Worth getting new mobo for FX or i5?

[Crazy_Ivan55]

Hello,

I'm upgrading my PC this Christmas and I need a new CPU for a EVGA GTX 670 because I currently have a Athlon II x4 630. I was looking at the somewhat new Piledriver CPU's and for the most part people are saying that it is better than the previous Bulldozer's and even the Phenom II's. However, after getting the card my budget will be around $300-$400 depending on how much money I get, and either way I will have to get a new Mobo If i want an AMD FX or an Intel i5 CPU.

Bottom line is, should I keep the AM3 Mobo and get a Phenom II processor, get an AM3+ board and an FX, or cough up the cash for the i5 3570k+mobo and not get more RAM and new games?

I am using this computer almost entirely for gaming. The only other things I do is use Firefox, Microsoft office and rarely Photoshop.

 

[rolli59]

A fast PII X4 would be enough to keep up with the card on a budget but if you are upgrading for gaming then I5 with new LGA1155 board would beat the FX in almost everything.

 

[Crazy_Ivan55]

Ok, but will the performance difference be worth the price? I am going to be playing bf3 on ultra and also crysis. Also I am playing on a 23in 1920x1080 monitor.

 

[rolli59]

A PII clocked at a 3.6-4GHz would be able to achieve those results on a single 1080P monitor with the card. Just check your motherboard compatibility if it supports something like this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727 with an aftermarket cooler it will overclock close to 4GHz
Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

 

[Crazy_Ivan55]

Thanks for your help but I ended up getting an AMD FX 8320 with an ASRock Pro3 because it was on sale and It still would give me the FPS I wanted. As well as an XFX Radeon HD 7950 BE and I forgot to say it earlier but I already have a Corsair A70 thanks!

 

[Crazy_Ivan55]

Best answer selected by Crazy_Ivan55.