[Solved] Upgrading system from AMD FX 6300

[gx_saurav]

Update

I have purchased a new system.

1. Intel Core i5 7500.
2. Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H
3. Gskill Ripjaws 2 x 8 GB DDR4 2400 MHz RAM

This thread has completed its purpose. Thanks for everyone's help.


Hello,

My current PC was made in August 2013 with the following configuration https://pcpartpicker.com/b/d8vKHx

Now that Kaby Lake is out, I am planning to upgrade as such.

1. Buy a Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 480 with 8 GB.
2. Overclock current CPU to 4.2 GHz (I have tried it. It runs fine).

In few months upgrade to the following system.

1. Intel Kaby Lake Core i5 7600 non K version as I don't plan to overclock.
2. I have heard Kaby lake supports 1.5v DDR3 1866 RAM so I am thinking to buy Asus H170 Plus D3 motherboard. This supports my Crucial Ballistix Tactical DDR3 1866 RAM at 1.5v. I checked in QVL list at Asus website so I can just reuse my RAM.

The reason I want to upgrade to Kaby Lake and not Skylake even though it will be little cheaper than Kaby Lake is because Kaby Lake supports HEVC encoding in hardware which helps in my case I convert videos for viewing in phone all the time.

My question is, whether Kaby lake indeed supports h170 chipset and that motherboard + DDR3 1866 at 1.5v.

Also, I plan to keep this new system for 4 years at least as that is what I keep my PCs for so will Quad Core i5 be enough for 4 years?

 

[Ancalagon44]

I don't know about Kaby Lake chipset support, but have you thought about waiting for AMD's Ryzen to be released? It might be a decent competitor to Kaby Lake.

 

[CHADBOGA]

I don't know about Kaby Lake chipset support, but have you thought about waiting for AMD's Ryzen to be released? It might be a decent competitor to Kaby Lake.

It then means he can't reuse his ram.

 

[NTMBK]

Skylake benefits a lot from fast RAM. Hobbling it with DDR3-1866 means you aren't going to get the most out of it.

 

[gx_saurav]

I don't know about Kaby Lake chipset support, but have you thought about waiting for AMD's Ryzen to be released? It might be a decent competitor to Kaby Lake.

I have been considering Ryzen and since I will be upgrading system by May, by then I will know how good Ryzen is. Truth be told, other then QuickSync based hardware HEVC encoding, there is no difference in going with Kaby lake for me over a cheaper Core i5 6500 but since I need HEVC encoding I am going with Kaby Lake.

Historically speaking, software support for AMD Hardware video encoding has been next to none while QuickSync is supported in the apps I use to convert such as VidCode, A's video converter and MediaShow espresso. If they support the hardware video encoder of Ryzen, I will definately go with a cheaper Ryzen CPU than a more expansive Intel.


I plan to overclock my AMD FX 6300 CPU when paired with RX 480. I am going with Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480 8 GB.

 

[gx_saurav]

Skylake benefits a lot from fast RAM. Hobbling it with DDR3-1866 means you aren't going to get the most out of it.

Oh! Which DDR4 RAM should I consider then?

 

[Atari2600]

It then means he can't reuse his ram.

Would that be a false economy though?

If the AM4 platform is going to be stable till 2020 or so, giving you Zen+ and Zen++ (?), then is it worth turning that upgrade path down for old memory worth < £100?

 

[LTC8K6]

1. Buy a Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 480 with 8 GB.
2. Overclock current CPU to 4.2 GHz (I have tried it. It runs fine).

Do that and await developments with RyZen and KL.

You'll want DDR4 anyway, whichever way you go.

I think in 2 or 3 months you will be able to make a much better informed decision.

 

[gx_saurav]

Do that and await developments with RyZen and KL.

You'll want DDR4 anyway, whichever way you go.

I think in 2 or 3 months you will be able to make a much better informed decision.

After reading through this thread, I think this is the right thing to do.

An overclocked AMD FX 6300 at 4.2 GHz should hold my gaming needs for another 6 months easily when combined with Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480 8 GB.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Disabling a module doesn't make much of a difference in a lot of games for me. Unless I'm playing Flight Sim X, NBA 2K or a couple others, the last module isn't absolutely imperative to being there. I'm severely GPU bound in most things with a 270 at 1080.

 

[gx_saurav]

So I have decided to go with Sapphire Nitro Radeon RX 470, 4GB with my current AMD FX 6300 right now.

In 3, 4 months when Kaby Lake is available, I will upgrade to that.

By January 2019, I will upgrade most likely to Vega 11 GPU with 8 GB HMB2 RAM at sub 150W TDP.

 

[FlanK3r]

or wait for Ryzen. If you are AMD fan.

 

[daveybrat]

Why are you so interested in Kaby Lake's video capabilities when you're going to be using a dedicated video card?

 

[gx_saurav]

or wait for Ryzen. If you are AMD fan.

