I currently have an FX 4100, would a phenom be an upgrade?

[owenwxm]

Hello all, my older brother just built me a new gaming pc. He talked me into getting an Fx 4100 (bear in mind I had no idea how bad they were at the time). I am thinking whether or not a Phenom II x4 965 would be a good upgrade.

My current system spec is:
Mobo - Gigabyte GA- m68-s2 (http://www.gigabyte.eu/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3967#ov)
Gpu - Radeon 6770
Psu - a crappy, generic 500w.
4gb ram.

Also, are there any better Phenoms?

Thanks in advance

 

[bryonhowley]

Well since you did not list any problems you are having with the FX-4100 it is hard to say. I can tell you that I went from a Phenom II 1090t to a FX-8120 and it was a very good UPGRADE for me. The item I would upgrade would be that "crappy" PSU! In all respects at least on my two AMD/ATI rigs going back to a Phenom II would be a downgrade as I had a few games that would give me a slight stutter on my 1090's that I do not get with the FX-8120 or FX-8150 rigs. If I had anything to do over I would have got FX-8120 for both rigs but that is really all I would have changed.

 

[mousseng]

It'd be an upgrade, but hardly. You'd be much better off putting that money elsewhere, such as a new PSU or some more RAM. If you want to upgrade your CPU, hold off until Piledriver launches, as that'd be a much better option if it lives up to the hype.

To answer your last question, there are, but again you'd be paying more than you should for the gains that you'd see: Phenom II X6s are a similar architecture to the 965 (with an improved memory controller and better overclockability) and have 2 extra cores.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Not a sensible upgrade IMO

 

[mubin]

Phenom II x4 is better than fx-4100, but there will be very few difference between them as you are using 6770. Both cpu will perform same for gaming.

If you get phenom free from your brother then get it. Its much better than a fx-4100.

 

[Guest]

i would suggest the following upgrade strategy:

upgrade PSU to a quality 550 watt (that will handle any single gpu and cpu configuration)
upgrade GPU to a 7850/660/7870

then you will be ready to look at any cpu (and probably motherboard) upgrade options.

 

[spentshells]

I must say I can only agree with the first reply,

Try overclocking the the 4100 and 6100 series overclock very well
your motherboard though is a little off.

I suggest you simply enjoy this machine until it dies or can not keep up.

Upgrading it or switching parts on this machine is a waste of time. Enjoy it while you can.