Suggestions for CPU upgrade needed

[PANDAofPOWER]

Hello people of the LTT forum!

 

This is my very first post on this website so if I am posting this in the wrong section or do something wrong please do tell me.

I am planning on upgrading my PC with a new CPU, since I have had an AMD CPU with intergrated graphics for a while now, even though I bought a decent GPU a while ago, and I feel that it's being bottlenecked by the CPU. Also I do video editing and an going to uni next year so I feel like an upgrade is much needed after 5 years.

I do not have a lot of experience with choosing CPU's and my knowledge of them is very limited as well. I also don't know wether my motherboard will be compatible with a new CPU. Hence I am here for your help!

 

Current specs:

CPU: AMD A10-5800K

Motherboard: F2A55-M LK

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7970 (Gigabyte)

RAM: Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9 (2x ; total of 8GB DDR3)

 

(If any specs are missing please notify me and I'll try to add them to the list as soon as possible)

 

As mentioned I do edit video and do graphical design so multiple cores is a must, and I also do gaming (think of bf4, gta V and such) so I need something that at least doesn't bottleneck my GPU and gives me the ability to game comfortably. I don't need 120 fps, but if I can run these games at medium settings on 60 fps then that would be fine.

 

I really have no clue where to begin with upgrading so any advice would be hugely appreciated. The price range I'm looking at is between €200- €300 euro's ($213 - $319 dollars according to google) for both the CPU and a motherboard (if needed because of current socket incompatibility). If these prices are unrealistic then please let me know.

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

 

Greets, 

 

Robbert

[NTDaws]

Recommend a upgrade to Intel, or wait till AMD Ryzen releases.

[thenastyjbenny]

I would wait until the speculated release date of Ryzen, the next series of AMD cpus.

 

We have heard rumors that they will release let February/Early March.

 

Can you wait that long?
 

Also, you will need new RAM, a new Mobo, etc. to support any change whatsoever. This will probably up your budget to 400-500 euros.

[ForsakenLive]

Welcome to the forums.

In order to upgrade the CPU you will need to upgrade the Motherboard and Ram as well. As your current socket is FM2+, and the memory DDR3, there isn't an upgrade path.

Does the budget you listed include the money for the motherboard and ram as well?

Do you want to overclock this new CPU?

 

There are currently two Intel platforms (2011-3 and 1151). With the budget you listed, the best available CPU are the i7 CPUs for the 1151 platform. Which are 4 cores (8 threads). If you are looking for 6+ cores you need to extend the budget for a 2011-3 setup.

There is a new AMD CPU line-up being released soon (the rumours say it might be on the first days of march), there is no word on price, and we don't even know how good it will be, but it's not a bad move to wait for it nonetheless. 

[pwn_intended]

There is no worthwhile upgrade from your current CPU that doesn't involve new MOBO+CPU+RAM. (better AMD chips on that socked do exist, but IMHO aren't worthwhile since it wouldn't be a very noticeable performance jump)

I would wait to see what comes out from AMD, or go with an intel system.

A GPU upgrade also wouldn't be a bad idea. Something like the 1060 6gb or a 1070.

[kaiju_wars]

I know people are saying there are no upgrades... but the best CPU you can get is the Athlon X4 880K.

That's the best CPU for the FM2+ platform.

Otherwise, I'd wait for Ryzen and see what that offers.

[PANDAofPOWER]

@ForsakenLive @pwn_intended @kaiju_wars

 

The budget listed was intended for both a motherboard and a cpu as well, but after reading the responses I believe I underestimated the pricerange for what I intended to do. If It will require a completely new CPU, mobo and RAM, I would guess it would be better to build a new pc all toghether? If so what would be a realistic combination of CPU, mobo and RAM which wouldn't bring be above 400 euro's? (I'm still a student and I don't have a huge amount of money to spend). The possible GPU upgrade which was mentioned in a response is indeed not a bad idea but with the limited funds I have it's not really possible to buy both a new GPU and the aformentioned parts.

 

Also, I don't mind waiting to see what the Ryzen CPU line-up will bring, but I do wonder, will it be compatible with my current config or will it also require the replacement of my mobo and RAM? Or has it not yet been revealed what chipset it will be using? (If it's even important what chipset it has, I persume it does)

 

Thanks for all the fast replies!

