Upgrading my CPU

[IIGraViteII]

Hi guys this is my first time posting on a forum so bear with me

 

I'm looking to upgrade my CPU because I experience frequent slowness and in games significant FPS drops.

 

I play Overwatch and LoL, and my usual browsing habits include having many chrome tabs open and sometimes many applications too. I use my desktop as my daily driver.

 

What I would like is to be able to have everything run smoothly whatever I do (unless it's something ridiculous like 20 applications running obviously). 

 

I am running very fresh Windows 10.

 

I usually see the CPU usage max out while playing Overwatch and it lags a lot, yet sometimes it feels really smooth. I usually don't see the RAM max out but it has happened a few times.

LoL has recently been severely laggy with only discord and a couple of tabs open.

 

I bought my computer in 2013. It has a Gigabyte ga-78lmt-usb3 motherboard, AMD 270x Hawk GPU (recently upgraded, got from a friend who got it in 2014 I think), 128GB SSD and 2TB Hard drive, 8GB RAM (looking to increase to 16) and an AMD FX-4300 Quad-Core Processor 3.8GHz. 

 

I'm willing to spend about 100 dollars for a significant upgrade, but I'm wary that my motherboard is only compatible with AMD processors, so I've been looking at the FX-8350, but I'm not sure if it is worth the upgrade? I use my desktop a lot so I would like it to work really well, yet since half the time it works quite smoothly I'm still unsure about paying the extra money.

 

 I'm also unsure if intel processors definitely don't work.

 

Also, I have dusted pretty much everywhere, including the heatsink. Not too sure about the thermal paste or anything though, but I don't think it's an issue?

[Guest]

8350 is your last choice for that low

[IIGraViteII]

Just now, deXxterlab97 said:

8350 is your last choice for that low

I say 100 dollars but if I can get something really good I could pay a little extra. Any recommendations? Thanks

[Shiv78]

5 minutes ago, IIGraViteII said:

I say 100 dollars but if I can get something really good I could pay a little extra. Any recommendations? Thanks

for like $160 to $180 you could get a h110 mobo and i3 6100 but not sure if its worth it for you. For $200-220 you could get the optimal combo of i5 6400 and new mobo, but then RAM :C :C :C :C :C

[IIGraViteII]

15 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

for like $160 to $180 you could get a h110 mobo and i3 6100 but not sure if its worth it for you. For $200-220 you could get the optimal combo of i5 6400 and new mobo, but then RAM :C :C :C :C :C

is the 8350 really not that great?

[BenoitWW]

basically you need a CPU with the AM3+ socket:

the most obvious options are FX-6300 or FX-8350, but most of the FX series will fit AM3+.

check out the list: http://pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu/#m=6&k=4

[ImperialSteele]

1 hour ago, IIGraViteII said:

Also, I have dusted pretty much everywhere, including the heatsink. Not too sure about the thermal paste or anything though, but I don't think it's an issue?

Just give it a good spray with compressed air, which can be found at home depot, walmart, and a bunch of other places. It isn't causing your performance issues, but may lead to overheating, and connection issues in the future.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

3 hours ago, IIGraViteII said:

 

I'm willing to spend about 100 dollars for a significant upgrade, but I'm wary that my motherboard is only compatible with AMD processors, so I've been looking at the FX-8350, but I'm not sure if it is worth the upgrade? I use my desktop a lot so I would like it to work really well, yet since half the time it works quite smoothly I'm still unsure about paying the extra money.

 

 I'm also unsure if intel processors definitely don't work.

 

 

Given how you mistreat that PC in terms of multitasking, l'd say yes, definitely worth it

The other alternative would be to change your habits, because I still think that hardware should be enough for those games. But if the issue is the background stuff, going from 4xxx to 8xxx will help, and definitely be better value than an i3, especially for you as you already have everything else for this platform. But make sure the cpu you plan to get shows up in the motherboard's supported CPU list before buying anything. 

 

Regarding the second question, yes, AM3+ is AMD only, no intel CPUs there. 

[IIGraViteII]

9 hours ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

Given how you mistreat that PC in terms of multitasking, l'd say yes, definitely worth it

The other alternative would be to change your habits, because I still think that hardware should be enough for those games. But if the issue is the background stuff, going from 4xxx to 8xxx will help, and definitely be better value than an i3, especially for you as you already have everything else for this platform. But make sure the cpu you plan to get shows up in the motherboard's supported CPU list before buying anything. 

 

Regarding the second question, yes, AM3+ is AMD only, no intel CPUs there. 

yeah ive had these habits for ages lol, and yeah thanks for the suggestion! also, this says it's compatible: http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=4305 , but it says the motherboard is rev. 4.1, i don't know if this matters, i do know that my motherboard is the ga-78lmt-usb3 though. also, is it the the fact that it has 8 cores that makes it better for multitasking? thanks

[Quaker]

If you upgrade from an FX-4300 to an FX-8320/50/70 you will notice a major difference. The motherboard is compatible with up to the FX-8370. 

 

Anything else worthwhile would involve a new motherboard and RAM. I'd suggest waiting for AMD Zen, in that case.

 

 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

2 hours ago, IIGraViteII said:

yeah ive had these habits for ages lol, and yeah thanks for the suggestion! also, this says it's compatible: http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=4305 , but it says the motherboard is rev. 4.1, i don't know if this matters, i do know that my motherboard is the ga-78lmt-usb3 though. also, is it the the fact that it has 8 cores that makes it better for multitasking? thanks

I can't find any revision lower than 4.1, so I guess it should be that one  Worst case scenario you'll need a BIOS update, but I don't think so because the 4300 belongs to the same generation.

Yes, it's the number of cores that will help with multitasking, because the core dedicated to the game won't be bothered by background processes and other programs you run simultaneously. My understanding is that the games you mentioned use one thread only, so the game itself will only run better if you have a stronger single-core performance, which is already better for the 8350. More cores will prevent other processes "getting in the way" of the core running the game, further helping you to get less of a roller-coaster experience.