Unsure about upgrading my processor

[Treeroyk]

I got this PC almost 2 years ago, and was on a very limited budget at the time. I wanted to get the best gaming performance I could for my money, so I shoved all my cash on the graphics card, and the other components are pretty poor.

I have a rubbish processor and want a faster, bigger, newer one - however, I don't know how to go about doing this. If I upgrade to a vastly different processor, will I need a new motherboard? A new power supply?

These are my current specs:
gpu - AMD Radeon 6850
cpu - AMD A4-3400; 2.7GHz/dual-core
psu - 450w unbranded
mobo - Asus F1A55

(full specs here)

And I also don't know what processor to get. When I bought this PC originally, I planned on upgrading to an i5-3570k; however, that was 2 years ago and so there are newer and better processors now.

I suppose what I'm asking here is simply, what do I need to consider when upgrading my PC parts.

Thanks

 

[Gam3r01]

Do you have a budget here? If its on a low end you are looking to find and FM1 cpu. In this case this would probably be the best bet: http://www.amazon.com/AMD-A8-3870K-Graphics-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B006J420UE/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380591525&sr=1-2&keywords=amd+fm1+processor
If you have a bit more to spend a new motherboard and possible an FX-6300 or an Intel counterpart would do you well.

 

[Treeroyk]

Do you have a budget here? If its on a low end you are looking to find and FM1 cpu. In this case this would probably be the best bet: http://www.amazon.com/AMD-A8-3870K-Graphics-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B006J420UE/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380591525&sr=1-2&keywords=amd+fm1+processor
If you have a bit more to spend a new motherboard and possible an FX-6300 or an Intel counterpart would do you well.

I'm thinking of upgrading the PC at Christmas, so my budget is somewhat flexible. I will be using my computer for the next 2 years, so I'd like it to keep on top of high-graphics games until then. The one you linked is much cheaper than what I was expecting to pay; the FX-6300 you mentioned would be closer to what I'm thinking of, or perhaps something better.

If I was going to upgrade to the latter - something like the FX-6300 - what motherboard would I be looking to get?

And thinking about it, I'd probably stay with AMD since it's cheaper and this only needs to last 2 years.

 

[Gam3r01]

If you are going later it would be the FX-6300 or the FX-8350 those are the prices you are looking at. They are both great for gaming, and the are generally cheaper than intel. AMD is the go to on budget. As for the motherboard anything with an AM3+ socket works. This is on the higher end http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514 I would not spend more than that. If you do get a good processor your current graphics card will be lacking though. So I would upgrade both at the same time.

 

[Treeroyk]

If you are going later it would be the FX-6300 or the FX-8350 those are the prices you are looking at. They are both great for gaming, and the are generally cheaper than intel. AMD is the go to on budget. As for the motherboard anything with an AM3+ socket works. This is on the higher end http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514 I would not spend more than that. If you do get a good processor your current graphics card will be lacking though. So I would upgrade both at the same time.

Yeah, I've just looked at the FX-8320/50 and they look good. I don't know how much motherboards cost, but how much cheaper than the one you linked can you get, without compromising the performance of the PC? I don't really know how much motherboards matter.
and you're right about the gpu being lacking - it might be worth waiting for the new R7 / R9 to be released, though I don't know how far away that is.

 

[Gam3r01]

The gpu release is in 2 weeks, as for the board mine, which supports FX processors was around 90 dollars, The M5A99 would be better.

 

[Treeroyk]

The gpu release is in 2 weeks, as for the board mine, which supports FX processors was around 90 dollars, The M5A99 would be better.

The difference between the M5A97 and M5A99 is £30 ($50) where I am, which is a bit steep. Would it really be necessary to get the more expensive one? Considering I'm only using this PC for another 2 years.

 

[Gam3r01]

If you dont really need the best the A97 is stall a great motherboard to use. I personally find it the best in its price range. So if you want to save a few bucks it will do what you need it to.

 

[Treeroyk]

If you dont really need the best the A97 is stall a great motherboard to use. I personally find it the best in its price range. So if you want to save a few bucks it will do what you need it to.

Ok good, thanks. I will almost certainly need a new PSU with this upgrade, so I'll have to think about that too.

If I got the A97 + FX-8320 + 7950/7870/new R9; will it all work together? As in will I definitely be able to just swap out the parts in my PC for the new ones?

Thanks

 

[Gam3r01]

Yeah all of that will work well together, and you will be able to swap out easily.

 

[Treeroyk]

Yeah all of that will work well together, and you will be able to swap out easily.

Cheers for the help.
Final thing (probably) - it's just occurred to me that processors have to be cooled - would I need to buy additional cooling for the cpu?

 

[Gam3r01]

They come with coolers, I would highly recommend the Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO. Which I just installed on mine.

 

[Treeroyk]

They come with coolers, I would highly recommend the Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO. Which I just installed on mine.

Yeah, sounds like it might be a smart idea to get something like that.
I think that's pretty much everything then, thanks for answering all my questions. Now I just need to figure out how to put the parts together and save up the money