Upgrade from Phenom II x3 710 to AMD FX-8350 - Good idea? If so, which Mobo?

[Antic177]

Hi all,

Long time forum lurker, first time poster.

I'm just after a wee bit of info regarding my planned PC upgrade.

I am currently Running:

Phenom II x3 710
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
8GB Total (4 x 2GB) OCZ Reaper HPC DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD
CORSAIR H50 CWCH50-1 INTEL/AMD
Corsair 850W HX Modular PSU
Antec 300 case

I play basic steam games occasionally, do some basic video editing and photoshop. Day to Day I have 100 tabs opens, streaming youtube, netflix and real stock charts and prices running along with whatever else i find to tab open

My initial thoughts were to upgrade my current CPU to the best AM3 I could put it in, which as far as i'm aware is, AMD Phenom II X6 Black 1100T. However the prices of these still seem to be near enough £100 on ebay for a used one.

Additionally

I recently purchased a T420 thinkpad for £180 which had an SDD and couldn't believe how fast the drive was so purchased an 850 EVO for £80 for my pc. However my current mobo cannot take full advantage of the speed due to not having sata 6gb/s so decided that it's probably best to upgrade the mobo to one with USB3, sata 6gb/s and most importantly AM3+ so i can upgrade to a much better processor.

I haven't built a pc, or really kept up properly since 2010 so am just really after confirmation that what I am thinking is the right path to go down and, if I have got the correct idea, to see what you lovely folks think a good mobo for the FX-8350 is?

I am happy to buy an older mobo from ebay if there is a good value option as i'l probably be trying to find the FX-8350 on ebay too if the price is good.

Also I am assuming, that i can keep everything else and just change the mobo and processor?


Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and any info that you wish to give me.

 

[Kitt Sue]

If you are going to get a new motherboard anyways, go Intel. If you already had an AM3+ board I would say the 8350 is a great upgrade, but if you need a board and CPU then either get an i5-4460 + H81 board (ensure from retailer that their H81 boards have updated BIOS for haswell refresh) or i3-4xxx + H97 board, both would run you around the same as an FX-8320/8350 + decent 970 board... (you'll want either a 970 UD3P, 970 Performance or 970 Gaming if you want to overclock, otherwise looking at 990FX boards).

If you're looking at used on ebay, might be worth looking for i5-2500K too, it's really fast for gaming.

But if you don't game a lot or you literally only play stuff like mobas, garry's mod, CS:GO etc. then hell it doesn't really matter what CPU you get. However an Intel CPU is typically found to be more responsive for web-based content... they'll both probably be good enough though. The FX-8 would obviously be much better than the i3 for video editing, but for most other things you mentioned an i3 or i5 would be better... possibly more expensive.

 

[Antic177]

If you are going to get a new motherboard anyways, go Intel. If you already had an AM3+ board I would say the 8350 is a great upgrade, but if you need a board and CPU then either get an i5-4460 + H81 board (ensure from retailer that their H81 boards have updated BIOS for haswell refresh) or i3-4xxx + H97 board, both would run you around the same as an FX-8320/8350 + decent 970 board... (you'll want either a 970 UD3P, 970 Performance or 970 Gaming if you want to overclock, otherwise looking at 990FX boards).

If you're looking at used on ebay, might be worth looking for i5-2500K too, it's really fast for gaming.

But if you don't game a lot or you literally only play stuff like mobas, garry's mod, CS:GO etc. then hell it doesn't really matter what CPU you get. However an Intel CPU is typically found to be more responsive for web-based content... they'll both probably be good enough though. The FX-8 would obviously be much better than the i3 for video editing, but for most other things you mentioned an i3 or i5 would be better... possibly more expensive.

Thank you for your fast response,

Video editing is family videos literally once or twice a year - though they are pretty jazzy home vids! Yes, most games wouldn't be much more intensive than the ones you mention as they can't be as this is mainly a work pc for me so my graphics cards are Quadro NVS 295, as i need quad screens - so don't have enough juice for 'real' games.

I've just found my pc to be very sluggish recently hence the need for an upgrade.

I don't suppose you have a specific H81 and H97 board in mind?

I am really after the cheapest upgrade option possible - i originally came across the fx-8350 here as it seems to be one of the best Power/price Ratio

 

[Kitt Sue]

The FX-8350 would be a great option if you did a lot of video editing... that's the main reason I still use one and haven't upgraded to an i7 or anything yet. For surfing the web with a lot of tabs and stuff open, RAM makes a bigger difference than processing power. An FX 8350 would do fine, an i3 or i5 would probably be more responsive. If you really have that many tabs open and do loads of surfing at once, make sure you have an SSD to store web cache data and plenty of RAM for all the tabs.

 

[Antic177]

The FX-8350 would be a great option if you did a lot of video editing... that's the main reason I still use one and haven't upgraded to an i7 or anything yet. For surfing the web with a lot of tabs and stuff open, RAM makes a bigger difference than processing power. An FX 8350 would do fine, an i3 or i5 would probably be more responsive. If you really have that many tabs open and do loads of surfing at once, make sure you have an SSD to store web cache data and plenty of RAM for all the tabs.

Sadly I do have that many tabs open, scattered mind...

I do have an SSD, Is that something i need to do to get it to store web cache data or should it be doing it already?

Also what board do you use with your FX-8350? and would you recommend it or a different board?

Thanks

 

[Kitt Sue]

The FX-8350 would be a great option if you did a lot of video editing... that's the main reason I still use one and haven't upgraded to an i7 or anything yet. For surfing the web with a lot of tabs and stuff open, RAM makes a bigger difference than processing power. An FX 8350 would do fine, an i3 or i5 would probably be more responsive. If you really have that many tabs open and do loads of surfing at once, make sure you have an SSD to store web cache data and plenty of RAM for all the tabs.

Sadly I do have that many tabs open, scattered mind...

I do have an SSD, Is that something i need to do to get it to store web cache data or should it be doing it already?

Also what board do you use with your FX-8350? and would you recommend it or a different board?

Thanks

Data should automatically be cached on whatever drive the OS is installed on.

I use a Gigabyte 990FX-UD7... I'm not really picky when it comes to motherboards. I originally got a Phenom X6 1100T for $50 from a friend and the UD7 was on sale for $100 so I got them both. I have no complaints, it's probably not the best though. <shrug>

 

[Antic177]

If you are going to get a new motherboard anyways, go Intel. If you already had an AM3+ board I would say the 8350 is a great upgrade, but if you need a board and CPU then either get an i5-4460 + H81 board (ensure from retailer that their H81 boards have updated BIOS for haswell refresh) or i3-4xxx + H97 board, both would run you around the same as an FX-8320/8350 + decent 970 board... (you'll want either a 970 UD3P, 970 Performance or 970 Gaming if you want to overclock, otherwise looking at 990FX boards).

If you're looking at used on ebay, might be worth looking for i5-2500K too, it's really fast for gaming.

But if you don't game a lot or you literally only play stuff like mobas, garry's mod, CS:GO etc. then hell it doesn't really matter what CPU you get. However an Intel CPU is typically found to be more responsive for web-based content... they'll both probably be good enough though. The FX-8 would obviously be much better than the i3 for video editing, but for most other things you mentioned an i3 or i5 would be better... possibly more expensive.

As I needed to upgrade the board anyway I've taken your advise and will just switched over to intel.

I am almost decided on the (£50) Intel g3258 (and OC it) and (£65) MSI z97 PC MATE board.

At least then I can upgrade to a better intel i cpu later on when they become a bit cheaper.

Anyone have any better suggestions for cpu or board or am i now on the right course?