• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Upgrading CPU, need advice between two choices and the memory to go with it

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

JCE3000GT

Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2015
Location
DFW TX
Hello all. As much as I love my 965 BE it is time for me to upgrade I think. I've sold a few hundred $$$ worth of Super Nintendo games to originally buy an XBOX One but now I think I want to upgrade my PC instead. So, let's begin.

My current system specs are below (copied from my signature).
Gigabyte GA‑990FXA‑UD3
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Series quad core 3.62Ghz
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
nVidia GTX 960 S-SC 4GB GDDR5
60GB Sandisk SSD [490/390 MB/s] (OS drive)
256GB Samsung SSD [540/520 MB/s]
1TB Seagate Barracuda SATA [3.0Gb/s]
3TB Samsung SATA [6.0Gb/s]
Antec DF-85 case
Antec CP-1000 1,000w PSU
Corsair H80 water cooler
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Now I am only interested in getting a new CPU, faster/more RAM, and possibly a new SSHD hybrid harddrive. But for this topic I need help with the CPU+RAM combination. I will only have enough money for $160~$210 for the CPU and $70~$90 for 16GB RAM.

Rule #1, I am 100% keeping my 1,000w PSU
Rule #2, I am 100% keeping my motherboard
Rule #3, I only want G.SKILL memory

---------------------------

I have two CPUs that I like...
AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W FD8350FRHKBOX Desktop Processor
AMD FX-9370 Vishera 8-Core 4.4GHz Socket AM3+ 220W FD9370FHHKBOF Desktop Processor - Black Edition

  1. So is the 9370 worth $40 more than the 8350?
  2. Does the 9370 have turbo? I didn't see it...
  3. Is that extra ~100w usage going to matter on the 9370? In other words is a 1,000 PSU going to be enough with all the things you see on my system connected to it?
  4. What would be best RAM speed be for either of these two CPUs? In other words, is 2133 going to work well enough over 1800 or is 1800 enough?
  5. Is my Corsair H80i going to be good enough to cool either of these?


*edit*
Please keep in mind I am really only doing this to be relevant with some PC games being released now through the next 6 months as I don't think my 965 BE will be able to do much beyond minimum requirements.

*edit 2*
Here are some documents regarding memory and CPU compatibility list with my motherboard. Though the memory list is rather crummy...
http://www.jce3000gt.com/public/cpu_ga-990fxa-ud3.pdf
http://www.jce3000gt.com/public/memory_ga-990fxa-ud3.pdf
 
Last edited:
1. No. Get the 8350.
2. Not sure. Amd site should tell you if you can't wait for an answer.
3. Your psu is MASSIVE overkill, so no it won't matter.
4. 1866 is fine... but there is no need to swap ram out at all for something faster.
5. At stock and md overclock on the 8350, yes. The 93xx at stock.
 
[*]Is that extra ~100w usage going to matter on the 9370? In other words is a 1,000 PSU going to be enough with all the things you see on my system connected to it?

If you only consider the wattage, then no problem. With the 9370 you might finally break 500 W... However, you should research the meaning of voltage rails, especially the +12 V rail, and find out whether your PSU can output enough current through the rails. I doubt you'll run into any issues, but better safe than sorry.

[*]What would be best RAM speed be for either of these two CPUs? In other words, is 2133 going to work well enough over 1800 or is 1800 enough?

What do you consider "well enough"? RAM speed has very little effect on overall performance, except for maybe some very specific, memory intensive tasks.

*edit*
Please keep in mind I am really only doing this to be relevant with some PC games being released now through the next 6 months as I don't think my 965 BE will be able to do much beyond minimum requirements.

Hmm... I was going to say that your CPU is not a significant bottleneck, but based on its passmark rating it's a bit slower than an FX-4300 (when both are stock). The 4 core FX-series processors in turn may bottleneck the fastest GPUs to some extent. Whether the GTX 960 is being slowed down by the CPU is something worth testing, as it's not one of the fastest GPUs at the moment and the result also depends on which resolution your using. If you see a clear increase in, say, Unigine Heaven benchmark results when going from stock values to your current OC, then a new CPU might make sense. (Edit: If not, then upgrade your GPU instead.) For gaming the FX-8350 should be all you need and since with a single GPU @ 1080p even a FX-6350 would in practice give you the same performance, the higher price and increased power consumption of the FX-9370 is probably not worth it. If you don't believe me - and there's no reason you should - read the "Gaming CPU Shoot-Out Redux: Multi-GPU Scaling" at Wide Screen Gaming Forum.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

1. No. Get the 8350.
2. Not sure. Amd site should tell you if you can't wait for an answer.
3. Your psu is MASSIVE overkill, so no it won't matter.
4. 1866 is fine... but there is no need to swap ram out at all for something faster.
5. At stock and md overclock on the 8350, yes. The 93xx at stock.

