I have an AMD FX-8350, is it worth upgrading to an Intel i5?

[ScottP]

I've had an AMD FX-8350 for a few years and have been thinking of upgrading because I'm looking at a gtx 1070 (currently have 760), would it be worth buying a new processor and motherboard if I go with an i5?  I'd like to spend around $350 - 400 on the combo of processor and mobo (or about $750 if you include the 1070), but only if it's worth upgrading both at that cost.  What do you think?  Also any specific intel cpu recommendations?  Thanks.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Its probably 10-30% better depending on game. If your going for i5 get a 6400 or 6600k, depending on if you want to overclock.

[Imakuni]

Honestly... no, it's not worth upgrading. Not right now, anyway. Sure, if you were making a new build, I would never advise an FX.

 

But, Zen and Kaby are just around the corner. If you are going to upgrade, you might as well just hold off a bit longer and jump straight into the newest tech. While the 8350 isn't a very good processor, it's still passable enough for you to live with it for a while. I lived with a 2.4ghz 3 core APU + Gtx 970 for almost a year while waiting for Skylake to launch, and I don't regret it one bit.

 

Get your 1070 and work on selling the 760. Give it sometime for the next wave of CPUs to come out and then do the upgrade.

[lonleh kitty]

ya get rid of that 760 for starters and then just go for skylake because even if the new kaby lake cpus come out they'll be more expensive and I think we'll see a performance increase  but not by much so if you want a good overclocking bundle i5 6600K+asus Z170a ~400 dollars and around 450 with a decent cooler

or if you dont want over clocking a 6500 and a asus board is a good starting point

PS I listed asus bords on both suggestions because I like their boards.. alot..

[SLAYR]

34 minutes ago, ScottP said:

I've had an AMD FX-8350 for a few years and have been thinking of upgrading because I'm looking at a gtx 1070 (currently have 760), would it be worth buying a new processor and motherboard if I go with an i5?  I'd like to spend around $350 - 400 on the combo of processor and mobo (or about $750 if you include the 1070), but only if it's worth upgrading both at that cost.  What do you think?  Also any specific intel cpu recommendations?  Thanks.

I wouldn't really the cpu I would recommend as an upgrade is an i7, as the 8350 is comperable to the i5 in performance.

[Stagea]

34 minutes ago, ScottP said:

I've had an AMD FX-8350 for a few years and have been thinking of upgrading because I'm looking at a gtx 1070 (currently have 760), would it be worth buying a new processor and motherboard if I go with an i5?  I'd like to spend around $350 - 400 on the combo of processor and mobo (or about $750 if you include the 1070), but only if it's worth upgrading both at that cost.  What do you think?  Also any specific intel cpu recommendations?  Thanks.

My suggestion is to go with the GPU first. If you find that your minimum frame rates are too low for your intended use, then that's when you should consider a CPU upgrade.

[spartaman64]

if its for gaming or some other single threaded task yes it would be a worthwhile upgrade

[Guest]

Nope. 

 

And it's why I haven't upgraded. I'd have to go i7 (and still not enough performance increase to justify the costs, for me).

 

So I am waiting for Zen, in the hopes of the 8 core haswell IPC for around the price of the 6600k. If Zen flops, I'll upgrade to next gen Intel.  

[arch_linuxos]

3 hours ago, ScottP said:

I've had an AMD FX-8350 for a few years and have been thinking of upgrading because I'm looking at a gtx 1070 (currently have 760), would it be worth buying a new processor and motherboard if I go with an i5?  I'd like to spend around $350 - 400 on the combo of processor and mobo (or about $750 if you include the 1070), but only if it's worth upgrading both at that cost.  What do you think?  Also any specific intel cpu recommendations?  Thanks.

Is it worth it? From value standpoint, no. If you're going to have to buy a new motherboard anyway, I'd go all out and get an i7. The i5 would be an improvement, but you can't really justify it for the cost (in my opinion). 

 

If you're set on the i5, 6600k is wonderful. You can get some cheaper than usual on ebay (new). 6500/6400 also work well, but you won't see as much improvement (and can't OC).

[gravesmeister]

I'm going to be upgrading to the i7 6700 and the GTX 1070. I've had the AMD FX8350 for almost 2 years now and I'm pretty disappointed in it. I can game pretty well at 1080p with an R9 290X but throw in OBS at 1080p60 and audacity and a webcam and all the sudden GTA 5 starts looking like shit. Hopefully the 6700 and 1070 will be the answer I'm looking for

[ScottP]

Thank you all, you've been a lot of help!! What I think I've decided is to get the 1070 right now for my current rig, and then when the new generation of processors come out, upgrade my mobo and cpu to an i7, (I planned on upgrading my mobo anyway and figured if I didn't switch to intel now I'd be stuck with AMD forever).

[TheSuspect]

Depends on with i5. A 4690k/6600/6600k will definately be an improvement. Things like a 4440 and around there don't really seem worth it.

[dwoo]

18 hours ago, Imakuni said:

Honestly... no, it's not worth upgrading. Not right now, anyway. Sure, if you were making a new build, I would never advise an FX.

 

But, Zen and Kaby are just around the corner. If you are going to upgrade, you might as well just hold off a bit longer and jump straight into the newest tech. While the 8350 isn't a very good processor, it's still passable enough for you to live with it for a while. I lived with a 2.4ghz 3 core APU + Gtx 970 for almost a year while waiting for Skylake to launch, and I don't regret it one bit.

 

Get your 1070 and work on selling the 760. Give it sometime for the next wave of CPUs to come out and then do the upgrade.

Any ideas when Zen and Kaby are coming?

 

I'm in a similar but worse position of an FX6300 and was going to go for i5 6500 next month, but now you've got me worried

[ScottP]

Just now, dwoo said:

Any ideas when Zen and Kaby are coming?

 

I'm in a similar but worse position of an FX6300 and was going to go for i5 6500 next month, but now you've got me worried

 

I looked into it, and everyone is saying "The second half of 2016" so it's looking close, but who knows how accurate that is.

[dwoo]

that is really close, maybe I'd end up skylake anyway, just be able to get them a bit cheaper as the newer chips come out

[Nena Trinity]

Wait for Zen!

[SLAYR]

15 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

Wait for Zen!

They are looking at probabbly q2 next year, and that is when they launch, they will be backordered for months after with all of the hype people have for it coming.

[Nena Trinity]

23 minutes ago, SLAYR said:

They are looking at probabbly q2 next year, and that is when they launch, they will be backordered for months after with all of the hype people have for it coming.

Yes but Intel CPUs prices may still drop because of Zen!

[Vortez]

Yes it is definitely worth it!

 

[dwoo]

thats me convinced