Upgrade am3 socket... 955 to 1100t

[Computersarethebest]

I love you guys. That makes complete sense.

 

soooooooo now let’s talk fx upgrades. Who’s saying 8350, now we’re cooking 

[WhitetailAni]

Just now, Computersarethebest said:

Who’s saying 8350, now we’re cooking 

Not me.

Wait until you can upgrade to Ryzen, maybe even Zen 4 with DDR5 support.

[Computersarethebest]

8 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

Your CPU is an AM3 chip, so that is what CPU-Z would report.

But your motherboard is supposedly AM3+, meaning you can put in AM3 or AM3+ chips.

What motherboard model do you have?

My mobo is a m5a97 rev 1.02

[Computersarethebest]

Can someone explain how a 8350 is $600+ on Amazon and a 8300 is $200.

 

what am I missing 

[WhitetailAni]

1 minute ago, Computersarethebest said:

Can someone explain how a 8350 is $600+ on Amazon and a 8300 is $200.

 

what am I missing 

They're no longer in production.

Don't get an 8350.

It's mostly outperformed by a 3770K, and completely by a 4790K.

[Computersarethebest]

Are those am3+ chips?

[Computersarethebest]

Those are intel I don’t think I can get them 

[WhitetailAni]

Just now, Computersarethebest said:

Are those am3+ chips?

No - they're LGA1155 and LGA1150 chips.

The AM3/AM3+ is a dead and not very good platform. Save up until you can get a full platform upgrade to AM4 or the upcoming AM5.

[Computersarethebest]

I know I have a bunch of random questions but I figured I’d ask everything in here instead of constantly making new threads and spamming this forum.

 

cpu coolers what does everyone suggest and how do I know how big I can go? Do I simply measure my pc case? I would like to stay with a air cooled one no water cooling. 

[mariushm]

Ok.

Here's the thing.

 

4K videos MAY or MAY NOT require a fast processor.  It depends on the format of the video and the capabilities of the video card.

 

Newer AMD video cards (like RX 460 or newer) support 4K hardware decoding of H264 content (bluray), so this will be played very well with low CPU usage.  However, they have only PARTIAL hardware decoding of VP9 codec, which is used by Youtube for 4K content. 

I'm not sure but I believe the latest AMD video cards (RX 5500 and newer) have full VP9 decoder, so the video card can decode the video with CPU having very little to do.

 

On nVidia, I'm not up to date, but I believe anything equal or higher than GT 1030 should decode both 4K h264 and VP9 codec. GT 1030 is really a poor choice because it's a very cut down video card, which has the hardware encoder disabled. If you'll want to stream or edit videos and render them with the help of video card, not having a  hardware encoder would suck. 

 

It's really not worth upgrading the CPU from a quad core to a hex core... the performance increase is very small for the money you spend.

 

 

 

[Computersarethebest]

Thank you for your post, I would be going from a phenom x 2 3.2ghz quad core to fx8350 8 core 4.0ghz it’s seems like it would be a lot. But again I’m not really sure. One is available on eBay Canada for $120.

 

with video it would be downloading 4K video with atoms that I would be watching, I guess maybe YouTube but mostly 90% downloaded videos. 
 

I would like to get the 8350 and the 1050 ti. I believe that combo would be a bulldozer and I would be maxing out my am3+ socket with “the best” processor it can handle. 
 

 

this computer is simply a media pc, music and movies for my home theater.

[WhitetailAni]

Do NOT spend any money on CPU upgrades.

Save your money until you can get an upgrade to AM4 or maybe AM5 in late 2021/2022.

[Computersarethebest]

If I spend 150 on a processor and 150 on video card that’s 300 total. Which will do everything I want it to.

 

if I upgrade everything I’ll be spending $1000 and have to find someone to use my case and build my pc for me to do the exact same thing.

 

I won’t see any benefits over a 1050 ti and a rx8350 other than losing more money on a completely new build 

[WhitetailAni]

The FX-8350 sucks compared to a 3770K, plus it's missing instruction sets that will be necessary for some things in the future.

Just get a 1050 Ti.

[Computersarethebest]

I was thinking about trying just a 1050 ti before maybe buying a processor

[WhitetailAni]

Just now, Computersarethebest said:

I was thinking about trying just a 1050 ti before maybe buying a processor

Make sure to quote people so they see your replies.