Thanks good to know, thanks for the answers. :)

FYI, the 9370 has a turbo of 4.7Ghz apparently.

If you only consider the wattage, then no problem. With the 9370 you might finally break 500 W... However, you should research the meaning of voltage rails, especially the +12 V rail, and find out whether your PSU can output enough current through the rails. I doubt you'll run into any issues, but better safe than sorry..

Will do, I'll check on the voltage rail.


What do you consider "well enough"? RAM speed has very little effect on overall performance, except for maybe some very specific, memory intensive tasks.

Primarily just wanted to know if the 1866 was fast enough for any games in the foreseeable future?


Hmm... I was going to say that your CPU is not a significant bottleneck, but based on its passmark rating it's a bit slower than an FX-4300 (when both are stock). The 4 core FX-series processors in turn may bottleneck the fastest GPUs to some extent. Whether the GTX 960 is being slowed down by the CPU is something worth testing, as it's not one of the fastest GPUs at the moment and the result also depends on which resolution your using. If you see a clear increase in, say, Unigine Heaven benchmark results when going from stock values to your current OC, then a new CPU might make sense. (Edit: If not, then upgrade your GPU instead.) For gaming the FX-8350 should be all you need and since with a single GPU @ 1080p even a FX-6350 would in practice give you the same performance, the higher price and increased power consumption of the FX-9370 is probably not worth it. If you don't believe me - and there's no reason you should - read the "Gaming CPU Shoot-Out Redux: Multi-GPU Scaling" at Wide Screen Gaming Forum.

My 960 is the super-superclocked version so it has a bit more oomph vs all other 960's. I'm hoping I won't have any bottlenecks with it or any CPUs I get. At least for a while anyway since I already spent $240 on it. Is it your opinion to also get an 8350 over the 9370?
 
Primarily just wanted to know if the 1866 was fast enough for any games in the foreseeable future?

If it's only for games, then based on what little I've heard I would have to agree with EarthDog.

My 960 is the super-superclocked version so it has a bit more oomph vs all other 960's. I'm hoping I won't have any bottlenecks with it or any CPUs I get.

A bit, yes, but a GTX 970 should still be noticeably quicker. If you get an FX-8350, then your FPS should in practice be determined by your GPU as long as you stick with a single GPU and around 1080p for resolution. In this scenario, the GPU will be a "bottleneck", meaning an upgraded GPU should result in a way more signigicant FPS boost than switching the CPU to FX-9370. This of course doesn't mean the GTX 960 is not enough or that the extra performance provided by more expensive cards is worth the extra money, only that it's the component your gaming performance depends most on.

Is it your opinion to also get an 8350 over the 9370?

Well, yes. If it was my money, I'd probably get the 8350 and OC it.
 
Just my .02, I do agree with going 8350 or 8370k over the 9370. The only issue I see with your setup is the H80i, it may only be good for a mild Oc. These Fx 8xxx/9xxx chips really start pouring the heat out when pushed. Reason I mention the 8370k is it seems as the manufacturing process has matured, the latter chips coming out tend to OC higher with less voltage. I've seen a few 8370k's come through the forum that will do some pretty nice clocks at a lot less voltage then the early Fx 8xxx chips such as the one I own.
 
If it's only for games, then based on what little I've heard I would have to agree with EarthDog.

A bit, yes, but a GTX 970 should still be noticeably quicker. If you get an FX-8350, then your FPS should in practice be determined by your GPU as long as you stick with a single GPU and around 1080p for resolution. In this scenario, the GPU will be a "bottleneck", meaning an upgraded GPU should result in a way more signigicant FPS boost than switching the CPU to FX-9370. This of course doesn't mean the GTX 960 is not enough or that the extra performance provided by more expensive cards is worth the extra money, only that it's the component your gaming performance depends most on.

That makes sense. I've so far been pleasantly surprised how well a highly modified 4k/8k textured Skyrim works on my current rig with my video card. At least for now games like Witcher III, Mad Max, Fallout 4, and No Man's Sky shouldn't give me any trouble running them on a higher video settings. Those four are my current targets.

Well, yes. If it was my money, I'd probably get the 8350 and OC it.

