Help with upgrading older computer.

[Kamisguide]

So I have a friend who is wanting to upgrade his pc but doesnt have enough to buy everything new. so he was wanting to know if he could just get a better gpu. The only issue is I don't know what motherboard this is https://www.walmart.com/ip/CyberpowerPC-Black-Gamer-Ultra-GUA250-Desktop-PC-AMD-Quad-Core-FX-4300-Processor-8GB-Memory-1TB-Hard-Drive-Windows-10-Home-64-bit-Monitor-Included/17811825#read-more I have the computer at my house I am not looking at it but I was looking to see if their was an issue with him going up to a 1050 or 1060. Is anyone here willing to help me with this



EDIT 10:38 10/14/2017 I think it is this motherboard : https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/760GM-P23-FX/Gallery

Edited October 14, 2017 by Kamisguide
adding more informaiton

[Gursel]

FX 4300 is not a descent CPU today and this motherboard should be the cheapest AM3 motherboard out. AMD FX is not so suitable for gaming but he can get a GTX 1050-1050Ti, altough there will be a bottleneck sometimes especially with the GTX 1050 Ti. Check the motherboard, some of the pre-built PC's do not have removable coolers. If the cooler is removable then he might get a better FX CPU. Use the command following command on the command prompt to check the motherboard product & vendor. 

wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer,version,serialnumber

After done, go and check suitable FX processors for his budget, not the cheap ones, they won't be much effective. In case of getting a GTX 1060 he may need to just upgrade his platform to at least a Ryzen 3 1200-1300X AM4. If the motherboard is suitable for that FX CPU just replace it. If he can, get a better cooler than the Cyberpower stock.

[kelvinhall05]

Budget? I'd go with a Ryzen overhaul and a 1060 6GB. If you can't afford that, buy a used FX 8350 and a new 1060 6GB.

[Kamisguide]

10 minutes ago, Gursel said:

FX 4300 is not a descent CPU today and this motherboard should be the cheapest AM3 motherboard out. AMD FX is not so suitable for gaming but he can get a GTX 1050-1050Ti, altough there will be a bottleneck sometimes especially with the GTX 1050 Ti. Check the motherboard, some of the pre-built PC's do not have removable coolers. If the cooler is removable then he might get a better FX CPU. Use the command following command on the command prompt to check the motherboard product & vendor. 

wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer,version,serialnumber

After done, go and check suitable FX processors for his budget, not the cheap ones, they won't be much effective. In case of getting a GTX 1060 he may need to just upgrade his platform to at least a Ryzen 3 1200-1300X AM4. If the motherboard is suitable for that FX CPU just replace it. If he can, get a better cooler than the Cyberpower stock.

I will do that. If we can upgrade the cpu we can do that as well. What FX chip should he get. AMD FX-8350? Also Thank you.

[Gursel]

1 hour ago, Kamisguide said:

I will do that. If we can upgrade the cpu we can do that as well. What FX chip should he get. AMD FX-8350? Also Thank you.

8350 or higher will be the ideal choice for you to hold it longer with a 1060 and 1050 Ti. I would have gone with the 1060 because it'll hold up longer. (Only if he can pay a few more bux). 8350 will not bottleneck the 1060 but the below will... You need to choose wisely; 8350 and 1060 or a higher FX chip which will be faster. I just recommend going with FX 8350 because above it are useless to invest on, just doesn't makes sense to spend money on an older platform but if he is going to use the PC for a long time then it might be better to go with a high-end FX chip like 90 series.

[asand1]

Maybe a used haswell i7 and mobo along with a GTX 1060 or 1070?

[ApolloX75]

5 hours ago, Kamisguide said:

EDIT 10:38 10/14/2017 I think it is this motherboard : https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/760GM-P23-FX/Gallery

So gotta be careful if it's that motherboard and you're looking for a CPU upgrade. That model only supports a maximum TDP of 95W meaning FX 8370E is the highest it supports. 8350 is not supported as was suggested since it's a 125W chip, it's not even in the compatibility list. Maximum non-E series is the FX 8300 and I'd seriously warn against using any of the FX 8 series chips on this board as it doesn't even have heatsinks on the VRMs meaning it's likely to throttle under normal loads.

 

Just my $0.02. I'd avoid wasting money on the CPU upgrade idea and save up for something a little better. A cheap Haswell B or H series motherboard and a locked i5 would be infinitely better and would save having to buy new RAM.

 

As for the GPU upgrade it doesn't matter if you get the 1050 or the 1060, that FX 4300 will hold either one in check with some severe bottlenecking anyway.

[Kamisguide]

On 10/14/2017 at 4:00 PM, ApolloX75 said:

So gotta be careful if it's that motherboard and you're looking for a CPU upgrade. That model only supports a maximum TDP of 95W meaning FX 8370E is the highest it supports. 8350 is not supported as was suggested since it's a 125W chip, it's not even in the compatibility list. Maximum non-E series is the FX 8300 and I'd seriously warn against using any of the FX 8 series chips on this board as it doesn't even have heatsinks on the VRMs meaning it's likely to throttle under normal loads.

 

Just my $0.02. I'd avoid wasting money on the CPU upgrade idea and save up for something a little better. A cheap Haswell B or H series motherboard and a locked i5 would be infinitely better and would save having to buy new RAM.

 

As for the GPU upgrade it doesn't matter if you get the 1050 or the 1060, that FX 4300 will hold either one in check with some severe bottlenecking anyway.

Good Eye and your right. The motherboard underclocks the cpu. The pc is off right now until we can change the motherboard out.