Just get a 1050 Ti.

Do not bother getting a processor upgrade.

[Computersarethebest]

10 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

Make sure to quote people so they see your replies.

Just get a 1050 Ti.

Do not bother getting a processor upgrade.

Sorry forgot about quoting 

[Pc6777]

your better off getting an old i7 that takes ddr3 and new motherboard than upgrading on that platform. or a cheap am4 board and a first gen ryzen cpu and 8 gigs of ddr4 ram. a 1050 ti on ebay will run you like 160-180(make sure not to get a fake, when I set seller location top usa only most of the fakes don't show up), but if you only want to watch videos and wont use it for gaming at all, get the gt 1030 gddr5. also what's your power supply model?

[Computersarethebest]

5 hours ago, Pc6777 said:

your better off getting an old i7 that takes ddr3 and new motherboard than upgrading on that platform. or a cheap am4 board and a first gen ryzen cpu and 8 gigs of ddr4 ram. a 1050 ti on ebay will run you like 160-180(make sure not to get a fake, when I set seller location top usa only most of the fakes don't show up), but if you only want to watch videos and wont use it for gaming at all, get the gt 1030 gddr5. also what's your power supply model?

I don’t know how to build PCs so I would have to pay someone to put it into my case also. The 1030 doesn’t have hdr that’s why I’m moving up to the 1050 ti. I’m not sure who makes my psu but it’s 430 watts. For the 1050 ti it’s recommended that you have at least 300 so I should be fine. 

[mariushm]

32 minutes ago, Computersarethebest said:

I don’t know how to build PCs so I would have to pay someone to put it into my case also. The 1030 doesn’t have hdr that’s why I’m moving up to the 1050 ti. I’m not sure who makes my psu but it’s 430 watts. For the 1050 ti it’s recommended that you have at least 300 so I should be fine. 

It's not the wattage of the power supply that matters, it's how much current (that number that ends in A, A for amps or Ampere) the power supply can provide on 12v. 

The processor and the video card are powered from 12v. 

 

You could have a power supply that says 430 watts on the label, but which can only give 100-150 watts on 12v  (150 watts / 12v = 12.5A), which is used to power both CPU and video card.  You could also have a gold efficiency 350 watts psu that produces all 350 watts on 12v (350w/12v =  29A) and uses dc-dc converters to produce 3.3v and 5v as needed, from the "12v budget" 

 

A GT 1030 consumes up to around 35-45 watts, while a GTX 1050ti consumes maybe 75-90 watts. A GTX 1060 goes up to around 100-125 watts. 

 

Your current processor is unlikely to consume more than 100 watts. 

Besides CPU, stuff that's powered from 5v is around maybe 10 watts for the motherboard, maybe 1-2 watts for each fan, around 5 watts for each mechanical drive. 

 

nVidia recommends minimum 300 watts for safety, because there's a high chance most power supplies advertised as 300 watts or higher can supply at least 150-200 watts or so on 12v, giving the video card around 75 watts and leaving the rest for a processor. 

 

You could have a system with a Ryzen 3000g which consumes around 40 watts or a Ryzen 1600 that hovers around 60-80 watts, and power it and a video card from a 180 watts laptop adapter or a 250 watts power supply, as long as it's actually capable of supplying ALL that power on 12v. 

 

It's too confusing for them to say "at least 90 watts" for the video card, up to you to figure out how much everything else in your system consumes from the 12v output of your power supply. So they just say "minimum 300 watts". 

 

 

 

 

[Computersarethebest]

2 hours ago, mariushm said:

It's not the wattage of the power supply that matters, it's how much current (that number that ends in A, A for amps or Ampere) the power supply can provide on 12v. 

The processor and the video card are powered from 12v. 

 

You could have a power supply that says 430 watts on the label, but which can only give 100-150 watts on 12v  (150 watts / 12v = 12.5A), which is used to power both CPU and video card.  You could also have a gold efficiency 350 watts psu that produces all 350 watts on 12v (350w/12v =  29A) and uses dc-dc converters to produce 3.3v and 5v as needed, from the "12v budget" 

 

A GT 1030 consumes up to around 35-45 watts, while a GTX 1050ti consumes maybe 75-90 watts. A GTX 1060 goes up to around 100-125 watts. 

