Is a CPU upgrade worth it?

[Shoob]

Hello,

I'm running an old AM2+ Mobo with Phenom II x4 965 and DDR2 RAM and I'm wondering if it is worth it to buy an AM3+ motherboard, keep my old phenom and just buy FX-8350/8320 if I feel my CPU is weak? Or should I just buy a H97 board with i5 4440/4460? I'm looking mostly for a futureproof system that I won't upgrade in the next 2-3 years. The video card I'm using is a GTX 650 Ti Boost.

Thanks in advance.   

[harrynowl]

I'd just go with B85 motherboard + i5 4440.

 

It will do the job for the foreseeable future.

[SAV1OUR]

also you will need to upgrade to ddr3 ram 

[SirRoderick]

Get some DDR3, a 8320 or i5 4440 would both keep you going for a good time.

[Shoob]

Yeah I know that I need DDR3. I forgot to mention that I use to use my PC mostly for gaming on 1080p resolution. Thanks for the help guys.

I'm going to keep only my video card and hard drive from my current system.

[Akolyte]

Yeah I know that I need DDR3. I forgot to mention that I use to use my PC mostly for gaming on 1080p resolution. Thanks for the help guys.

I'm going to keep only my video card and hard drive from my current system.

in my opinion upgrading to an 8320/8350 isn't really worth it anymore.  I recommend getting an Intel i5 4440 a B85 motherboard will do but H87 has a little more features and is consumer level.  You'll also need ddr3 memory, I recommend memory at 1600mhz with a voltage of 1.5

[Shoob]

Asrock H97 Pro4 is just a little more expensive than a B85 board in my country. What do you think about it, because I can't find any reviews?

[Joshua Ondangan]

I don't know the prices in your place.

 

I suggest something like this

 

intel i3 4th gen with a h87 or b85 or h97 motherboard of your liking. wiht 2x4gb 1600mhz cl9 ram @ 1.5v or lower.

or i5 if you got the cash.

 

or

 

get the 2x4gb ram 1600mhz cl9 1.5v or lower ram + any am3+ motherboard with either a fx6300 or fx8320.

 

whichever is cheaper for you grab it. nothing is wrong going for what's on your budget.prices might be different for you.

[harrynowl]

Asrock H97 Pro4 is just a little more expensive than a B85 board in my country. What do you think about it, because I can't find any reviews?

Yea get that then

 

H97 offers most of the features as Z87/97 without the overclocking.

[Shoob]

Thanks for the advice. I think i'm going with i5 + H97 board. The other components I'm going to buy are: 2X4G DDR3 1600Mhz ADATA XPG CL9 1.5V, 550W Fortron Rider Silver and Fractal Design Define R4. I guess they are all ok. In the near future I'm just going to add a SSD and maybe replace the intel stock cooler if it is too loud with something like CM Hyper 212 Evo.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Yeah I know that I need DDR3. I forgot to mention that I use to use my PC mostly for gaming on 1080p resolution. Thanks for the help guys.

I'm going to keep only my video card and hard drive from my current system.

OP the weakest link by far in your system is still the GTX650ti, even for the old phenom x4...i would upgrade that first and see how this goes...chances are you would be pretty happy with that, mostly if you play single-player games a lot most games are not that CPU intensive...or modern games that use 4 threads or more (BF4 for example) you won't even get noticeably more FPS in 90% of the games going with a new CPU, unless you play some monster online MMO and stuff like that. What you need for gaming is a new graphics card.

 

I can't believe no one yet suggested that instead...my god!

Get a good CPU cooler (hyper 212) and overclock this chip you have and pair it with say an r9 280x and you'll be surprised how well this can still run games!

...and DDR2 is fine for gaming, anything faster than 800mhz is useless:

BTW this is the improvement you are looking at AT STOCK SPEED:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=370&cmp[]=2017

...and the phenom can be overclocked freely, not the core i5...so in reality the performance difference is even less than that if you consider overclocking.

[Shoob]

I'm not playing a lot of GPU heavy games and my 650 Ti Boost is doing alright in my opinion. The problem is that i'm seeing drops in fps in games like Tera and WoW. I'm playing mostly MMOs, CS:GO, LoL, Smite, etc... and some singleplayer games from time to time like Far Cry 3 and Skyrim. I might upgrade my GPU when the bigger Maxwell cards come out.

[i_build_nanosuits]

I'm not playing a lot of GPU heavy games and my 650 Ti Boost is doing alright in my opinion. The problem is that i'm seeing drops in fps in games like Tera and WoW. I'm playing mostly MMOs, CS:GO, LoL, Smite, etc... and some singleplayer games from time to time like Far Cry 3 and Skyrim. I might upgrade my GPU when the bigger Maxwell cards come out.

alright then the intel CPU will be worth it in that situation, have fun!

[Shoob]

Thanks for the quick response.

[i_build_nanosuits]

no problem, i just manted to make sure you made a good decision, if you would have been like i said a modern games players (GPU intensive games) and mostly playing single-player compaigns then a new GPU would have made more sence, but for your need upgrading the CPU first does makes a lot of sence.

[Faa]

Also, it's either the i3 or the 4670k. Those locked i5's don't make much sense because the 2 extra cores don't make the difference in the games you listed.

[i_build_nanosuits]

yeah but someday soon it can be assumed that games (even MMO's and other PC exclusive) will quit being single-threaded and will make good use of a good quad-core CPU...for this reason i would go i5, theOP mentionned not wanting another CPU upgrade for the next 2-3 years in his original post...going with an i3 would be playing with fire...