Best CPU upgrade for this PC

[Matt115]

What would be the best upgrade for the cpu (AMD FX 8300) and mobo to match my gtx 970 for gaming? Budget of around $300 and intel or amd is fine. I dont want overkill just a balance without a bottleneck

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qJBwr7

[KianFitz]

With an AM3+ socket I'm not sure how much better you're going to get

[Matt115]

I said best cpu and mobo im willing to upgrade both and ram possibly

[Thermosman]

3 minutes ago, Matt115 said:

What would be the best upgrade for the cpu (AMD FX 8300) and mobo to match my gtx 970 for gaming? Budget of around $300 and intel or amd is fine. I dont want overkill just a balance without a bottleneck

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qJBwr7

A 4770k and Mobo, get them off eBay, use the same memory

[KianFitz]

Apologies, I kinda read the title and clicked a PC part picker link

[TheDutchMC04]

Go for a Intel Core i5-8400 (K), the non-K is €189,- at Alternate.nl

[Princess Luna]

Any thing is better than the FX line up.

 

GTX 970 is going to remain as the GPU of choice? dirty cheap Pentium G4560 on a dirty cheap h110 chipset board would already be enough pairing but you can go Ryzen 5 1400 on a b350 if you want to remain on AMD side of things while having decent performance.

[asus killer]

ryzen 3 1200, b350 motherboard and overclock. 8gb ddr4

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, valdyrgramr said:

*Throws 170u at*  Oh really?

I am sorry did not understand the reference.

 

1 minute ago, valdyrgramr said:

Motherboard: ASRock - A320M-DGS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

This is a A320 chipset motherboard, all of them should be avoided for their absurdly terrible components quality and complete lack of CPU and RAM overclocking support as those things greatly matter to extract the best Ryzen has to offer, considering Infinity Fabric limitations along side frequency difference it is safe to say the Ryzen 5 1400 fully overclocked with RAM at 2933mhz will outperform the Ryzen 5 1600 fully stock on 2133mhz RAM rendering the pairing pointless.

[Princess Luna]

Just now, valdyrgramr said:

. 

Oh my apologies I have always only owned Intel processors so I wouldn't know, my brother is the one more towards AMD, either ways it is nice to balance things as much as we can even if OP's expectations aren't too high.

[Guest]

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nCDfjc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nCDfjc/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($145.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $294.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-21 07:48 EST-0500

(AMD upgrade)

 

If your only gaming, then a ryzen 5 1400 with a B350 motherboard and 8GB of RAM will do the job. You could also get a second hand motherboard and CPU so you dont have to upgrade the RAM, such as a i7-4790 and a H97 motherboard (could even upgrade to an i7-4790 (K) and a "Z" 97 motherboard, and overclock to get a bit more performance out of your system).

[Gaurav S Rao]

37 minutes ago, Matt115 said:

What would be the best upgrade for the cpu (AMD FX 8300) and mobo to match my gtx 970 for gaming? Budget of around $300 and intel or amd is fine. I dont want overkill just a balance without a bottleneck

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qJBwr7

For new components: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7FYbD8 Maybe this,tho its 30$ extra.If you really mind about the 30$,get a R5 1400 or a R3 1200 (tho R5 1400 is better for your budget).Tho for 4$ more with a R3 1200 you have 16 GB Ram,but i'd still recommend a R5 1400 or higher.In used hardware section,get a 4790K from CeX or eBay,get a Used Z87/Z97,and you still have budget for another 8 GB Ram,and you can use the old ram totaling to 16 GB.

[Matt115]

Im probably going to do the ryzen r5 1400 with the b350 mobo and corsair ram combo. Seems best for my budget thanks guys. Feel free to keep putting input in.

[asus killer]

2 minutes ago, Matt115 said:

Im probably going to do the ryzen r5 1400 with the b350 mobo and corsair ram combo. Seems best for my budget thanks guys. Feel free to keep putting input in.

the ryzen 3 1200 overclocked would be a good pair with that gpu. Of course the better you get, but if you're going for an Ryzen 5 get the 1600, worth the difference and considered by all the best price performance rzyen

[Matt115]

6 minutes ago, asus killer said:

the ryzen 3 1200 overclocked would be a good pair with that gpu. Of course the better you get, but if you're going for an Ryzen 5 get the 1600, worth the difference and considered by all the best price performance rzyen

Good idea now im doing that. Should i get the motherboard? Im not too educated on mobos i just know it has to be am4 thanks

[Matt115]

Also i have a hyper 212 evo should i upgrade to a water cooler maybe?

[asus killer]

1 minute ago, Matt115 said:

Good idea now im doing that. Should i get the motherboard? Im not too educated on mobos i just know it has to be am4 thanks

yes, you need a new motherboard, AM4. The B350 and some ram and you're good to go.

[Sfekke]

38 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

They might as well just get a used 4770 and an h97.  That would be around 300 and they wouldn't have to upgrade the RAM.

4790k's are also pretty darn good options, they are becoming cheaper on eBay & similar.

Just get a cooler that at least half decent.

You can keep the DDR3 and find a LGA1550 motherboard (Asrock to my experience has been really solid, ASUS actually failed me twice when overclocking)

 

As for now parts, Ryzen with B350 all the way.

A Ryzen 5 will do just fine (pick whatever has better benchmarks for games you play)

I haven't had the chance to try Ryzen for long myself, but what I've tried and especially heard is amazing. I'm waiting for the next revision to upgrade my workstation to AMD if they still offer the same benefits!

[Matt115]

OK so ive decided to do ryzen r5 1600, asus b350 prime mobo, corsair vengeance 2x4 3000mz, and might get a masterbox 5 lite rgb if i have the money. Does this look good with the original parts that are in the list at the top?

[GoldenLag]

13 minutes ago, Matt115 said:

OK so ive decided to do ryzen r5 1600, asus b350 prime mobo, corsair vengeance 2x4 3000mz, and might get a masterbox 5 lite rgb if i have the money. Does this look good with the original parts that are in the list at the top?

Just joined this thread. Looks pretty good for pairing with the 970. Upgrading to ddr4 is probably going to make it easier to upgrade next time aswell.

[X99Guy]

Personally I'd recommend an X99/5820k setup, get some cheaper DDR4 memory, and enjoy a few more years.

[X99Guy]

The Ryzen choice was a good one as well!