New Cpu Advice !

[chromex]

FX 4100 4.32GHZ OC H60Corsair
16GB 1600 Corsair Vengance
MSI 7870 Twin Frozr 2gb GDDR5
550W XFX Pro Edition PSU
Gigabyte 78LMT-SP2 Mobo
1TB HDD

Not great system , but im upgrading it bit by bit. It seems im getting a little bottleneck with the 4100 , cant reach 4.6/7ghz too get best performance out of the 7870.

I know the fx4100 is ***, quad core, but 2 cores 4 threads. But it works great for the price, Im now looking too find a solid quad core amd cpu that would work well with my 7870.

So if you could reccommend a good cpu true quad core (I will be overclocking), that will boost my performance and eliminate sligh tbottleneck with my 7870

thank you for your time, all contructive replys are much appreciated

 

[sam_p_lay]

Well the biggest weakness of that processor is not so much the core count as the architecture. AMD's new Piledriver FX processors are considerably better performers. You're looking at 10-15% better performance moving from an FX8150 to an FX8350 to give you some idea. In the CPU world it's a pretty respectable improvement, though I'm not sure if it's worth the extra cost of a new CPU. If you want a true four-core though (or eight depending on how you look at it), then FX8350 is the way to go.

EDIT: I mean 10-15% improvement in gaming specifically.

 

[kenny3105]

you would be better off changing to a I5 3570k and Z77 motherboard if you want no bottleneck in your system and it is a true quad core cpu and performance is great and get big overclocks

 

[sam_p_lay]

I'd make that same recommendation, except chromex is just asking for an AMD CPU, maybe to avoid having to buy a new motherboard as well. AMD upgrade means considerable money for an upgrade that isn't huge... Intel upgrade means a bunch more money for a better upgrade, but still maybe not worth the expense? Tricky situation when you've made a mistake in component purchase, unless of course you can refund/resell it and undo the wasted money

 

[chromex]

well ill go for the new piledriver 8350 chip then, and i need a new mobo so any decent ones ?. I would go for intel but there wallet rapers.

 

[ryan8989]

i was gonna say if your tight budgeted like me atm best true quad core would be a AMD Phenom II X4 955/965/975 for a tight budget

 

[sam_p_lay]

Ah yeah I forgot you need a new motherboard too... well there really isn't a good argument for AMD then unless your first priority is highly-threaded non-gaming applications. For gaming, Intel will be delivering 15% higher framerates on average across all resolutions, or 20% if you're looking at 1080p specifically. 20% more speed for the same money... I wouldn't call that 'wallet raping'

Additionally, people keep pointing out the 77w TDP of the Intel CPUs VS 125w on the AMD options. I thought that was a pretty weak argument (I figured surely it's not costing that much in electricity?) but I did the math on it, and based on my own usage (averaging 8 hrs a day) I'd be saving almost £40 a year with the Core i5. So I was wrong initially - power consumption really does add up.

 

[Cazalan]

Yes power consumption does add up. Especially if you run any 24/7 distributed applications like Folding@Home.

 

[chromex]

*** it , ill go for intel then
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/29-4intel-core-i5-3570k-s-1155-ivy-bridge-quad-core-34ghz-5-gt-s-dmi-650mhz-gpu-6mb-smart-cache-34x-

could you recommend a mid-budget mobo then for me please, with option for crossfire if im too get another 7870 or better down the line

thanks once again

 

[chromex]

guess i can sell my old mobo and cpu for 80£ or something too make up for cost amd too intel

 

[sam_p_lay]

Or...

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Intel+Core+i5-3570K+3.40GHz+%28Ivy+Bridge%29+Socket+LGA1155+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=49755

Saved your money ;-)

Worth shopping around, dabs.com also have great deals and sometimes novatech.co.uk and ebuyer.com. Scan are awesome for graphics cards prices though and motherboards, always my first port of call for those.

Good choice with the i5 - I'd buy one of these myself if it was upgrade time. ASRock Z77 Extreme4 is a very popular choice. I've not had experience with ASRock personally, but people really rate these highly. I can personally vouch for MSI and Gigabyte - I've owned boards from both and they've never let me down. Asus are also excellent.

Might be worth checking warranties too - I know for graphics cards Gigabyte offer three years (from date of manufacture) vs one or two years from the other two. Likely the same warranty durations for mobos.

 

[sam_p_lay]

And yeah that's a good idea to try and sell them, people often sell hardware for only a bit less than it costs new. If you don't use the stock cooler by the way, Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo is really popular for overclocking i5s (and other CPUs of course!).