Looking for the FX 8170 - Page 2

  Yes, I have an AM3+ motherboard, and my graphics card is an XFX Radeon HD
5770. Any ideas as to how limited this would make my gaming experience? To
put it frankly, if I cannot justify the $400+ cost of a new GPU, I won't do
it. At the end of the day, I want something that will make me competitive,
but not make my wallet cry for mercy.


Folks, I know that this post is probably asking for the trolls to pop up,
but I figure I'll post it anyways. I am running on a Phenom II X4 955. I
want to upgrade, but I am waiting for the FX 8170 to appear...

    Firstly, do you have an AM3+ mobo?  Secondly, I've had both the x4 & now
the x6, both oc'd to 4ghz, and am sure the gaming bottleneck in my system is
not the cpu, but the videocard (a gtx 470).  So, my advice is, get one of
the large but cheaper cpu heatsinks, overclock as much as possible, consider
upgrading the videocard instead of the cpu (I'd suggest a Radeon 7950/GTX
570/GTX 670(not released yet)), consider a SSD purchase, and wait for the
nextgen AMD cpus to arrive, not Bulldozer refreshes.

rms

 On 03/04/2012 2:58 PM, Ben Williams wrote:

You could possibly upgrade to a 6800-series for less than $200, and to a
7800-series for a little over $200. They should both be slight upgrades
to your 5700-series. But are you looking for a huge upgrade over what
you have now?

    Yousuf Khan

  Yes, I have an AM3+ motherboard, and my graphics card is an XFX Radeon HD
5770. Any ideas as to how limited this would make my gaming experience?

    All I'm saying is look beyond the cpu to improve your gaming experience.
For me, buying a big cheap 28" 1900x1200 lcd monitor for $220 a couple years
ago gave more enjoyment than any other upgrade I've ever installed, but
running games at native resolution meant a new videocard, in my case a gtx
465 bios-modded to a 470.  Great card, but showing it's age for the newest
games like BF3/Skyrim/Metro2033, which would have to be run at lower
resolutions, etc.

    There's no requirement to even buy new!  Newegg.com has a refurbished
GTX 560 with 1yr warranty for $160, or a GTX 560Ti for $220, & both Newegg &
Tigerdirect have 27-28" monitors in the $250 range.  A 560Ti is roughly
equal to 2 radeon 5770 in crossfire.  So $500 would give you a dramatic,
immediately obvious improvement in your gaming experience.

rms

 Under $150 for a gtx 560 now, though I'd probably hold out for a 560Ti or
wait for the mid-range 600 series:

http://slickdeals.net/f/4161974-EVGA-01G-P3-1460-KR-GeForce-GTX-560-Fermi-1GB-GDDR5-HDCP-Ready-SLI-Support-VC-144-99AR-XFX-Double-D-Radeon-HD-6950-2GB-GDDR5-HDCP-Ready-CrossFireX-Support-Video-Card-234-99AR?p=48973886&utm_source=dealalerts&utm_medium=em-d&utm_term=1&utm_content=u960102&utm_campaign=tu6

rms