Need help with upgrading CPU

[DLCBOB]

I am wanting to upgrade my CPU to either an i5 or i7 of some sort for streaming, I am wanting some advice on which CPU and Motherboard would be compatible, thanks.

My specs:
ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3
AMD FX4100 Quad-Core 3.6GHz
8192MB RAM
2GB GTX 550 Ti
700W PSU

 

[slh28]

What's your budget and what are you using the PC for?

Looking at your current build it might be better to upgrade to a FX-8320 or 8350 as it wouldn't involve changing the motherboard.

 

[DLCBOB]

My budget would be around £300~ I will be upgrading so that I can stream CPU intensive game

 

[Jad Chaar]

Well, streaming doesnt really involve much to do with the CPU/GPU (if I am not mistaken). It is very reliant on internet speed more. So if you are getting lag in game, it is not because streaming is making your PC run slow, but instead, your internet bandwidth is being absorbed by the streaming. Do streaming to sites like Twitch actually capture the video like FRAPs would, or does it just capture your screen and stream it to the cloud.

 

[St1ckM4n]

I'd say that it'd capture and hold that in a small buffer, and stream this. It's still definitely an additional demand on CPU and GPU.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I'd say that it'd capture and hold that in a small buffer, and stream this. It's still definitely an additional demand on CPU and GPU.

But I dont think it will require a more hefty CPU/GPU. FRAPs taxes the system greatly, so the need for a quad core, a lot of RAM, good GPU, and an SSD are required for optimal recording.

 

[Matt12345170]

When your streaming, you use applications such as Xsplit, OBS and the such, unless I am mistaken, there is encoding involved, so it would be very beneficial for a good i7 processor, and a mid-high range graphics card. (or AMD equivalent)

 

[Jad Chaar]

When your streaming, you use applications such as Xsplit, OBS and the such, unless I am mistaken, there is encoding involved, so it would be very beneficial for a good i7 processor, and a mid-high range graphics card. (or AMD equivalent)

I wont be surprised.

 

[GeforcerFX]

One of the biggest problems my friends ran into when they started streaming was the tasking on the CPU, its just like using FRAPs but can be even harder in some cases on the system since its recording it, encoding it, then sending it out. You already have a AMD system, a 8350 would actually be perfect for this concept. Playing games and then streaming them would be whats considered a lot of multithreaded work and that's what the 8 core FX series are good for. Would save you significant money on a new motherboard and a FX 8350 tends to be cheaper then a i7 equivalent (aka a K series), you would get better gaming performance since the 8350 is higher clock on the 8 cores and has a nice turbo to it and is able to overclock up to 4.4ghz with ease. Then you have 4 core to do all the streaming work for you. basically it would be like doubling your CPU power you already have, and increasing its single threaded performance since the clock speed increase and piledriver cores in the 8350. So for the suggested price limit your at actually staying with AMD might be a better choice, you would actually be one of the few people capable of taking advantage all the FX-8350's cores. A 8350 looks to be around £160.

 

[Jad Chaar]

The i7 is a quad core with 4 virtual cores, making it show up as 8 cores in Windows. I think that is the same with AMD, but it is advertised as a 8 core CPU.

 

[GeforcerFX]

The i7 is a quad core with 4 virtual cores, making it show up as 8 cores in Windows. I think that is the same with AMD, but it is advertised as a 8 core CPU.

No the Bulldozer architecture is actually 8 cores, 4 modules with 2 cores in each module, that then share certain parts that would usually go to a full core, making one core in each module perform normally and getting around 60-75% of the full capabilities of the second core in the module. AMD's version of SMT is technically better, just less efficient (since there using 2 cores). But if you read the 8350's reviews the chip keeps up with i5's and i7's in heavily multithreaded benchmarks, gaming and then streaming are considered heavily multithreaded if done at the same time. So for what hes doing he will get better gaming performance then he currently is getting due to the piledriver cores in the new FX and the clock speed increase over his current chip. Then he still has 4 core remaining to do the stream work for him. He literally doubling the power of his current system.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Interesting. The i5 beats the 8350 in most games though:
Part 1:

Part 2:

 

[GeforcerFX]

Most games can't take advantage of the extra 4 cores in the 8350, hence why I said in heavily multithreaded environments. The big difference would be with the 8350 when they started streaming the processor would just use the other half that not doing anything meaning no impact on the game. A i5 that's already being utilized to its max will have a reduction in performance.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Most games can't take advantage of the extra 4 cores in the 8350, hence why I said in heavily multithreaded environments. The big difference would be with the 8350 when they started streaming the processor would just use the other half that not doing anything meaning no impact on the game. A i5 that's already being utilized to its max will have a reduction in performance.

True, there is a limit. I guess we will wait and see where consumer CPUs go in the next few years. I wont be surprised if Intel doesnt do much on the desktop front since the business is going downhill. They will focus more on 8 core mobile CPUs probably.

 

[DLCBOB]

Thanks for the help guys, I think that I will be sticking with AMD and purchasing a 8350

 

[icdat]

I am not good at English,Could you tell me the final conclusion of the second video? Was it said that fx8350 is better than i5 in pohotoship?

 

[Jad Chaar]

Photoshop will perform better on the 8350 because more cores = better performance.

 

[icdat]

Photoshop will perform better on the 8350 because more cores = better performance.

thanks