Need help with an upgrade!

So, I’m planning on upgrading my gaming rig this coming October.

Last year, I just swapped out the graphics card, but my processor is really starting to struggle.
Since I'm currently running an AMD, I’m looking to make the jump over to Intel—specifically moving to a Skylake i7.
I’ll be shopping at Micro Center, where I originally bought this whole setup since they handled the full build for me.

I could use some guidance on what exactly needs replacing. I assume I'll need a new motherboard too, but I'm stuck on which one to pick.
I actually had this entire configuration put together by the experts here about two years ago, so I figured I'd come back to the community for some advice.

Current specs:

CPU: AMD FX-8320
Cooler: LC-CC-120 Liquid Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P AM3 RAM
RAM: Kingston HyperX 2x4GB 1866MHz
GPU: Nvidia GF GTX 1060 6
PSU: XFX TS Series 550W 80+
Cooler: LC-CC-120 Liquid Cooler

My main goal is to get an i7-6700K. My budget would be around $1667.

P.S. There's also a bit of a buzzing noise coming from somewhere—not sure if it's a fan or something else. Should I look into replacing that as well? Thanks in advance! 🙏

Where exactly is the CPU struggling? It’s an older chip, but I wouldn't call it a complete disaster.

Honestly, the Skylake i7 feels like a bit of a missed opportunity right now since you're getting way more bang for your buck with Ryzen, specifically an R5 or R7. Plus, Intel is dropping that new Coffee lake platform around October, which should hopefully step up to the plate against Ryzen by bumping up core counts—think i3 moving to quad-core, i5 to hexa, and i7 hitting hexa with SMT. I guess it might be worth waiting to see what Intel actually delivers, because planning anything right this second seems a little premature. Then again, even if you decide to grab a Ryzen tomorrow, you probably won't regret it.

fadedorca66 said:Where exactly is the CPU struggling? It’s an older chip, but I wouldn't call it a complete disaster.

Honestly, the Skylake i7 feels like a bit of a missed opportunity right now since you're getting way more bang for your buck with Ryzen, specifically an R5 or R7. Plus, Intel is dropping that new Coffee lake platform around October, which should hopefully step up to the plate against Ryzen by bumping up core counts—think i3 moving to quad-core, i5 to hexa, and i7 hitting hexa with SMT. I guess it might be worth waiting to see what Intel actually delivers, because planning anything right this second seems a little premature. Then again, even if you decide to grab a Ryzen tomorrow, you probably won't regret it.

Is Ryzen really the better bet right now? I don't know... I feel like I'm hitting a bottleneck in certain games. It doesn't seem to be hitting its full potential. I can notice these tiny stutters—nothing huge, almost imperceptible—but it's still not quite smooth. You know what I mean?

The AMD Ryzen 5 1600 2 x is currently the most budget-friendly option at Micro Center, and pairing it with a B350 motherboard is easily your best value move right now. Just keep in mind you'll need some DDR4 RAM to get up and running. What kind of total budget are we working with here?

Kimberly Gomez34 said:The AMD Ryzen 5 1600 2 x is currently the most budget-friendly option at Micro Center, and pairing it with a B350 motherboard is easily your best value move right now. Just keep in mind you'll need some DDR4 RAM to get up and running. What kind of total budget are we working with here?

I'll let you know everything soon, friend, probably around $1667

AMD Ryzen 5 1600 2 x
2x G. Skill Aegis 8GB DDR4 3000Mhz
ASRock AB350 Pro4

3 $170 - Micro Center

Do you have an SSD?

