s Before Buying
s Before Buying
Hi All,
I’m looking to enhance the old computer my friend assembled for me a while ago. Here are the details:
Mobo: ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD
PSU: CORSAIR CX series CX500 500W ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS BRONZE certified
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb Quad-Core, 3.4 GHz, AM3 socket, 125W
RAM: G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB), DDR3 SDRAM, 1333 MHz
GPU: EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi), 1GB FPB, 192-bit GDDR5, PCI Express 2.0 x16, HDCP SLI
Currently, I’ve discovered that the FX8320-50-70 and the 9000 series essentially share the same chip but differ in clock speed. I’m wondering if my motherboard can handle the FX8320 up to 4.5–4.7 GHz. Should I opt for a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus cooling solution, or would it be better to invest in water cooling?
Looking ahead, I plan to upgrade my GPU to the GeForce 960 SSC and increase my RAM to 16 GB.
The 212 Plus will perform well.
To be clear, many games use more than four threads. Examples include BF 4 multiplayer, GTA V, and The Witcher 3.
You can maintain a cool temperature with the cool master 212+. If you need even better performance, consider switching to water cooling for an OC.
There’s little value in upgrading your CPU.
You might be able to push the Phenom to around 4GHz,
but each of its cores isn’t significantly more capable or efficient than the Phenom’s own.
With four cores and no games requiring more than four, your 8320 with eight cores won’t noticeably improve gaming performance.
Additionally, you’ll need to invest heavily in a better power supply and cooling system for the 8320.
My son is still using a Phenom II x4 at 4GHz, but I plan to upgrade him soon—opting for an Intel i5 similar to mine.