Duly noted. :D Getting the 8350 means I can get maybe 32GB of RAM if I wanted to go that route. LOL I won't of course!

Just my .02, I do agree with going 8350 or 8370k over the 9370. The only issue I see with your setup is the H80i, it may only be good for a mild Oc. These Fx 8xxx/9xxx chips really start pouring the heat out when pushed. Reason I mention the 8370k is it seems as the manufacturing process has matured, the latter chips coming out tend to OC higher with less voltage. I've seen a few 8370k's come through the forum that will do some pretty nice clocks at a lot less voltage then the early Fx 8xxx chips such as the one I own.

This also makes sense. I'm ok with keeping whatever the stock speed is on the next CPU upgrade until I may need it several years down the road. When that time comes I would imagine my H80i would need to be replaced anyway since it is already 4+ years old right now I think. I inherited everything but 1 SSD and my video card from my brother on this rig. It took a long time before this 965 BE was even overclocked and the irony is I didn't even need to do it really since I haven't bought The Witcher III yet.
 
I'd also recommend an FX-8350 or FX-8370 over the FX-9370.

The FX-9xxx series chips may have a higher core clock/core speed, but they also have a stupidly-high TDP/heat output (220W TDP ain't nothing to sneeze at) and draw a ton of power (unless you under-clock and under-volt them (then what's the point in getting one TBH)). FX-8370 has a slightly higher turbo frequency (100MHz) and reportedly has a lower power draw than the 8350 from what I've read (more efficient after a slight redesign from what I read).
 
The two big questions I have .....

1. Gigabyte 990FXA UD3 ....... which revision is the board

2. And if you plan to use this board as I think you are how much if any Overclock do you plan to do.

The UD3 has in some revisions proven to be a very poor choice for an FX CPU and could be a very big limiting factor in any upgrade if you have the wrong revision....... I think there are 5 or 6 revisions out there.
 
I'll have to check my board revision and get back to you. I won't really have any need or want to OC throughout the life of this motherboard + this next FX CPU. But having said that is my motherboard not going to like the 8350 or 9730 even at stock non-OC speeds?
 
Regardless of the revision it Should be fine with a Fx 8xxx chip at stock clocks.
 
Regardless of the revision it Should be fine with a Fx 8xxx chip at stock clocks.

That's good to hear. Should I ask the motherboard mfg. about compatibility with the 8350?

I'll get the revision # tomorrow before I post it.
 
That's good to hear. Should I ask the motherboard mfg. about compatibility with the 8350?

I'll get the revision # tomorrow before I post it.
It's not really a matter of compatibility, I believe all Gigabyte 970/990 UD3 boards support the Fx 4/6/8xxx chips. The issue seems to be in the BIOS when overclocking, particularly Rev 3.0, since you do not plan on overclocking which revision shouldn't matter.
 
It's not really a matter of compatibility, I believe all Gigabyte 970/990 UD3 boards support the Fx 4/6/8xxx chips. The issue seems to be in the BIOS when overclocking, particularly Rev 3.0, since you do not plan on overclocking which revision shouldn't matter.

Oh ok, that's good to know. I won't bother with seeing which revision then. :) Going with an 8350 saves me some $$$ to get the RAM I want.
 
So it appears my mobo won't like an FX-8350 (or higher) according to my research with teh google. I've attached a pic of the mobo revision. Which is a whopping 1.0! Yay, the very first rev...

Maybe I need another mobo instead of RAM.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 207
Not familiar with that revision but rev 1 is better then the rev3. At any rate if you have no plan for Overclocking your chip this board should work just fine for you. I have had some experience with the Rev4 and although I would not go out of my way to recommend it, it is a better board then some out there that claim compatibility with the FX8XXX chips.
 
Maybe I'll try it first before jumping in to getting a new mobo. Is it correct to say that the issues are an overheating chipset/VRM? If so perhaps better case fans would help cool that SOB. ;)
 
I believe Rev 1 is fine, most motherboards even the higher end ones will benefit from having active cooling on the VRM/Nb heatsinks. At stock clocks I don't think you'll have any issues.
 
Since you already have cooling, I might suggest saving a few bucks and getting this cat if you can score one of the million 20 dollar off coupons that tigerdirect used to send out all the time. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9494387&CatId=11857

I got the 8310 version of this last year for a build and overclocked it to 4.5 with a 212 evo and a lesser board than yours. Just another option.

Edit: sorry, missed the part about not overclocking. But I'm leaving because this is ocf got dangit.
 
Last edited:
Back