 

Your current processor is unlikely to consume more than 100 watts. 

Besides CPU, stuff that's powered from 5v is around maybe 10 watts for the motherboard, maybe 1-2 watts for each fan, around 5 watts for each mechanical drive. 

 

nVidia recommends minimum 300 watts for safety, because there's a high chance most power supplies advertised as 300 watts or higher can supply at least 150-200 watts or so on 12v, giving the video card around 75 watts and leaving the rest for a processor. 

 

You could have a system with a Ryzen 3000g which consumes around 40 watts or a Ryzen 1600 that hovers around 60-80 watts, and power it and a video card from a 180 watts laptop adapter or a 250 watts power supply, as long as it's actually capable of supplying ALL that power on 12v. 

 

It's too confusing for them to say "at least 90 watts" for the video card, up to you to figure out how much everything else in your system consumes from the 12v output of your power supply. So they just say "minimum 300 watts". 

 

 

 

 

I should hopefully still be within a good range for power and also I won’t ever really be running my cpu and gpu at 100%

[Computersarethebest]

What do you guys think of this bad boy, I think I have to but a downward firing fan to keep my vrms form getting hot. 

[Ryan Leech]

AM3 still has a lot of life left in it. I have multiple AM3 boards come across my bench everyday which go on to serve clients for many more years to come. Sure the Phenom II quad cores are still fast enough for daily usage and older games but if you want to get a few more years out of your board you'll want an entry-level six core. The X6 1100T isn't a great value proposition these days unless you're an overclocker, instead the X6 1055T makes much more sense for only $50 especially if you give it a mild overclock. If you pair it with 16GB of any speed memory (given the Phenom II's poor IMC) and an SSD you'll be just fine until you go to play the newest AAA titles.

 

On the other hand your M5A97 supports FX (as others have said) which would allow you to gain SSE4 instructions for newer games. The FX-6300 six core comes in at less than $50 on ebay and would give you much better overclocking headroom. On the higher end, FX-8320s overclock to 4.3-4.5GHz and can be had for $90ish on ebay which is about as much as you'd want to spend. I spent the last two years running a variety of FX CPUs from the 4100 to the 9590 in my daily rig and don't have many complaints aside from the heat output. My FX-8320 @4.9GHz almost matches the 4770K in R15.

[Middcore]

Just don't put any money into an AM3/AM3+ system. It's too old to be relevant for current applications, but not old enough yet to be a "PC gaming in (xxxx year) retro time capsule build" platform. Any CPU you could get is either literally obsolete because it lacks modern instruction sets, or was a piece of junk not worth buying even when it was new. 

 

If what's holding you back is not knowing how to build a PC: Learn. There are literally hundreds of tutorial articles and videos you can watch. Once you learn you'll have the satisfaction that comes with developing a new skill and doing something for yourself and you'll be equipped to make upgrades in the future as your needs evolve. Don't throw money away and settle for less just because you're intimidated. 

[Computersarethebest]

32 minutes ago, Ryan Leech said:

AM3 still has a lot of life left in it. I have multiple AM3 boards come across my bench everyday which go on to serve clients for many more years to come. Sure the Phenom II quad cores are still fast enough for daily usage and older games but if you want to get a few more years out of your board you'll want an entry-level six core. The X6 1100T isn't a great value proposition these days unless you're an overclocker, instead the X6 1055T makes much more sense for only $50 especially if you give it a mild overclock. If you pair it with 16GB of any speed memory (given the Phenom II's poor IMC) and an SSD you'll be just fine until you go to play the newest AAA titles.

 

On the other hand your M5A97 supports FX (as others have said) which would allow you to gain SSE4 instructions for newer games. The FX-6300 six core comes in at less than $50 on ebay and would give you much better overclocking headroom. On the higher end, FX-8320s overclock to 4.3-4.5GHz and can be had for $90ish on ebay which is about as much as you'd want to spend. I spent the last two years running a variety of FX CPUs from the 4100 to the 9590 in my daily rig and don't have many complaints aside from the heat output. My FX-8320 @4.9GHz almost matches the 4770K in R15.

I’m picking up a fx 8350 tomorrow for $100. Maxing out my mobo cpu spec, pair that with my 16gig ddr3 ram max mobo speed of 1866 and my new 1tb ssd. You wouldn’t believe how fast my pc is.