Buying New Components

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SwenniBoi

Prominent
May 18, 2017
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510
Hey guys!

I'm new to the site, but I have recently noticed that my CPU is bottlenecking my GPU, and am looking to buy a new CPU + Motherboard. My question being, will all of these listed components work well together?

Nvidia Geforce GTX 960 4GB (GPU)
AMD FX-8370 4.0 Ghz Octacore (CPU)
Gigabyte AM3+ Socket DDR3 (mobo)
8GB DDR3 RAM (2 sticks of 4)
Cooler Master 750W Power Supply
500GB SSD

Thanks for the input!
 
Solution
Barty1884
Yes, the i5-650 is a 1st Gen.

You cannot simply measure clock speed to guage performance (those days are long gone), and the actual efficiency/IPC (instructions per clock) are what matters.........and there's really nothing better than lookiing up performance benchmarks for a CPU/GPU pairing in tasks/games you're looking to use it for. AMD have been developing Ryzen for a long time now, and base performance vs the ~5 year old FX lineup is quite the improvement.

A mATX board will accept a 960, yes. Board size limits some features; expansion slots (for SLI or Crossfire - some boards can still do this among other things), reduced numbers of RAM slots. For the most part, you're just eliminating expansion slots.

DDR4...
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Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
22,250
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Which CPU do you have currently?

I wouldn't invest in an FX + compatible motherboard, given the availablility (and improved performance) from eitheR Intel, or Ryzen.

FWIW, assuming buying new, an 8370 is going to set you back $140. A socket-compatible board is a minimum $50....... but a lot of boards struggle with the 8core/125W CPUs and to get something that should be truly stable, you're looking somewhere around ~$100 (again, assuming new).

For that $240 (or so) investment, you're really close in price to a solid Ryzen5 1400 + Mobo + DDR4:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($165.87 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - A320M-DGS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $286.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-18 12:42 EDT-0400

Or KabyLake i5-7400 + Mobo + DDR4

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7400 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.44 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B250M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial - 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($55.49 @ Newegg)
Total: $294.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-18 12:43 EDT-0400
 
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SwenniBoi

Prominent
May 18, 2017
4
0
510


Thanks for the input!

First off, I am running a i5 650 3.2Ghz (like 1st gen or something dumb like that, its around 5 years old)

I am not however sure what the difference between those two processors, what makes the Ryzen5 1400 a better processor than the FX+ (3.2Ghz vs 4Ghz) Since I have never overclocked a CPU before.

In addition to this, (a slightly different question) will the micro board fit my GTX 960? and what does the size of the board limit?

Lastly, I already have 2 sticks of 4GB DDR3 in my computer, I havent seen the need to get DDR4 (what would the reasoning be?) And would DDR3 ram run on the DDR4 compatible micro board?

Thank you again for any additional input.
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
22,250
1,350
108,740
Yes, the i5-650 is a 1st Gen.

You cannot simply measure clock speed to guage performance (those days are long gone), and the actual efficiency/IPC (instructions per clock) are what matters.........and there's really nothing better than lookiing up performance benchmarks for a CPU/GPU pairing in tasks/games you're looking to use it for. AMD have been developing Ryzen for a long time now, and base performance vs the ~5 year old FX lineup is quite the improvement.

A mATX board will accept a 960, yes. Board size limits some features; expansion slots (for SLI or Crossfire - some boards can still do this among other things), reduced numbers of RAM slots. For the most part, you're just eliminating expansion slots.

DDR4 is the new standard, and everyone will move to it eventually. Since Skylake from Intel, DDR4 is the norm (technically Skylake supported DDR3.... but only DDR3L). It's impossible to get a direct comparison between DDR3 and DDR4 as you cannot have an identical setup and try both - but in short, they're faster. Based JEDEC standard for DDR4 is 2133MHz vs 1333MHz for DDR3 - and DDR4 is available >3000MHz.
 
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