Considering CPU/Mobo Upgrade

[Kazul]

Hey guys, currently I have:
AMD Phenom II X4 940
4 gigs ddr2
GTX 470

I run games at 1920 x 1080 and have been seeing on a lot of new games I'll run at a good - decent FPS with occasional skips in the frame rate. It seems that when running games only 50% or so of my video card gets use but almost all of my CPU (all 4 cores) are running at their cap. Because of this I have been considering an upgrade. I've been looking at upgrading to a AM3+ Mobo and grabbing either a Phenom II 965 x4 or a FX-4170 with 8 gigs of DDR3. So I am really just wondering if I will see a noticeable increase in performance from making this upgrade? I know a lot of people have also been saying no on the FX series but I hear as they release more updates for them, ect they may see an improvement, and currently both of these CPUs come at the same price, any thoughts? I also am well aware that Intel CPUs will offer better gaming performance but in most cases I've seen the prices are to high on Intel.

Thanks for any help guys.

 

[dasprosenjit93]

if u r thinking to change the proci and mobo better to go with..amd phenom II X4 955
with an asus mobo

 

[rolli59]

Neither of those will give you a massive upgrade over your current 940. If upgrading I suggest Intel I5 lga 1155 even the 2400 is better than those. Here 965 vs 940 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=80
965 vs I5 2400 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=363
You should be able to overclock your 940 to get 965 performance.

 

[Kazul]

Neither of those will give you a massive upgrade over your current 940. If upgrading I suggest Intel I5 lga 1155 even the 2400 is better than those. Here 965 vs 940 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=80
965 vs I5 2400 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=363
You should be able to overclock your 940 to get 965 performance.

Yeah it seems from that the difference would be very small, but looking at the I5 it's a bit out of my price range. While the upgrade in CPU power would be small would going from DDR2 1066 up to DDR3 1600-1866 be noticeable? Unfortunately on my current CPU overclocking would be a bad idea at least until I get an aftermarket cooler for it, it runs very hot, as we speak I am idling at 46°C.

 

[rolli59]

Ram by itself is not a big upgrade. Maybe the money is best spent on a good cooler CM Hyper 212+ $20 after MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[Kazul]

Ram by itself is not a big upgrade. Maybe the money is best spent on a good cooler CM Hyper 212+ $20 after MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Alright I'll give overclocking a try first since the cooler at least won't go to waste. Should I consider buying another kit of my current ram to get 8 gigs?

 

[rolli59]

Only if you are running 64bit OS.

 

[Kazul]

Only if you are running 64bit OS.

I am. Ram is really cheap so I'll give it a shot and see if that fixes my problem. Thanks a lot for the help rolli59.

 

[Kazul]

Best answer selected by Kazul.