CPU upgrade question

[zanderman]

Right now I am running the rig in my sig. I recently upgraded from a 5870 to a 7970 but I can tell my OC’ed 955 is bottle necking me in a lot of the games I play. I was planning on upgrading to a 3570k instead of waiting for Haswell but I found out that my motherboard will support a FX 8350 with a BIOS flash. I will be over clocking as high as I can go on a 212+. I also plan to add a second 7970 after the 8000 series cards are released or when they drop in price again. I want to know whether a FX 8350 will still give me a bottleneck with either a single 7970 or crossfire.

I realize that a 3570k is a better chip for gaming. I’m just not sure whether it will make a big enough difference to justify a new mobo/ram or if a 8350 will perform good enough. The current games I play are BF3/SC2/Far Cry 3/Skyrim and I plan on playing this year’s releases on their highest settings at 1080p.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[rennyf77]

you will certainly see an improvement with an fx at 4+ghz, and its not as if you won't be able to run the same settings as the ivybridge option, but you should be fine as long as you can live with the fact that the intel setup would generate better frame rates.

 

[Dangman]

The 8350 will perform good enough as long as you're ok with the increased heat and power use.

 

[zanderman]

you will certainly see an improvement with an fx at 4+ghz, and its not as if you won't be able to run the same settings as the ivybridge option, but you should be fine as long as you can live with the fact that the intel setup would generate better frame rates.

As long as I can use the same settings and the difference in frames isn't too large I am ok with saving some $$$.

The 8350 will perform good enough as long as you're ok with the increased heat and power use.

Well, I am aiming for ~4.4GHz for an over clock so hopefully my 212+ is enough for that. Power is not a huge issue unless I had to upgrade my PSU if I decided to add another 7970.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

No you wouldn't need to upgrade your PSU, but the power draw is a good bit more on the AMD setup. Worth upgrading? To me no.. but if I lived where power was more expensive I probably would care.

 

[zanderman]

Looks like I going to pick up the 8350. Would it be worth the money to bump if my ram from 4-8gb?

 

[Dangman]

Yeah might as well while RAM prices are still level

 

[zanderman]

Yeah might as well while RAM prices are still level

Sounds like a plan.

Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[zanderman]

I changed my mind after seeing how the 8350 performs in Planetside 2 where I was hoping to see a nice performance bump with a CPU upgrade. That and the fact I am already getting new RAM and after researching, I have concerns with overheating using my current motherboard when overclocking the 8350.

I am pretty set on getting the 3570k. My max budget for a mobo is 250 and was looking at the SABERTOOTH-Z77. I will be overclocking and I need a board with crossfire support. I also like the layout of this board because it will fit my soundcard nicely when I decide to add another 7970. For a new cooler I am looking at the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. I already ordered 8 gigs of memory. I am hoping to place the next order tomorrow.

If you guys can find another high quality board with a similar layout and features or a better cooler let me know. Thanks again!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming(SC2, PS2, FC3,Skyrim) Movies, web browsing, MS Office
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~500 before shipping and tax
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

US, MI, Ann Arobr
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, MOBO, CPU cooler
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Samsung 830 256GB, Sapphire 7970, Titanium HD, Antec New TP-750 Blue, LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62, ASUS 108op monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers/headset
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? 1080p

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Crossfire, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Win 8 64 bit home

 

[Deleted member 88227]

We generally like you to answer these questions first. Asking for Build Help?: ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST

However, since all you need is a motherboard with a $250 budget, then just answer this one.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

 

[zanderman]

We generally like you to answer these questions first. Asking for Build Help?: ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST

However, since all you need is a motherboard with a $250 budget, then just answer this one.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

Sorry, forgot about that. Edit in previous post.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Then that motherboard is WAY more board than you'll ever need.

$135 - Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77

Has Crossfire, USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/sec.

Assuming your sound card is PCI express 1x, you can see a 1x slot above the first 16x slot. So you can put the sound card above the video card, thus not hindering it's cooling efficiency.

 

[zanderman]

Then that motherboard is WAY more board than you'll ever need.

$135 - Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77

Has Crossfire, USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/sec.

Assuming your sound card is PCI express 1x, you can see a 1x slot above the first 16x slot. So you can put the sound card above the video card, thus not hindering it's cooling efficiency.

Ya, its PCI express 1x. Looks like a good deal. Does it overclock well?

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Depends on what you mean by well. You should be able to hit your coolers limit ~4.5Ghz on air, depending on the chip you could get 4.6 - 4.7Ghz, but it wont be a board limitation.