Need assistance with upgrading your CPU? Let me know what you're considering and I can guide you through the process.
Need assistance with upgrading your CPU? Let me know what you're considering and I can guide you through the process.
I currently own an AMD FX-8300 with 8 GB of DDR3 and a GTX 1060 that has 3GB of VRAM. I plan to keep the GPU for now since the CPU upgrade might be more beneficial. The FX-8300 doesn’t meet some game requirements, while the GTX 1060 still performs well at 1080p. I’m considering a Ryzen processor and am thinking about a used first-generation CPU. I’m curious about how much performance a Ryzen 3 1200 or a Ryzen 5 1500 would offer compared to this setup. Any specific numbers for individual CPUs versus the FX-8300 would be helpful, and I’d like to know if this upgrade makes sense overall.
Your options vary with your spending. If you have the 1600af available, it’s a solid choice. From my past experience with a Ryzen 3 1200, unless you’re doing heavily graphical games, it works fine. Once you hit power-intensive titles like Assassin's Creed Origins or Ghost Recon Wildlands, you’ll notice performance drops—especially in first-person shooters. My setup on an RX580+R3 1200 let me reach around 45 FPS even at low settings, but jumping to a 3600 boosts that to about 80 FPS. So, budget plays a big role in what you can get away with.
I own a Ryzen 1400 and GTX 980, just set up about a month ago. Games run smoothly at 30-60 FPS in BeamNG Drive 4K with shadow reduction enabled. My kids used to complain about lag on the older GTX 760. After installing my card, everything feels much better. For performance, I recommend a quad-core processor with SMT and at least eight threads.
What is your budget for this? If you upgrade to a new Ryzen chip and board, you'll also need new RAM. I wouldn't settle for as low as $1200—it doesn’t match the performance for that price. It would be better to wait and consider a 1600AF (around $100) or a 2600 (about $120).
I agree with the 1600 af... It's a solid CPU comparable to a $30 more expensive stock 2600. I bought one to swap in for a Ryzen 5 2400g. After overclocking it to 4 ghz, benchmarks show it matches a stock 2600X. Amazon typically stocks them, just confirm you're getting the AF version, not the AE.