I am interested in either a Kaby Lake Core i5 7600 or similar performing 65W Ryzen CPU. I hope AMD releases a 4c - 8t Ryzen. That will be a sweet upgrade from FX 6300 because finally multi core CPUs are being utilized in games.

Why are you so interested in Kaby Lake's video capabilities when you're going to be using a dedicated video card?

Historically speaking, support for hardware encoder in AMD CPU/GPU has been limited. Kaby Lake supports hardware encoding on HEVC which is also utilized fully by many encoding software. I have used an AMD APU (When I was not gaming) and then this FX 6300 so I have been a happy AMD user for past 6 years already.

 

[gx_saurav]

just got news from Guru3D that AMD is now sampling Quad Core Ryzen CPU. It is yet to be seen whether it is 4C-4T or 4c-8t. TDP is expected to be 65W which is what I am targeting for my next CPU.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

What difference does it make to have a 65w CPU vs 95w? In the grand scheme of things that's an incredibly low amount of power and heat, even in the most power-expensive places. Unless I was living off-grid with a solar panel and a battery, 30w is nothing. Changing one CFL light bulb in your home to a newer LED would net better energy savings over time.

 

[gx_saurav]

What difference does it make to have a 65w CPU vs 95w? In the grand scheme of things that's an incredibly low amount of power and heat, even in the most power-expensive places. Unless I was living off-grid with a solar panel and a battery, 30w is nothing. Changing one CFL light bulb in your home to a newer LED would net better energy savings over time.

I am already using LED bulbs.

A 65W CPU generates much less heat compared to a 95W CPU and hence with my same Cooler Master Hyper 212X CPU cooler I will be able to cool it while generating less fan noise compared to a 95W CPU.

 

[MajinCry]

I'll just say, if you're looking at AMD and plan on gaming, wait 'till we have some draw call performance numbers. Gotta make sure that they've finally made that leap in draw calls that Intel did with Core 2. It'd be a pretty bad buy if they haven't.

 

[Denithor]

If you're keeping the GPU for 2 years, definitely go with the 480 instead of the 470.

 

[Tup3x]

I am already using LED bulbs.

A 65W CPU generates much less heat compared to a 95W CPU and hence with my same Cooler Master Hyper 212X CPU cooler I will be able to cool it while generating less fan noise compared to a 95W CPU.

Except it doesn't support AM4.

 

[gx_saurav]

Except it doesn't support AM4.

I remember AMD saying that all AM3+ CPU coolers are going to be compatible with AM4. I will just wait and watch.

 

[Tup3x]

I remember AMD saying that all AM3+ CPU coolers are going to be compatible with AM4. I will just wait and watch.

If it uses the mounting bracket. Hole distances are different compared to AM3+.

 

[superstition]

If you're worried about power efficiency your best bet is probably to get 1070. I think it leads the market right now in performance per watt without being obscenely expensive like the 1080.

Polaris is not all that power efficient unless you're mainly playing games like DOOM that get the most out of its architecture. However, I guess the 480 has been doing progressively better as the drivers have been maturing.

Regardless, Vega should be a lot more efficient than Polaris.

Also, people here have said that fast HEVC encoding schemes like QuickSync and GPU encoding don't yield good video quality. If you get a fast enough CPU you can do real (brute force) HEVC encoding with higher quality settings. I tried Fermi's GPU encoding of H.264 and it was awful. I haven't heard that hardware encoding has made great strides. I asked about Kaby and was told the same.

 

[gx_saurav]

I purchased a MSI Armor RX 470 8 GB today. Default clock speed is 1230 Mhz for core and 6600 Mhz for RAM. I have overclocked it to 1242 MHz for core and 6800 Mhz for RAM easily on stock voltage using MSI Afterburner. This now matches the speed of Sapphire Radeon RX 470 8 GB.

While playing Watch_Dogs 2 I saw that my CPU was reaching 88% usage while I was in game. Does that means I should soon think about upgrading CPU or can I keep my FX 6300 for few more months.

Also, RAM usage reached 7 GB when playing games. My PC has 8 GB DDR3 RAM. As an interim upgrade, I can buy 4 GB more RAM for a total of 12 GB RAM.


Or


I asked in shop about cost of Intel Kaby Lake Core i5 7500 CPU and thinking abut this upgrade.

1. Intel Core i5 7500
2. Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H
3. 2x8 GB DDR4 2133 MHz

I will be able to re-use my Xonar DG PCI based sound card, Cooler Master Hyper 212X as it is compatible with Socket 1151 and other components.

However, I will buy this after March so that Ryzen is available and I can make a better decision.

 

[DrMrLordX]

If you are going to get a Kabylake, I highly recommend an i7 instead of an i5. 4c/4t is starting to lag behind in some games.

The 4c Ryzen chips may not be available until April. We'll see.