CPU/Rig Upgrade (low budget)

[Hamilton]

Before I talk, I'll list my specs:

CPU - AMD Athlon X4 760K

GPU - MSI GTX 960

RAM - 1x8GB DDR3

Storage - 1TB WD Black HDD

PSU - Corsair CX430

Mobo - AMD A78M-E35 (micro ATX)

Case - Rosewill LINE-M (running stock case fans)

 

I've been running this setup for a while, and performance has been almost painful at times. I've gotten the impression that my CPU has been the main bottleneck of the system (if I'm wrong, then this forum post is kinda pointless. please point out where I'm wrong, and tell me what I can do better). When running games, quality settings often automatically set themselves to high, but I have to end up turning them down to get framerates that are anywhere near tolerable. Games like The Division (don't judge, I play on free weekends) are actually unplayable because the street I'm walking on won't load fast enough, so I'll often end up falling through the world while my friends run ahead of me. 

 

I built the rig almost four years ago on a strict budget, and I haven't really had the money to put towards upgrading it since. Even now I'm on a budget of somewhere around $200 (flexible by about $50). I've been looking at changing to an AM3+ mobo and upgrading my CPU to an FX-8350 or an FX-9590 (I'm aware that the 9590 "requires" water cooling). I was planning on digging around craigslist and ebay to find the best deal possible.

 

I wanted to get input from you guys to see if this upgrade is a good idea/necessary. If you have any alternative suggestions or advice, please let me know. I have relatively low experience in the area of computer hardware, so I'm definitely not stubborn. I'll probably trust your opinions more than my own. Please throw out suggestions for CPUs, coolers, mobos, cases, etc. I'm open to ideas.

 

Also, if there is room in the budget at all, I would really like to get a different case. I don't need to keep the micro ATX form factor. Size doesn't really matter to me. The LINE-M just doesn't have any room to manage cables (my PSU isn't modular), and it only has one fan for intake and one for outtake.

 

Thanks!

[zombienerd]

Go with a Ryzen 3 1200, 8gb (2x4) of DDR4 2400, and a B350 motherboard.  Should be right in your budget, and will give you a great experience over your old Athlon X4.  

Edited December 26, 2017 by zombienerd
My 2 key doesn't like to work.

[Woldraxe]

5 minutes ago, zombienerd said:

Go with a Ryzen 3 1200, 8gb (2x4) of DDR4 400, and a B350 motherboard.  Should be right in your budget, and will give you a great experience over your old Athlon X4.  

 

Go for 3,000MHz RAM, not 400. 0.o

[Hamilton]

5 minutes ago, zombienerd said:

Go with a Ryzen 3 1200, 8gb (2x4) of DDR4 400, and a B350 motherboard.  Should be right in your budget, and will give you a great experience over your old Athlon X4.  

I don't think that mobo (ATX) would fit my case (a mATX). Also, I'm looking at PassMark scores to judge the extent of the upgrade. The Ryzen 3 1200 scores significantly lower than both the FX CPUs. Would it still be worth it?

[Hamilton]

1 minute ago, GearheadMV said:

I don't think that mobo (ATX) would fit my case (a mATX). Also, I'm looking at PassMark scores to judge the extent of the upgrade. The Ryzen 3 1200 scores significantly lower than both the FX CPUs. Would it still be worth it?

Oh! I just caught a mistake. I found the micro ATX versions of the motherboard. My bad

[Herman Mcpootis]

you can get a used X79 board and 8-core xeon to replace the 760k.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Alienware-Aurora-R4-motherboard-X79-LGA-2011-Micro-ATX-FPV4P-REV-A00/182957012425?epid=22006955919&hash=item2a991675c9:g:q8EAAOSwxixaKl2x

https://www.ebay.com/itm/QTY-1x-Intel-ES-CPU-E5-2660-CPU-Eight-Cores-2-2Ghz-LGA2011-QBEF-C1/162765184829?epid=116012788&hash=item25e58f9f3d:g:0cgAAOSwR2RaEpHQ#viTabs_0

[zombienerd]

6 hours ago, Woldraxe said:

 

Go for 3,000MHz RAM, not 400. 0.o

Lol, my 2 key is dodgy on my laptop.   Meant 2400.

 

6 hours ago, GearheadMV said:

I don't think that mobo (ATX) would fit my case (a mATX). Also, I'm looking at PassMark scores to judge the extent of the upgrade. The Ryzen 3 1200 scores significantly lower than both the FX CPUs. Would it still be worth it?

Where were you looking?

 

Userbenchmark Link - 8350

Userbenchmark Link - 9590

 

As you can see from the links above, the Ryzen 1200 smacks both of them.  Beyond that, it's brand new architecture, with an upgrade path to much better CPU's as the prices go down over the next year or two.  I hate to use the word "futureproof", but it's pretty good right now.  Upgrade late next year to a Ryzen 7 for probably about $150.

 

As for motherboards, they have mATX versions of all the Ryzen Chipsets (A320, B350, and X370).  B350 tends to be the crowd pleaser, as it's budget, allows overclocking, and tends to just work well.