AMD Processor Upgrade and GPU advice

[AppleEnder]

I currently have a computer with a AMD A6-7400K processor with the generic integrated graphics and 8 gigs of RAM. Doing some research, I quickly came to the realization that my CPU would never be able to make the cut when it comes to gaming, so before I buy a GPU I would have to purchase a new processor and install it. Again, through research, I found that the AMD Athlon X4 860K uses the same socket (I think). 

Are my assumptions correct? Can I buy that processor, follow a guide to install it, and then buy a GPU and be on my merry way? Unfortunately, I do not have the money to invest into an Intel motherboard, so is that the best processor I can get with that socket? What is the absolute best graphics card that I would be able to run with that setup before it starts to bottleneck? The problem is, im worried about wasting a bunch of money, and then screwing up, and I cant find anything out there that clearly states: "Yes, you can buy that CPU and it will work with the socket you have available."

Basically, I want the best graphics/processor I can with the motherboard I have, and I can not, for the life of me, find a definitive answer. 

Edit: I have decided to seriously look into investing into another computer, as people have told me about how limiting upgrading my setup would be. I have a preliminary list, but now need advice on how to optimize it. http://pcpartpicker.com/list/mnGXvV

 

[Herman Mcpootis]

the x4 845 will be a similar performing and cheaper option than the 860k.  the most i'll pair the cpu up with an r9 380x.

[xDanielxOossiex]

What is your budget?

 

[AppleEnder]

For both CPU and GPU I think the max I am willing to spend is $400, but will take opinions on something more expensive into consideration. 

[AppleEnder]

I went to game debate, and they have a bottlenecking reduction feature. It recommended me a optetron 6068 to reduce the bottleneck I was seeing, but I dont think that has the same socket, does it?

 

[ShiftyFella]

A6-7400k is not that bad for gaming, if you play rocket league, lol or dota. You probably can do bf4 at 720p with low\medium setting and have above 30fps, ok that's pretty terrible but not bad for just 60$ apu. For upgrade I would get x4 845 with rx 480, if you have good psu but I would wait for AIB cards, as they're about week away from being released. If you don't want to upgrade cpu just get R9 380 or wait when RX470 is released, there will be some bottlenecking that way tho

 

 

 

 

[AppleEnder]

So if I am reading you right, you are saying go ahead and upgrade my CPU but wait until the 470 comes out in a week for the GPU?

[ShiftyFella]

Athlon cpu's don't have igpu, so you would need to get cpu and gpu at same time. I would get custom board design rx480 if your psu can handle it, otherwise wait for 470. Probably even with 470 you would need to upgrade your psu but all depends what you have in your system

[Morgan MLGman]

14 minutes ago, AppleEnder said:

So if I am reading you right, you are saying go ahead and upgrade my CPU but wait until the 470 comes out in a week for the GPU?

Yes, but don't get an athlon and RX 480, as it's way too powerful for the little Athlon to handle. 470 is the top thing I'd get.

[PCGuy_5960]

I would recommend upgrading your CPU... Even an i3 is better than an FX-6300...

[AppleEnder]

Okay, so to rehash, If I decide to stay with my already purchased AMD motherboard, I should purchase the AMD 845K CPU and RX 470 graphics card. If not, the best thing to do would be to buy a new motherboard and go for the i3-i7, plus a graphics card. Forgive my absolute ignorance, but I can also re-use my RAM (DDR3) if I decided to get a new motherboard right? Also, if i bought an i3, is there an upgrade path that would let me eventually buy and install an i7?

Basically, I am deciding on whether it is worth investing about 350 into this dead end AMD motherboard, or if it would be better for me to just reuse the HDD, RAM, etc. and buy a new motherboard/i5 for a bit more. It would definitely be more tempting if I could eventually upgrade an i5 to an i7.

[ShiftyFella]

For gaming i5 is more then enough. You can't reuse your ram unless you swing for an older Intel socket, as Skylake uses DDR4, so you would need to buy new ram too. Building new system with i3 6100 will set you back around 270 for CPU+Mobo+Ram alone. Personally, i would swing for i5 6500 instead of i3, if you can swallow 80$ price increase  but even i3 will be huge step up in performance

[AppleEnder]

So, I have been doing some shopping around and I have picked out some parts for an Intel PC.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/mnGXvV

 

Any recommendations would be great. i don't want to spend too much more. 

 

Also, do I need to purchase thermal paste for building this? Im not even sure what I would do with it.

[i_build_nanosuits]

On 2016-07-22 at 5:57 AM, AppleEnder said:

 "Yes, you can buy that CPU and it will work with the socket you have available."

 

Yes, you can buy that CPU and it will work with the socket you have available...but it will still limit just about any modern mid-range GPU in games.

