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FX 6100 upgrade

JLarks

JLarks

JLarks

Associate
Joined
1 Mar 2016
Posts
255
Location
Somerset
So at present I have a FX 6100 running at 3.8 GHz. I have also recently upgraded my GTX 660 to a 970 as it was quite cheap.

I have been wanting to move over to Intel for some time, but have reached a bit of dead-end when choosing what to go for. I have narrowed it down to either the i7 4790k, 5820k or 6700k. Part of the upgrade would also be for a new CPU cooler. I have been leaning towards the Noctua NH-D15 as I am not 100% confident using a ILO water cooler.

I will be primarily gaming, typically MMO/FPS/RPG. I have looked at getting an i5, although I am also looking to get into video editing. Also I assume the i7 would be more 'future proof' than an i5 if games start using more cores? (or does multi-threaded cores not work like this?)

Im quite stingy and will probably end up buying the motherboard and CPU second-hand. Any suggestions? My total budget would be around £500

Thanks!
 
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If gaming is your priority a 6600k should be sufficient and should not be that much slower than a 6700k, if you want more cores, HT and grunt for other things then go with 5820k which will smash the 6700k at those tasks but will still be very acceptable/good for gaming. I cant see much point in the 6700k really.

Of course if you are going second hand, a 4790k is likely to be easier to find while being cheaper and will suit your needs, but with your budget I think you should be able to get things new and would recommend doing that (From OCUK if you want good service)
 
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None of those CPUs are common on the SH market so that will probably dictate your choice tbh.

Haswell (refresh) seems the best fit though IMO. Or even consider Ivybridge (35/3770K).
 
If you go with the Haswell refresh, you can keep your existing RAM. The 5820K or 6700K need DDR4, so you'd have to get new RAM as well.

For just under £400 you could get a brand new 4790K and a decent motherboard (which also has the OCUK exclusive Turbo-RMA):

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £391.98
​

With shipping, it will be just over £400.

It depends on how much you're willing to trust a second-hand motherboard. The NH-D15 is a very good air cooler, but it is massive, so make sure it will fit in your case!
 
joeyjojo said:
None of those CPUs are common on the SH market so that will probably dictate your choice tbh.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if I can link to other shops, but I am looking at buying either of the 3 CPUs in the OP from a trade-in shop in town. 1 because I have a lot of old games I can trade in for a voucher and 2 because it seems to be very cheap (about £50 less than current brand new prices).

Has anyone had a problems buying a 2nd hand CPU?
 
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Do not reference prices from elsewhere, also delete or anonymise reference to alt suppliers.
 
A cheap upgrade may be an FX8350 and overclock to 4.8 - 5.0ghz, this may give you a cheap medium term fix.

Wait till all the new gfx hardware etc comes out and see what happens from there?

However if you are set on changing an i5 seems to be a safe bet.
 
GinG said:
A cheap upgrade may be an FX8350 and overclock to 4.8 - 5.0ghz, this may give you a cheap medium term fix.

Wait till all the new gfx hardware etc comes out and see what happens from there?

However if you are set on changing an i5 seems to be a safe bet.
Click to expand...

I hadn't really though about upgrading to an FX8350. Do you reckon an air cooler would be able to reach those kind overclocks you mention?
 
JLarks said:
I hadn't really though about upgrading to an FX8350. Do you reckon an air cooler would be able to reach those kind overclocks you mention?
Click to expand...

I would have mentioned this but
1. It depends a lot on your motherboard and many can't do a good job of feeding an FX-8. What's yours?
2. If you're into MMOs they're not brilliant.

I did see your post with part-exchange prices and tbh if you're building a new machine I'd just go for a new skylake i5 for not much more cash, and use the voucher for something else. I wouldn't worry about future-proofing, it's not really worth it.
 
joeyjojo said:
I would have mentioned this but
1. It depends a lot on your motherboard and many can't do a good job of feeding an FX-8. What's yours?
Click to expand...

I currently have an ASUS M5A99X EVO (not the r2.0 version). https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A99X_EVO/

Would I see any noticeable difference in FPS in games like GTA V/WoW by upgrading to an FX8350? It seems I may be best just making do with what I have until the new CPUs are out later this year
 
212 Evo for 20 quid and push your current CPU to 4.8 (its a 6 thread, so VRMs will be fine on that mobo) would be my recommendation, will be well matched to a single 970 as well. Then hold out for Zen/Intel actually making a big jump.
 
GTAV is a tricky one as it seems to have got a lot less CPU heavy with patches. All the benchmarks seem to be from early April 2015 (eg) and suggest a lot of CPU scaling, but more recent tests (eg) show almost no difference between them.

I agree with Concrete, if you're tempted to wait then I probably wouldn't bother going to the FX-8, but you've a very good board and they're cheap SH so you could well get one as a toy to tide you over.
 
I had very good overclocking with that board and an FX8350 and air cooling (Phanteks cooler).

Up to 5GHz for benching (not prime). Everyday usage 4.5GHz plus turbo running cool and quiet.
 
nkata said:
I had very good overclocking with that board and an FX8350 and air cooling (Phanteks cooler).

Up to 5GHz for benching (not prime). Everyday usage 4.5GHz plus turbo running cool and quiet.
Click to expand...

Did you cool the VRM heatsink when overclocking? Some guides I have been reading up on regarding overclocking these AMD boards has suggested doing this.

Also is there any difference once overclocked between the 8320/8320e/8350? Or is it just that the 8350 can reach a 'higher' clock?
 
I run a small 60mm fan mounted directly above the VRM heatsinks, it does make a good difference.

Main difference between different CPUs is the factory clock of them. My 8320 hits 5.0 stable but I run it at 4.8.
 
Concrete said:
I run a small 60mm fan mounted directly above the VRM heatsinks, it does make a good difference.

Main difference between different CPUs is the factory clock of them. My 8320 hits 5.0 stable but I run it at 4.8.
Click to expand...

Do you have a guide or video of how to install the custom fan above the VRM? 4.8 would be a great step-up from my 3.8 6100 if I could get a similar chip.

Do you reckon it makes no major difference between 8350 or 8320?
 
I used a couple of brackets that you get with Ikea wardrobes/other free standing furniture to attach them to walls (for legal reasons).
I glued them to the sides of the smaller fan and then screwed the brackets into the unused, lower (nearest motherboard) mounting holes of the case's rear exhaust fan.

Really all you need to do is get air blasting into the area between the I/O ports and the CPU cooler.

The main difference is for people running them stock, but I don't know of any 8320s that haven't hit 4.5 easily..
 
So I am looking at just buying an FX83xx CPU as a temporary upgrade until the new CPUs are out later this year.

I am also looking to get a 'proper' CPU cooler as my Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro is not really up to the job.

What would you guys suggest:

Buy a CPU cooler and just overclock my current 6100?
Buy a CPU cooler and an FX83xx (not sure which one though to pick?) and overclock this?
Say yolo and spend like £500 on an 5820k (as that seems to be the 'best' CPU to upgrade to at present)

Thanks!

As a side joke to this, I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not sure
 
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All 3 of those plans, involve new CPU cooling anyway, so I'd buy that first, and see what you can get out your current CPU! As mentioned, make sure the mobo gets some airflow!

If you get a higher OC, but still not the performance you want, then it's maybe time to switch to Intel (and re-use the new cooling).
 
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