 

[pwn_intended]

3 minutes ago, PANDAofPOWER said:

Also, I don't mind waiting to see what the Ryzen CPU line-up will bring, but I do wonder, will it be compatible with my current config or will it also require the replacement of my mobo and RAM? Or has it not yet been revealed what chipset it will be using? (If it's even important what chipset it has, I persume it does)

 

New chipset, new socket, DDR4 ram.

Ryzen will require a full overhaul.

 

As for suggestions, any skylake/kaby lake would do. With an compatible motherboard. The new unlocked kaby lake i3 looks pretty promising for a budget build, and I would look into some reviews of that when they start rolling in.

[PANDAofPOWER]

@pwn_intended

 

Will do! Only concern I have lies with the fact that I spent 500+ euro's on this pc over the years already and would be a bit bummed out if I needed to pay another 500+ euro's for just a slight increase. But I guess that's just how things go when you want to join the pc masterrace but are broke as hell :')

 

Thanks for the help pwn!

[ForsakenLive]

3 minutes ago, PANDAofPOWER said:

@ForsakenLive @pwn_intended @kaiju_wars

 

The budget listed was intended for both a motherboard and a cpu as well, but after reading the responses I believe I underestimated the pricerange for what I intended to do. If It will require a completely new CPU, mobo and RAM, I would guess it would be better to build a new pc all toghether? If so what would be a realistic combination of CPU, mobo and RAM which wouldn't bring be above 400 euro's? (I'm still a student and I don't have a huge amount of money to spend). The possible GPU upgrade which was mentioned in a response is indeed not a bad idea but with the limited funds I have it's not really possible to buy both a new GPU and the aformentioned parts.

 

Also, I don't mind waiting to see what the Ryzen CPU line-up will bring, but I do wonder, will it be compatible with my current config or will it also require the replacement of my mobo and RAM? Or has it not yet been revealed what chipset it will be using? (If it's even important what chipset it has, I persume it does)

 

Thanks for all the fast replies!

 

 

It is confirmed by now that: Ryzen CPUs will use the AM4 socket for both CPUs and APUs (there are actual motherboards with the socket now, so say goodbye at FM2+). It will use DDR4 memory. There will be CPU options up to 8 cores with 16 threads. However the price is not known.

With your current budget, buying new products, a good choice would be getting a modern i5 (which, together with RAM and Motherboard, would cost between  €300- €400, depending on the hardware you choose).

If you can't wait I'd look around, and try finding a good price on a Xeon E3 1230 V5 + a cheap 1151 C232 chipset motherboard + DDR4 ram. Which gives you decent single core performance, but also has 4cores-8 threads, which is nice for the sort of work you are doing. It might not be the most consumer friendly choice, but it's the best you can do before spending even more money on an i7. However this probably goes over the €400 mark ( I have no idea how pricing is on your country, or what country it even is... lol) .

 

Personally I'd just wait about 6-7 weeks and see what's going to happen with the new CPUs. 

[PANDAofPOWER]

3 minutes ago, ForsakenLive said:

 

It is confirmed by now that: Ryzen CPUs will use the AM4 socket for both CPUs and APUs (there are actual motherboards with the socket now, so say goodbye at FM2+). It will use DDR4 memory. There will be CPU options up to 8 cores with 16 threads. However the price is not known.

With your current budget, buying new products, a good choice would be getting a modern i5 (which, together with RAM and Motherboard, would cost between  €300- €400, depending on the hardware you choose).

If you can't wait I'd look around, and try finding a good price on a Xeon E3 1230 V5 + a cheap 1151 C232 chipset motherboard + DDR4 ram. Which gives you decent single core performance, but also has 4cores-8 threads, which is nice for the sort of work you are doing. It might not be the most consumer friendly choice, but it's the best you can do before spending even more money on an i7. However this probably goes over the €400 mark ( I have no idea how pricing is on your country, or what country it even is... lol) .

 

Personally I'd just wait about 6-7 weeks and see what's going to happen with the new CPUs. 

I guess I'll just wait like you said and base my decisions on the prices of the Ryzen CPU's, but I doubt I will buy it because I don't want to go overboard and buy a completely new system. Thanks anyways though!

And it's the Netherlands btw