I've got a 120GB SSD on hand

Hey everyone! I could really use some advice on upgrading my budget build. I picked this rig up about three years ago, and honestly, it’s starting to feel its age. My main focus is playing Diablo. I was thinking about grabbing an i5, but I'm torn—should I wait for the next generation to drop so prices settle down? Also, I need to pick up a decent monitor to go with it. My total budget for the CPU and monitor combined is around $450. Thanks in advance! 🙂

-Intel Pentium G3258 s1150
-Crucial RAM 4GB DDR3 1600 x2
-ASRock H81M-HDS, 1150
-MSI GTX 750-Ti 2GB
-Intel 520 SSD Sata3 120GB
-Zalman Z3 black case
-Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+

Don't waste your money on a brand-new CPU right now. I've seen the Intel Core i5 4440 going for as low as $7--$267. My guess is that once the new Ryzen chips and Coffee Lake hit the market, prices for these older units are going to tank even further. For now, you should look at what's available here:

As for a monitor, if you ask me, this is the absolute best value on the market right now (it's a 24" IPS panel with 75Hz and FreeSync—even if you can't take advantage of those features quite yet—all for a really solid price)

https://www.nabava.net/search.php?q=LG+24MP59G-P

This guy makes some good points... you could grab this Intel Xeon or maybe an Intel Core i5 4440 along with a monitor, and if the graphics card doesn't quite cut it later on, you can always swap it out. For example, something like an NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290/380 x

It’s about $1,400, plus I’ve got a 3-year warranty. And hey, who knows? It might even drop in price over the next month or two...
Regarding the GPU, do you think it’ll bottleneck this CPU? I'm also thinking about bumping up my RAM to 12 GB.

I don't think it's worth buying those new 4-core i5 processors anymore😁 They just aren't a great value, and honestly, most CPUs don't really struggle on stock settings anyway.

Will this work with my ASRock H81M-HDS on an 1150 socket?
Does the price seem fair to you guys?
Am I going to need to mess around with a BIOS update or end up reinstalling Windows 10?
Is there anything else I should look into changing?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/processors/listing-example-link

Hey, you might want to check the motherboard manufacturer's website to see if that CPU requires a BIOS update first.

The price is pretty average, honestly. It’s not some incredible steal, but it’s certainly not a rip-off either.

It says the BIOS version is P1.60 for both my setup and this Intel Core i5 4440, so that should be all good.

I’ve been playing Diablo lately, and since they optimized the code to take advantage of multi-core processing, I’m starting to suspect my CPU might be the bottleneck. That said, I’ve been keeping an eye on Task Manager, and it rarely hits 100% usage, so I'm also wondering if my GPU is just struggling to keep up.

I have "Dynamic resolution" enabled in Diablo, but I keep running into these massive frame rate drops whenever things get chaotic and there are too many effects on screen. Now I'm stuck wondering—is that the graphics card crying for help, or is it the processor?

My GPU is an MSI GTX 750-Ti 2, which really should be doing okay, right?

Everything is set to low settings at 1080p using DX11.

I can't speak to how that specific game will run, but looking at the big picture, you're definitely going to see a massive upgrade by moving away from a dual-core setup.

Raymond Anderson14 said:So, I’m planning on upgrading my gaming rig this coming October.

Last year, I just swapped out the graphics card, but my processor is really starting to struggle.
Since I'm currently running an AMD, I’m looking to make the jump over to Intel—specifically moving to a Skylake i7.
I’ll be shopping at Micro Center, where I originally bought this whole setup since they handled the full build for me.

I could use some guidance on what exactly needs replacing. I assume I'll need a new motherboard too, but I'm stuck on which one to pick.
I actually had this entire configuration put together by the experts here about two years ago, so I figured I'd come back to the community for some advice.

Current specs:

CPU: AMD FX-8320
Cooler: LC-CC-120 Liquid Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P AM3 RAM
RAM: Kingston HyperX 2x4GB 1866MHz
GPU: Nvidia GF GTX 1060 6
PSU: XFX TS Series 550W 80+
Cooler: LC-CC-120 Liquid Cooler

My main goal is to get an i7-6700K. My budget would be around $1667.

P.S. There's also a bit of a buzzing noise coming from somewhere—not sure if it's a fan or something else. Should I look into replacing that as well? Thanks in advance! 🙏

Upgrading this current setup is pointless unless you're just looking to throw money away. Simple advice: overclock that CPU. Just Google Search "how to overclock" and you're set.

If you are determined to upgrade regardless, get a better cooler, maybe liquid cooling, and go for it.

One tip: everything doesn't always need to be set to Ultra. The difference between High and Medium is barely noticeable, you know?