Upgrading my CPU to fix bottleneck

[nichharp]

Hi there,

 

OK, so I'm not great with replacing CPUs (but would love to learn). I've done a few GPUs but never a CPU. 

 

I've noticed that a lot of the time I'm surfing the web that my CPU suddenly jumps to 100% and when I play games I'm not getting the results that other people with my GPU are getting (Overwatch, Bioshock Infinite, LoL, CSGO) so I'm thinking that this CPU has to go.

 

So currently I have a MSI 2AE0 motherboard (see attached picture) and an AMD A8 5500. I had some really low end GPU so I bought a GTX 950 and I think it's being bottlenecked by my CPU. So I'm want to get the full performance out of my setup within my budget (£125/$150 US/ $204 CAD ish)

 

I'd preferably not want to change my motherboard because I'd also have to pay for a new OS on top of the motherboard and CPU (or so I've heard). But if you think it's for the best I'll happily hear an argument for it.

 

Current Specs:
-A8-5500 APU With Radeon(TM) HD Graphics Quad-Core (3.2GHz) [http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A8-5500+APU&id=41] 
-ASUS GTX950-OC-2GD5 [http://www.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+950/review]
-MSI 2AE0 (I couldn't find any details of this board except this one "Laptop" Driver site so i attached the CPU-Z reading) [http://www.findlaptopdriver.com/specs-2ae0-msi/]
-8GB RAM 
-EVGA 100-W1-0500-KR - 500W 80 Plus Power Supply 
-SanDisk SSD PLUS 480 GB
-Seagate 2TB HDD

 

I think my options of CPU are:
-Trinity Dual-Core A4-5300 (3.4GHz) [http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A4-5300+APU&id=1447]
-Trinity Dual-Core A6-5400K (3.6GHz) [http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A6-5400K+APU&id=1494]
-Trinity A8-5600K, (3.6GHz) [http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A8-5600K+APU&id=1449]
-Trinity A10-5800K (3.8GHz) [http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A10-5800K+APU&id=1446]
-A10-5700 Quad-Core (3.4GHz) [http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A10-5700+APU&id=12]
[http://www.findlaptopdriver.com/specs-2ae0-msi/] 

 

I know the specs are better than my current CPU but:
A) Will these stop my bottleneck and be able to keep up with the GPU? 
B) Would it be better to just buy a motherboard+CPU? (bearing in mind of my budget) 

So if the second option was the better what combinations of board and CPU do you suggest.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

nichharp

[HoiDaniel]

Any passmark score under 5000 will bottleneck any future upgrade after this GPU (speaking out of experience). The GTX 950 is relatively speaking not a powerful graphics card so any upgrade to the APU's will remove the bottleneck. However; you're paying for the APU side of the CPU which makes it overpriced and the scores are NOT great. I'd recommend upgrading to an older intel-based MB + Cheap CPU. You can try to look for a cheap second-hand i3 4th gen. (with hyperthreading) + cheap motherboard, or maybe consider saving up to 250 dollars so you can buy a new Kaby Lake CPU + MB.

 

TL;DR
AMD will be bottlenecked again within 1 year of won't remove the bottleneck at all. You should save up some more so you can make the switch to a new, future-proof intel-based system.

[NelizMastr]

It kinda sucks that there are so few Athlons on the trinity platform. They trade the lack of a GPU for better overclockability and sometimes higher clockspeeds. 

 

To me, it looks like the A10-5700 is your best bet, although I'm not sure whether your CPU is really what's holding you back. The GTX950 isn't very powerful either, so don't expect hundreds of FPS on Overwatch.

 

I would personally recommend beyond this HP system (MSI shipped this mobo to HP/Compaq) and building something more modern in the foreseeable future.

 

[oskarha]

I used to have an AMD A10 6800k overclocked to 4.8GHz (essentialy the fastest cpu on the FM2+ platform and it was bottlenecking my GTX 660 like a champ.

How badly bottlenecked you might ask, well the GTX 660 paired with an i5 4690k was siginicantly faster than a GTX 970 paired with the A10 6800k 

The FM2 platform does not belong in a gaming pc with a GTX 950, I highly reccomend you to get a new CPU+Mobo combo asap.

If you can, checking the used market in your area might be worth it. Older platforms like LGA 1366 might still be worth it if you can get a cpu+mobo combo for a good price

[NelizMastr]

1 minute ago, oskarha said:

I used to have an AMD A10 6800k overclocked to 4.8GHz (essentialy the fastest cpu on the FM2+ platform and it was bottlenecking my GTX 660 like a champ.

How badly bottlenecked you might ask, well the GTX 660 paired with an i5 4690k was siginicantly faster than a GTX 970 paired with the A10 6800k 

The FM2 platform does not belong in a gaming pc with a GTX 950, I highly reccomend you to get a new CPU+Mobo combo asap.

If you can, checking the used market in your area might be worth it. Older platforms like LGA 1366 might still be worth it if you can get a cpu+mobo combo for a good price

1366/X58 is decent performance wise, but the boards are pretty darn expensive. Going newer is probably safer. Haswell i3 with a cheap B85 or H97 would be pretty decent for now for the games listed above. Or heck, a P67/Z77 setup with a 2500K or 3570K would also be very speedy.