[ShiftyFella]

18 hours ago, AppleEnder said:

So, I have been doing some shopping around and I have picked out some parts for an Intel PC.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/mnGXvV

 

Any recommendations would be great. i don't want to spend too much more. 

 

Also, do I need to purchase thermal paste for building this? Im not even sure what I would do with it.

Getting new 960 at this point is not really worth it, you better off just getting 4gb 480 or wait for 470, even something like 380x that you can find around $160-ish is better buy. Sapphire Nitro 4gb RX480 will be 219$ and will hit stores next week. Paying more for 6600k is just dimishing returns without good psu and cooling to take advantage of oc and you better investing those 40$ on better gpu then 960 with K processor. Ram speeds with DDR4 do matter and getting faster ram is better and you don't want to be rocking in single channel mode, so two sticks is a must imo. I assume other parts on you list is what you currently have, if not here is something for you to think about http://pcpartpicker.com/list/LdFtpb

 

btw, if you're reusing old cooler then yes, you should get new paste, otherwise just use what comes with cooler

[SLAYR]

15 minutes ago, ShiftyFella said:

Getting new 960 at this point is not really worth it, you better off just getting 4gb 480 or wait for 470, even something like 380x that you can find around $160-ish is better buy. Sapphire Nitro 4gb RX480 will be 219$ and will hit stores next week. Paying more for 6600k is just dimishing returns without good psu and cooling to take advantage of oc and you better investing those 40$ on better gpu then 960 with K processor. Ram speeds with DDR4 do matter and getting faster ram is better and you don't want to be rocking in single channel mode, so two sticks is a must imo. I assume other parts on you list is what you currently have, if not here is something for you to think about http://pcpartpicker.com/list/LdFtpb

 

btw, if you're reusing old cooler then yes, you should get new paste, otherwise just use what comes with cooler

So much wrong advice from the pcpartpicker list. Did you just link a list and not include most of the advice you just listed?

such as the 6600k, and gpu.

 

Ram speeds on intel cpus have only major improvement if you have a sandybridge cpu.

 

You can get 8gb of ddr4 for $30.

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/xvLypg/crucial-memory-ct8g4dfd8213

 

Unless you using the igpu, Dual channel ram has no benefit over single channel, and going for one stick is going to be cheaper, and gives room for upgrades.

 

There is nothing wrong with the 212 Evo it is a great cooler, and cheaper then that thermalright, and the 6500 has a stock cooler anyways.

 

An i5 6500 is poinless on a z170 board, dropping it down to a h110, or h170 is going to be cheaper.

 

So unless aestetics are important you can get a much better performing build for the same price.

[ShiftyFella]

43 minutes ago, SLAYR said:

So much wrong advice from the pcpartpicker list. Did you just link a list and not include most of the advice you just listed?

such as the 6600k, and gpu.

 

Ram speeds on intel cpus have only major improvement if you have a sandybridge cpu.

 

You can get 8gb of ddr4 for $30.

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/xvLypg/crucial-memory-ct8g4dfd8213

 

Unless you using the igpu, Dual channel ram has no benefit over single channel, and going for one stick is going to be cheaper, and gives room for upgrades.

 

There is nothing wrong with the 212 Evo it is a great cooler, and cheaper then that thermalright, and the 6500 has a stock cooler anyways.

 

An i5 6500 is poinless on a z170 board, dropping it down to a h110, or h170 is going to be cheaper.

 

So unless aestetics are important you can get a much better performing build for the same price.

Um, my point was not to overpay for 6600k and go with 6500, never implied he should get 6600k, as it's diminishing returns in reality, even something like i5 6400 is more then enough but price difference between 6400 and 6500 is negligible compered to 6600k, so 6500 is like a sweet spot.

 

If you look at the prices of h110 or b150 boards any decent one is around 70$, Mentioned gigabyte z170 is $100 from newegg after rebate, this makes it better value and better buy from my point of view, as z170 chipset has other benefits over h110 that have nothing to do with overclocking, like pch having more lanes, so this would give you more usb3 ports, more slots for hard drives, can use m2 drives, ability to use crossfire\sli, support for 4 ram sticks vs 2 on h110 plus support for higher speed memory. Having all that gives him real room for future upgrades not the cheap-o h110 board, if he really wants to improve his system in the future.

 

Have you looked on pcpartpicer site? Options to select 470 doesn't even exist yet and 4GB Nitro has no price or vendor listing, as it's not released yet which I mentioned, so I put other card that was mentioned that he can go and get right now without having to wait for other options, so I don't know what you're going on about.

 

Unlike good ol' ddr3 sandybridge days with ddr4 and skylake, memory scaling is much better on intel cpus and you do see tangible increase in memory bandwidth and paired with benefits of dual channel, you will get real world improvements in some of the day to day task like zipping\unzipping files using 7zip or Winrar and some others not to mention you might get some small benefits in gaming even using dGPU.

