Time to upgrade from an fx-8120?

T

tylertoast

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 4, 2014
Messages
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Hey all!

Just asking for some general knowledge for some people who are alot better in this field then I am.

Titles states it, I have a FX-8120 right now, am looking for an upgrade. I've got about $300-$400 to get a new Motherboard and CPU.
 
If you're looking to upgrade now, it's Intel all the way. Look at an Intel quad core. Don't let people talk you into a dual core. AMD Zen processors are scheduled to come out next year if you're thinking AMD for your next build.

Also you can look at the used market on this forum and grab a FX-8350 for cheap assuming that your motherboard supports it. Which motherboard do you have?

And you might want to explain your what your usage for this PC will be. It's very important for suggesting processors.
 
You'd really need to go with at least an i5 for it to be worth it.

I'd get a i5-4690K and a Z97 board like an ASUS Z97-A or MSI Z97S. Something basic-ish but with reasonable overclocking potential. The GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 seems pretty popular but it might be slightly out of budget.

A FX-8350 isn't worth buying, you might as well just overclock the chip you have.
 
I agree with the above comments. either jump to a i5/i7 or just overclock you fx-8120. I have my 8120 running at 4560 and that's plenty for my 280x.
 
You can get yourself an i5 3570k and a Z77 board for fairly cheap if you shop around. That would be your best bet budget wise. Of course a 4690k would be a little better but probably more expensive. Don't get anything less than that otherwise it is a waste of your time.
 
I agree in that we need to know what you are doing with it.

What video card are you pairing it with? In the real world (again, depending on resolution, video card, and game), you may see ZERO performance difference between it and an i5. If you have a BEAST of a GFX card, you may wish to upgrade.

You can likely hit 4.0ghz without much effort and that will likely hold you over for the year. I keep thinking I "need" to upgrade, but I'm still 1080p gaming with a medium of the road GFX card so it makes zero sense to drop the money at this time.
 
where I live you can surely get a 3770k + mobo for that price, with wty. and that is in Canadian dollars.
I am sure you will find something around you, grab an i7.
it will be a HUGE upgrade from any FX chip.
 
Right now.
I have a spotty AM3+ motherboard, MSI-G43 Paired with it is a GTX 770 (that I bought off the forum) and 8gb of Kingston Fury Ram.

and more on the question of an 8350, would there be any sizable, noticeable difference.

All I do on my machine is game, I've gotten into editing a few videos but that's something I do FAIRLY rarely.
 
So yea your GPU/CPU are fairly evenly matched...and upgrading to an i5/i7 isn't really going to do much seeing as you will be GPU limited w/ a 770.


I vote overclock, sit on your money a bit longer, and when you want to upgrade, upgrade CPU/MOBO/GPU simultaneously. Otherwise you are spending $200-300 for a few FPS difference.
 
That's a pretty terrible board to OC a 8 core chip on. You'll blow it up in no time.

So if you have to replace your board and chip, I guess Intel makes more sense.
 
To be honest the gap is to big and the only reason to stay AMD is lack of funds or not liking Intel.
You can get extra performance and you prolly want it without needing to overclock (motherboard not very well suited for it).

That would leave you with either option to go as high as you can ghz wise on models that by default have 4ghz and boost to 4.2/4.3. But this difference between the setup where you buy a new AMD CPU and a new Intel motherboard and cpu is rather big. Not to sure where the sweet spot lies with Intel but Cageymaru is right try to get something with 4 cores ....
 
Thanks all!
I figured going intel would end up happening.
Now I have to decide what processor/mobo to get haha
 
Not trying to be a troll or anything....but if you just want to spend $300-400 do so...but seriously with a freaking 770 you are going to gain like 5 fps in most games for that $300-400. I would call that "not smart" and place it in the category of save your money for now...upgrade GPU and CPU/MOBO later.
 
If you are at 1080p I'm not sure you are going to notice much of a difference. Certainly not $300-$400 worth. Your setup is still pretty decent, are you actually noticing an issue with gaming or you just have an itch you want to scratch?

If you don't have an SSD I'd get one of those first. It's the single best overall upgrade most people can make.
 
You would see a large upgrade by switching to intel if you don't plan on/can't overclock, these chips are stupidly bottlenecked at their stock clocks because of the bad single thread performance. Get a 4690k and a z97 mobo and it'll last you quite a while.
 
The thing is, having an AMD CPU at this time is like having a NOKIA/BlackBerry. So he can get a CPU that will probably last him 3 - 4 years if he goes skylake
 
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