upgrade CPU Upgrade Recommendation/Discussion

[bat_owl]

Hey everyone, first post here so forgive me if this is the wrong place. 

 

Due to a multitude of situations and materials I have found myself in, I have ended up with a low-cost (which is perfect as I am a college student) gaming rig. These are the parts I have got now: 

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 340 at 3.2 GHz

Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi A70U3P (FM2+ Socket type)

GPU: Radeon R9 360

RAM: 2x4 GB of Klevv DDR3

Storage: 240 gig SSD and 1 TB HDD

 

Right now I play a lot of CSGO and Skyrim, getting about 100 fps and 50 fps average for each, respectively. I would like to be able to play games like Crysis 3, BF4, GTA V, Titanfall 1 (Maybe 2??), and other shooters/RPGs. 

I would also like to stay under/around $150 USA (I live in Indiana, if that helps with anything?)

I have one Acer 23 in 1080p monitor but would like to add a second 1080p sometime in the future.

As for peripherals, I have everything I might need.. but a mechanical keyboard would be a welcome addition down the road. 

 

The obvious weak link here is the CPU and as far as I can tell, I have a few different options: 

My brother thinks that I should go with an AMD A10 7860k but I don't know that I would see much performance benefit from an APU?

I have been considering an AMD Athlon X4 860k Quad Core but this is basically the best I could go with an FM2+ motherboard. 

Others have mentioned upgrading the MOBO and RAM along with the CPU and switching to an Intel i3-6100

 

What do you guys think? Going with the X4 would mean that I get to use my current stuff for a while longer, saving me money, but I wouldn't be able to play any new games like BF1. But switching to Intel would mean spending more money at the moment for similar performance until I have the money for a good Quad-Core there. Am I overlooking something? Anyone have a better idea or any help making the decision? 

 

Thanks in advance for your help! 

[Morgan MLGman]

What can I say, the cheapest decent upgrade without upgading everything is the Athlon X4 880K cause it's the fastest CPU for the FM2+ socket and comes paired with a good Wrath cooler from AMD, I'm not sure if your motherboard supports it though (BIOS). No point in buying APU if you're running dedicated GPU cause the CPU part of the APU is the same as in Athlon X4 860K.

 

If you want to upgrade the entire platform (CPU+MOBO+RAM) wait for Kaby Lake. It releases in January and should change more in the lower-end spectrum of their CPU range, I've heard rumours about quad-core Pentiums and overclockable i3's so I guess it might be worth the wait.

[punk0x29a]

hi,

I just've been researching similar information, as the situation I'm in is very similar to yours, at least in some aspects.

All and all, I'm almost certain now that I'll go with Intel Core i5 2500k and some cheap MoBo to support it. Hopefully I'll be able to use RAM that I already have, or buy new sticks for $10 or something.

In this way, you'll buy what you need for right under $150, and you'll be 1/3 of performance ahead of best current CPU that AMD has to offer.