Switching to Intel can work well for gaming, depending on your needs and budget.
Switching to Intel can work well for gaming, depending on your needs and budget.
Hello, I own an 8350 and a 290x Lightning. While playing Guild Wars 2, which is quite CPU-intensive, I noticed my FPS drops significantly in crowded zones even when the GPU is handling most of the work. I suspect the issue might be more related to other games that use better GPU optimization, making it easier to identify. I’m curious if swapping the motherboard and CPU could help—specifically an MSI Z97 Mpower board with a 4790K. This might improve performance in Guild Wars 2 and possibly other titles as well. How much can a CPU bottleneck affect FPS during gaming?
It's a decent CPU, but for CPU bond games that don't rely heavily on multithreading, you'll see better performance.
Your setup is sufficient for gaming needs. Imagine spending around $500 just to boost performance a little in games? That doesn’t make sense to me.
AMD CPUs struggle with single-threaded games, particularly in MMOs. If you believe the upgrade offers better stability and higher frame rates, proceed; otherwise, consider overclocking. This won’t match Intel’s performance but could still provide some improvement.
MMOs and other big online games are likely the only categories where upgrading your CPU really matters. They may still run a bit slower in busy spots because of the game's design challenges.
It wouldn't seem worthwhile unless you secured an extraordinary offer on the Mobo+CPU. The 8350 isn't a weak chip at all. I just can't justify paying that much for the Mobo+4790k in terms of added performance.
Sure, I’ll send you my old parts. Just let me know what you need!