for the RAM. Then Windows on top of it, so ballpark the best entry point here as 300 or so, if you decide to go that route (it'll be similar for the more budget-friendly Ryzens when they come out, so you coudl wait). You'll have an upgrade route with that as well, you could go with an i5 or even an i7 later if you wanted to. Unlike past generations of Pentiums, the new ones have hyperthreading, so they're kinda the new i3.

There is of course waiting for the budget Ryzens. That depends on just how much performance you need that you're not getting. You say you've been thinking about an upgrade, so the question is just how urgent is this? If you're happy with PC right now, no need to sink money in it right now, the best time to upgrade is when you want to do something specific and you can't currently do so.

TayWh1te · Mar 18, 2017

Its at the point now where I've been meaning to do something about it for long enough but if I upgrade to a Pentium along with the motherboard, RAM and OS and then in the future can upgrade to a better intel cpu then I guess thats worth doing.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/jdhJGf

Was looking on pcpartpicker and if I go with the Windows 8.1 then I can get it all for slightly over £200 for now if I went down that route with a fairly cheap pick for the motherboard and RAM.

TayWh1te · Mar 21, 2017

Also the tower case that I have right now is a (CiT Mars Midi Tower) and the motherboard that I was looking at get right now is the (Asus H110M-A/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151) and was just wondering if id have any problem with fitting this into my case because I'm not sure exactly where to find that out?

DSzymborski · Mar 21, 2017

I'd look for a B250/H270 motherboard - there are a lot of 100 series motherboards that would need a BIOS update before running a Kaby Lake CPU.

TayWh1te · Mar 21, 2017

Okay like a MSI B250M PRO-VDH maybe?

DSzymborski · Mar 21, 2017

Yup, that's more what you need to look for.

TayWh1te · Mar 21, 2017

Okay thanks for all the help guys, and after contacting Microsoft and explained to them that I had the OEM version of Windows 7 they said that I could contact them with my product key and an invoice for the motherboard that I get and that they will validate the product key for me again to reuse it which saves me having to suffer buying Windows 8.1

DSzymborski · Mar 22, 2017

TayWh1te :

Yeah, sometimes they're helpful, sometimes not. I didn't want to get your hopes too high and then have MS shoot you down. OEM/builder copies of Windows have tended to be in the gray area.

Thinking of Upgrading my CPU, will it work with my system?

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