[oskarha]

Just now, NelizMastr said:

1366/X58 is decent performance wise, but the boards are pretty darn expensive. Going newer is probably safer. Haswell i3 with a cheap B85 or H97 would be pretty decent for now for the games listed above. Or heck, a P67/Z77 setup with a 2500K or 3570K would also be very speedy.

LGA 1155 with an i5 is definetly also worth considering, it would be alot better than a newer i3. Yes, LGA 1366 boards are usually expencive, but I have seen boards go for low prices, especially cpu+mobo combos. I was able to pick up an i7 920, ASUS P6T Deluxe and a Cooler Master cooler for 400kr (50usd), sometimes you can get lucky

[NelizMastr]

Just now, oskarha said:

LGA 1155 with an i5 is definetly also worth considering, it would be alot better than a newer i3. Yes, LGA 1366 boards are usually expencive, but I have seen boards go for low prices, especially cpu+mobo combos. I was able to pick up an i7 920, ASUS P6T Deluxe and a Cooler Master cooler for 400kr (50usd), sometimes you can get lucky

Sweet. Yeah, I got a complete PC for 150eur with an i7-920, 12GB RAM, X58-USB3 mobo in a gorgeous Gigabyte 3D Aurora case. That damn i7 did 4GHz no sweat. It wiped the floor with a 2600K at that speed.

[oskarha]

Just now, NelizMastr said:

Sweet. Yeah, I got a complete PC for 150eur with an i7-920, 12GB RAM, X58-USB3 mobo in a gorgeous Gigabyte 3D Aurora case. That damn i7 did 4GHz no sweat. It wiped the floor with a 2600K at that speed.

My i7 920 does 4.2GHz no problem, but at somewhat sketchy temps, even with that massive coolermaster v8. Currently i have the board in my server, but I have swapped the i7 for a Xeon E5640 running at 4.0GHz for better thermals and ECC support

[SLAYR]

The cheapest upgrade to get rid of the bottleneck would be this.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/N8ZtVn

 

Any other of the richland/trinity apus aren't worth it, 

 

If you can afford a bit more a lga 1150 i3 is worth it over any of the athlons.

 

Changing the motherboard only effects windows 10, and it is really easy to transfer the activation to another board.

[nichharp]

NelizMatr, Currently im getting about 60 FPS on really toned down settings with about 600MB of VRAM used. If i bump up the settings anymore then the FPS goes sub 60 and it's pretty uncomfortable to play like that. I've seen people online using the 950 and showing their gameplay. The settings theyre using are far superior than mine.

 

Ok, so a lot of you are saying that a full CPU+MB is needed. I'd probably buy these from second hand sites unless i find a good deal elsewhere.

 

Because the case im using currently probably won't live through another change i'd probably just use the parts and put it in a new case. So I'd pretty much be building from scratch minus the GPU, PSU and Hard Drives.

 

SLAYR suggested this http://pcpartpicker.com/list/N8ZtVn

Can i have some other opinions about this? 

 

 

 

[NelizMastr]

15 minutes ago, nichharp said:

NelizMatr, Currently im getting about 60 FPS on really toned down settings with about 600MB of VRAM used. If i bump up the settings anymore then the FPS goes sub 60 and it's pretty uncomfortable to play like that. I've seen people online using the 950 and showing their gameplay. The settings theyre using are far superior than mine.

 

Ok, so a lot of you are saying that a full CPU+MB is needed. I'd probably buy these from second hand sites unless i find a good deal elsewhere.

 

Because the case im using currently probably won't live through another change i'd probably just use the parts and put it in a new case. So I'd pretty much be building from scratch minus the GPU, PSU and Hard Drives.

 

SLAYR suggested this http://pcpartpicker.com/list/N8ZtVn

Can i have some other opinions about this? 

 

 

 

I'd advise against it. There is NO upgrade path whatsoever on any AMD plaform but AM4, which isn't available yet in retail.

 

Going with an i3 with a high clock speed on a modern intel platform like 1150 or 1151 (depending on budget, since 1151 will require DDR4) is desirable over any AMD offering currently if budget allows it. 

[SLAYR]

8 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

I'd advise against it. There is NO upgrade path whatsoever on any AMD plaform but AM4, which isn't available yet in retail.

 

Going with an i3 with a high clock speed on a modern intel platform like 1150 or 1151 (depending on budget, since 1151 will require DDR4) is desirable over any AMD offering currently if budget allows it. 

The amd athlons on fm2+ are quite decent, even if you put a gtx 1060, or 480 with them they will do quite well, with skylake the OP would also have to consider new ram, if anything the prices on the fx series have dropped considerably, and microcenterin the US is bundling the fx 8320 with a motherboard for under $100USD a lot better hen any i3.

 

If the OP has a $150+USD budget for parts then intel is the better choice.

[nichharp]

So what sort of clock speed should i be looking for on the i3 or otherwise? I don't mind waiting to save up a little more for a few parts (since this is going to be expensive for me regardless)

I'm new to learning about MB and CPUs so the more detail the better please.

[nichharp]

OK. Let's say budget wasn't an issue. What do you think would be the best combination of MB and CPU? To get the most out of my system and GPU?