 

Never Said Evo was a bad cooler, it's just a personal preference as ts120 better performing heatsink

[AppleEnder]

Not too worried about RAM right now seeing as its a relatively cheap thing to buy later and fairly easy to install. I could always buy some later, so I would rather go with the one stick option.

 

I would like to run the 6600 exactly for the overclocking capabilities. That means that other parts of my build, such as the motherboard, are wrong as you say. Would you kindly recommend me the cheapest appropriate board and cpu fan/heatsink (not liquid cooled) for a build that I would overclock, or is there a better i5 for the price that does overclocking? If an overclocking build is not recommended, then I need a build that I can eventually overclock on. Remember, this is a PC that I want to start out around this point, but turn into as big of a beast as I can later on down the road.

 

Of course, with the above recommendations, I would need a recommend on the appropriate GPU. Should I go with the recommended Sapphire Nitro 4gb RX480 or is there one I can take advantage of better if I was to overclock (if recommended)

 

As far as other parts, I am fluid. I am trying to do this myself with the help of everyone who posts, but if somebody wants to create a build for me that stays around $7-900, with overclocking, including monitor, keyboard, and mouse, I am not beneath that.

[Charles_2007]

The real question are:

 

What are the games that you want to run?

What is the detail level?

What is the resolution?  what is the ma

 

You are in a difficult position.  The FM2+ platform is obsolete for gaming.

 

In my opinion, you have 3 choices:

 

Keep the FM2+ motherboard, purchase an A10 APU  and purchase a discrete graphic card like a R7 360.  The APU and the Discrete card will work together However, you NEED fast memory (2100 mhz )

https://community.amd.com/thread/182984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv57qDXpEPU

 

Keep the FM2+ motherboard, purchase an Athlon X4 and purchase a discrete graphic card

 

Upgrade CPU + Motherboard + memory + GPU by then you will have a new computer.

 

The Intel option is useless unless your monitor can display full HD or 4K.

 

 

 

 

[AppleEnder]

I feel like I made this abundantly clear.

I want something I can upgrade.

I know that they will be releasing better CPUs on a new socket, but I want a computer now.

I eventually want a badass monitor, with the best CPU I can get, and the best GPU for it. I want to be able to run VR, and everything at max settings.

But I cant afford all that now. I can afford to upgrade as I earn the money. This means that I need something that can hold the very best, but make do with moderate. I am tired of replacing my whole computer because I want something better, so I will replace it a part at a time.

[incarnate]

On 24/07/2016 at 9:37 PM, Charles_2007 said:

 

The Intel option is useless unless your monitor can display full HD or 4K.

 

 

 

 

You do realize that the higher you go I resolution, you notice less difference between cpus right? The gpu has to work harder, produces less frames, issuing less draw calls, making it easier on the cpu. It's the number of draw calls, not the number of pixels that matters for cpus. As the resolution goes up, the number of draw calls goes down, which means less work for the cpu.

 

1 hour ago, AppleEnder said:

I feel like I made this abundantly clear.

I want something I can upgrade.

I know that they will be releasing better CPUs on a new socket, but I want a computer now.

I eventually want a badass monitor, with the best CPU I can get, and the best GPU for it. I want to be able to run VR, and everything at max settings.

But I cant afford all that now. I can afford to upgrade as I earn the money. This means that I need something that can hold the very best, but make do with moderate. I am tired of replacing my whole computer because I want something better, so I will replace it a part at a time.

You are on the wrong platform if you want to upgrade, not replace your whole pc everytime you want something better.

 

But, your best bet to do it the way you want is to get the Athlon x4, spend the rest of your 400.00 on the best gpu you can get (gtx 1060 if your in the US). Then, as soon as you can, upgrade to an intel platform. You will bottleneck that graphics card hard until you do. But if you can't upgrade your cpu and motherboard/ram soon enough, then you'll find yourself in the exact same situation that you're in right now, having to upgrade your whole pc at one.

 

The other option would be to get an i5 and mobo and suffer low graphics performance until you can afford a mid range graphics card.

 

Upgrading piecemeal only really works when you have a good base to upgrade from. Otherwise it becomes a giant money sink trying to keep up when you started way behind. If you can get both upgrades done quickly enough then it'll work out, if not then you're much better off not upgrading that pc and saving up to build a system that isn't waiting for a upgrade right away

[AppleEnder]

So recommend me a good base to upgrade from. That is literally what Im asking for. 

 

I have decided to buy a bottom line graphics card for my old one and give it to my fiancee, who doesn't play high end games.

 

I am going to purchase a base for myself that I can upgrade piecemeal, as you said.

 

So, give me a good base.