CPU upgrade ideas?

Right now, my rig is running 4GB of DDR2 RAM, an Nvidia GTX 650, and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000 + 2,6 GHz Dual-Core.

I've got a deal on the table ($83) for an AMD Phenom x4 9550 2.2 GHz Quad-Core. Is it actually worth pulling the trigger on a CPU swap, or am I just throwing cash down the drain for a negligible speed boost?

My big question is whether those four cores are actually going to do anything useful during gameplay, or if I should be prioritizing raw clock speed instead.
Since gaming is pretty much all I do with this machine, I really want to know if this will help me tackle heavier titles like Battlefield 3 and stuff in that same ballpark.

Personally, I’d go ahead and grab it—mostly because you'll have the breathing room to drop in a beefier graphics card down the road. By the way, what kind of motherboard are you running right now?

It’ll probably help out in BF3 multiplayer and some newer titles, though I guess it’s still a pretty weak processor overall.

Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2

By any logical standard, that CPU should be at least 50% faster, maybe even twice as quick, but I'm really wondering if that 2.2 GHz chip is actually going to hold its own in games. Right now, my rig is basically my daily driver for gaming and just surfing the web, so if the jump isn't massive, I’d honestly rather just bite the bullet, wait a bit longer, and grab a different motherboard with a more modern socket and a beefier processor. But hey, if this one can keep me afloat for another year or two, I might just pull the trigger on it now.

Just skip over that AM2/AM2+ socket entirely. You really ought to be looking at a Phenom II; what you're looking at is ancient history
Looking at the requirements for "next-gen" titles, I see people throwing in chips like the Q6600—which obviously isn't a requirement, but still—even for something like FIFA 15...

Save your money and just jump to a modern platform

EDIT
To be fair, the price isn't completely insane right now, so it'll serve you for maybe a year or two if that's all you need
If that motherboard dies, you're basically stuck in the gutter...
BTW, it does support the Phenom ii x4 945 (95w) http://www.gigabyte.com/support-down....aspx?pid=2500

I guess this AnandTech benchmark comparison is worth a quick look if you're curious about how these specific CPUs stack up against each other. It’s pretty interesting to see the performance gaps laid out like this.

So, I guess it’s just not worth it... the Celeron G1820.$83 The newer one is actually a bit more powerful. I guess the G850 might even edge out the x4 9550 in multithreaded performance—at least according to this benchmark.

If the author has about 800-$300 set aside for the CPU, motherboard, and RAM—that would be pretty ideal 👍

Right now, this rig is doing its job just fine, but I’m looking to give it a little extra kick so I can squeeze another year or two out of it before I save up enough for a serious upgrade. This setup was built back when these parts were actually top-tier, though I did recently drop in a new GPU. If I had the cash lying around, I’d probably grab the $217 quad core (AMD Athlon ii x4 750 k 3.4) along with an ASRock FM2A88M Extreme4 + ), which seems like a solid deal, but then I'd be stuck buying new RAM too, which adds at least $67 to the bill—and my wallet just isn't ready for that kind of hit right now. So, I’m basically wondering if anyone could tell me if that upgrade is actually worth it for gaming, or if there's some other CPU in that same ballpark that would perform better? Thanks 🙂

Also, looking at the prices for the Phenom ii x4 945, they're sitting at over $133, which honestly feels like a bit of a rip-off for what it is right now 🙂

nimbleowl94 said:Right now, this rig is doing its job just fine, but I’m looking to give it a little extra kick so I can squeeze another year or two out of it before I save up enough for a serious upgrade. This setup was built back when these parts were actually top-tier, though I did recently drop in a new GPU. If I had the cash lying around, I’d probably grab the $217 quad core (AMD Athlon ii x4 750 k 3.4) along with an ASRock FM2A88M Extreme4 + ), which seems like a solid deal, but then I'd be stuck buying new RAM too, which adds at least $67 to the bill—and my wallet just isn't ready for that kind of hit right now. So, I’m basically wondering if anyone could tell me if that upgrade is actually worth it for gaming, or if there's some other CPU in that same ballpark that would perform better? Thanks 🙂

Also, looking at the prices for the Phenom ii x4 945, they're sitting at over $133, which honestly feels like a bit of a rip-off for what it is right now 🙂

Kimberly Gomez34 told you, your motherboard supports the Phenom ii x4 945, which is still a pretty solid processor by today's standards. I reckon it'll keep running most things for a few more years without hitting massive bottlenecks, provided you don't pair it with an overkill graphics card. Honestly, I think it could even handle something like an R7 270 without too much of a bottleneck. 🙂 If you can find one for a bargain, go for it—the difference will be HUGE 🙂 I switched from a dual-core Athlon, which was slightly weaker than yours, to a newer dual-core Intel, and the difference was night and day. I don't even need to tell you that the jump from your Athlon to a Phenom will be EVEN bigger 😉

You aren't going to find much luck with that Phenom. It’s an old relic that was never really anything special to begin with, and honestly, 2.2GHz is pretty weak by today's standards.

If you're looking for a real boost, maybe check out some suggestions for the Phenom ii x3/4 or Athlon ii x3/4. Though, I guess it might be smarter to just wait and grab that full setup mentioned above, or just sell what you have and upgrade to something new.

fadedorca66 said:You aren't going to find much luck with that Phenom. It’s an old relic that was never really anything special to begin with, and honestly, 2.2GHz is pretty weak by today's standards.

If you're looking for a real boost, maybe check out some suggestions for the Phenom ii x3/4 or Athlon ii x3/4. Though, I guess it might be smarter to just wait and grab that full setup mentioned above, or just sell what you have and upgrade to something new.

Signature. 🙂 Only Phenom II or Athlon II should be considered.

Thanks a ton, guys. I’m gonna sit on this for a bit and weigh my options—either I dump the whole rig to build something fresh or just swap out the CPU for this Phenom ii x4 945 🙂