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Bargain basement upgrade - advice please

AxeAwe

AxeAwe

AxeAwe

Associate
Joined
3 Dec 2013
Posts
14
Hi guys, first forum post here. Thought I would join up as I have a burning question about an upgrade and I figured there would be some people on here that know stuff about stuff. So here goes:

About 18 months ago I decided to build my first gaming PC on a somewhat meagre budget, basically I was bored with my Xbox and wanted something with a bit more firepower. So, this is what I built:

Asus P8H61-mx USB3
Intel G850 dual core
8Gb 1333Mhz
1 Tb 7200 rpm HDD
Coolermaster 80+ 600W PSU
Radeon HD 7850 2Gb Sapphire OC edition

For my first build I've been pretty pleased with the result and it's certainly resulted in my 360 collecting dust. However, I've been seeing all these shiny new consoles coming out and I'm conscious of the fact that my humble rig does struggle with a few titles (Battlefield 3/4, Crysis 3, Rage, to name a few). A bit of research indicates that these games in particular like a few more cores to run at their optimum. Ultimately I would like to at least be able to compete with an Xbox One/PS4. My dilemma is that I have a strict budget of £150, soooo, this is where you clever and knowledgeable folk come in:

My possible options are:

1. Intel 3350p (will fit right in my mobo, costs about £130)
2. Intel 3470 (again will fit in, slight boost in speed over option 1, costs £145)
3. FX 8320 + mobo (Like the idea of 8 core, bearing in mind that console based games will be based around this architecture, however, the CPU is £115, which only leaves me with £35 for a bottom range board - is this even worth considering?).
4. Any alternatives that you guys may be able to suggest.

With the Intel chips I have stayed away from the default 3570K, as it would be wasted on my motherboard.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I figure with a question such as this, less is not necessarily more.

Thanks for your help.
 
FX8320 would need a much better motherboard than a 35 quid one.

You could get an FX6300 and motherboard.

Or look for the 4 core 8 thread Ivybridge Xeon, that'll work in your board too, but it's slightly above your budget, or get an i5.
 
Thanks for your quick reply.

Did wonder about the Xeon, I've seen a 1155 socket for £155, but unsure of this as it's a workstation/server cpu (although I have seen forum posts saying that it's basically a locked i7).
 
As long as it's the 4 core 8 thread Xeon then it's the one to go for.

It doesn't matter what it's classed as really, it's essentially an i7.
 
Regarding the FX8320,you can get an FX8320 and a Gigabyte 970A-DS3P for around the £165 mark.

A Xeon E3 should work fine in your motherboard. I use a Xeon E3 1220 in an H67 mini-ITX motherboard.

However,make sure you get a cooler with it,as the one for your Pentium won't cut it,and not all secondhand Xeon E3 CPUs come with a cooler,since they are server pulls or OEM CPUs in the first place.
 
I dont see why you cant go for an i5-3330 providing your mobo supports 3rd gen intels cpu's (ivy bridge).

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-432-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1275
Totals £153.59 with shipping.

You cant overclock and four cores is enough for what you need.
It will fit straight into the socket.
BUT i would check first whether your bios version does supports 3rd gen cpu's.
They definatley accept sandybridge but im not 100% sure about ivybridge cpu's. You may need to upgrade your bios version to use it.
It will dpend on what version that H61 is using?
I could be completley wrong here but im sure someone will put me right if not.
 
Thanks again for you replies.

I've already flashed the BIOS to the latest version, so shouldn't have any concerns there. The Xeon processor I've seen is this one: Intel Xeon E3-1220v2 3.10GHz 4C/4T
However, I can't see it as a supported CPU on my motherboard manufacturer's support site and I'm not sure whether it's the version that includes hyperthreading.

I like the suggestion of the Gigabyte 970A-DS3P mobo above + 8320, will this give me an O.C. option should I decide to turn the screw a bit in the future? I know it's slightly above my budget but I may put off my upgrade for another month if this solution is more future proof.

With regards to the i5 processors, will I see much difference in FPS whether I choose a 3330, or a 3470?
 
Thought it was too good to be true, the Xeon listed as compatible with my board is too much above my budget.

My initial thoughts are that I will leave overclocking alone for the time being, but just wondered if that particular board will give me any headroom in the future should I decide to give it a little tweak (following a cooler upgrade I might add).

If the stock 8320 will run everything fine, then I will just leave well alone, particularly when the Mantle update should improve the likes of Battlefield 4.
 
I'd be running a stock xeon/i5 before I run a stock FX8320, especially as it's a far easier option.

Ignore the compatibility list somewhat.
It's the Xeon 1230 V2 you want, should be about 180.
 
Its the E3 1230 and E3 1230 V2 which you need to look at. I have the E3 1220 and it lacks HT. However,at time I bought I got it brand new for the same price as secondhand SB Core i5 CPUs.
 
nope. He'll need a new decent board and decent cooler if he'd get 8320.

I got my 1230v2 for £110 (used, mind you) and nothing comes close in price/performance.
 
I'd be inclined to stick with your existing motherboard as opposed to jumping ship, especially considering your build is only 18 months old or so.
 
I'd stick with your current board and go for an i5 myself. Make sure you update your BIOS first however while your current CPU is still in there, just in case there is a compatibility issue, which should be fixed by the latest BIOS anyway.

The 3470 is a good choice, I have one in my work machine and it's a nice chip.
 
Thank you all for your input, all very useful indeed.

I think based on additional research I've carried out following responses on here I'm going to plump with the Xeon 1230 V2. Yes, it's £25-£30 above my £150 budget, however the benefit of being able to slot it straight into my board and not having to worry about overclocking makes it a nice, simple solution. I'll wait until next month and get one ordered.

I didn't really consider the Xeon as a gaming solution, I have a 3.5Ghz unit in my work PC (used for running SolidWorks 2012), so pleasantly surprised that it'll provide my cheapo motherboard with some reasonable performance.

One thing I've noticed on my work PC is that it actually shows as 8 cores (although it's only 4) when I bring up the PC performance monitor in task manager. Is this a result of the hyperthreading? And would this be seen by games as an 8-core? (Just considering the Xbox One/PS4 8 core Jaguar comparisons).

Thank you all once again.
 
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