CPU Upgrade direction

[sneakysnail]

Currently I'm using the rig in my Sig and looking to upgrade a bit. Considered just a cheap 8320 that i can overclock but with am3+ mobo's basically being a dead end I wonder if it's worth it. how long would I really stick with it before throwing it out for an intel build? I have a media pc in the living room that I could put my current 965 into but I wonder if I should just wait a little bit and then get a whole new mobo,CPU and GPU and then throw my current rig into the media pc (the 7870xt will probably be 2 noisy/hot though)

Whats the current intel lineup like for future proofing? still a lot of socket changes with each generation? Want to make the intel switch but it's hard to justify spending £400 on a bundle like this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-013-AS&tool=3 when I can buy a cheap 8320 for £100 and spend the spare £300 on a decent GPU or just put that cash away until nvidia maxwell dx12 cards start releasing

What does everyone think? bite the bullet now or better to get a stop gap 8320?

 

[ghost.florian]

I think your current PC is well balanced as it is. By upgrading you will see minor differences only. If you use your PC mainly for gaming then you won't really benefit from an 8 core CPU.

Intel's current i5 and i7 lineups are OK, but it's hard to say what the future is bringing. An i7 would be your best option if you want to keep your PC for 5 years or more.

Honestly, if you have the upgrade itch, then you can only rationalise the decision to a point. If you care about performance, then my advice would be to wait until your rig no longer meets your expectations in this sense.

 

[CinderzFTW]

Keep the basis of your rig. Nothing wrong with it.

Just need a new processor... save money and get a 8320/50/70.

Make sure you update your bios and you will be laughing at 4.4ghz xD

 

[Davedree]

A 4.4ghz 965 with a cpu-nb overclocked is still a very capable cpu, apart from modern games that make use of the modern fx extensions, the 8320 would need a good 4.8ghz to justify the swapping of the phII 965.

If you feel it's time to kind of sidegrade, then give an fx8320 a go.

 

[CinderzFTW]

I doubt 4.8ghz would be needed.

I have the 6350 @ 4.2ghz which is the replacement for my old 965 at 3.9ghz and it kills the old phenom off

 

[DragonQ]

Since Nehalem there have been a few new CPU instruction sets but I was unaware that any games really used them. Which ones are actually used? There's:

- AES (Westmere/Bulldozer)
- AVX (Sandy Bridge/Bulldozer)
- XOP (Ivy Bridge/Bulldozer)
- RdRand & F16C (Ivy Bridge)
- FMA3 (Haswell/Piledriver)
- AVX2 (Haswell/Excavator)

and probably more.