Should I upgrade my CPU

[shulace]

I built a PC built in 2011 for bitcoin mining and I've been incrementally upgrading it. Here are the current specs.

MSI 990fx-gd90
1200 watt psu
6970 2 gb crossfired with a 6950 2 gb (unlocked), and 2 5850's that I have taken out.
4x4 gb of corsair 1600 ddr3
4 HDD: 120gb sata3 SSD, 750 gb, 1.5 tb, 1 tb
storm trooper case
but...

running all of this goodness on an AMD Athlon X3 @ 3.72 (couldn't unlock the 4th).

It seems that whenever I run DX11 games like Farcry 3, Splinter Cell, Bioshock Inf., BF3, BF4, etc, the CPU always maxes out to 100%, and many games seem to "fart" sometimes. What I mean by that is the framerate will be at a nice 40-50 fps and then suddenly drop to 10 fps then jump back in less than a second. I'm running a minimum of 20% lower than the benches for crossfired 6950's. The only major difference between my setup vs those of the test rigs is the CPU. I think it's safe to say that the CPU is a bottleneck, but the factors I'd like to take into account are: cost of the chip, performance increase, and what to expect from the next gen AM3+ CPU's.

TL;DR
I have a pretty decent rig except the CPU is meh. I think I should upgrade but I'm kinda on a student budget so $160 is not trivial. I'd like to find out if the bang is worth the buck.

Here's my question, is it worthwhile to upgrade to a vishera 8320 and will I see significant improvements in terms of gaming?

Also, what kind of CPU and GPU do you guys have and what's the CPU % used during gaming?

Thanks in advance for taking time to read and respond!

 

[RobCrezz]

For gaming, yes you will see a significant improvment with a better cpu like the 8320 or 8350, even more so if you get a good cpu cooler and overclock.

 

[Mirakledba]

I built a PC built in 2011 for bitcoin mining and I've been incrementally upgrading it. Here are the current specs.

MSI 990fx-gd90
1200 watt psu
6970 2 gb crossfired with a 6950 2 gb (unlocked), and 2 5850's that I have taken out.
4x4 gb of corsair 1600 ddr3
4 HDD: 120gb sata3 SSD, 750 gb, 1.5 tb, 1 tb
storm trooper case
but...

running all of this goodness on an AMD Athlon X3 @ 3.72 (couldn't unlock the 4th).

It seems that whenever I run DX11 games like Farcry 3, Splinter Cell, Bioshock Inf., BF3, BF4, etc, the CPU always maxes out to 100%, and many games seem to "fart" sometimes. What I mean by that is the framerate will be at a nice 40-50 fps and then suddenly drop to 10 fps then jump back in less than a second. I'm running a minimum of 20% lower than the benches for crossfired 6950's. The only major difference between my setup vs those of the test rigs is the CPU. I think it's safe to say that the CPU is a bottleneck, but the factors I'd like to take into account are: cost of the chip, performance increase, and what to expect from the next gen AM3+ CPU's.

TL;DR
I have a pretty decent rig except the CPU is meh. I think I should upgrade but I'm kinda on a student budget so $160 is not trivial. I'd like to find out if the bang is worth the buck.

Here's my question, is it worthwhile to upgrade to a vishera 8320 and will I see significant improvements in terms of gaming?

Also, what kind of CPU and GPU do you guys have and what's the CPU % used during gaming?

Thanks in advance for taking time to read and respond!

Yeah, you need a new CPU. I would say maybe the INTEL i5 4670k and any aftermarket CPU cooler. If you have enough a zalman would be nice, if not a CM 212 evo is good enough.

Heres the CPU http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=


Great for gaming, The cpu cooler http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118075

 

[ifreestylin]

you will see a significant improvements upgrading to an FX 8320. i have the FX 6300 OC to 4.6GHZ and paired with the XFX HD 7870 and in BF3 CPU usage average about %80.

 

[Mirakledba]

For gaming, yes you will see a significant improvment with a better cpu like the 8320 or 8350, even more so if you get a good cpu cooler and overclock.

Oh and as for the GPU. This is great. http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[RobCrezz]

For gaming, yes you will see a significant improvment with a better cpu like the 8320 or 8350, even more so if you get a good cpu cooler and overclock.

Oh and as for the GPU. This is great. http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

He has 6970s in crossfire... I wouldnt bother upgrading them yet, unless he is doing beyond 1080p

 

[shulace]

Wow! I didn't expect so many answers so quickly! Thanks for the responses guys.

@Mirakledba I would love to upgrade to an intel platform, but due to costs, I'll stay with AMD for now.
@RobCrezz, you hit the spot. I'm pretty sure these cards in xfire should be enough for the next year or 2.

To everyone else, I'm sold, going to stop by my local microcenter tmrw to grab a FX8320 and I want to overclock the hell out of it. Any suggestions for a good budget cooler thats equal to or less than $60? I'm currently eyeing a $30 dollar CM air cooler and a $50 all in 1 water cooler...

 

[Mirakledba]

Wow! I didn't expect so many answers so quickly! Thanks for the responses guys.

@Mirakledba I would love to upgrade to an intel platform, but due to costs, I'll stay with AMD for now.
@RobCrezz, you hit the spot. I'm pretty sure these cards in xfire should be enough for the next year or 2.

To everyone else, I'm sold, going to stop by my local microcenter tmrw to grab a FX8320 and I want to overclock the hell out of it. Any suggestions for a good budget cooler thats equal to or less than $60? I'm currently eyeing a $30 dollar CM air cooler and a $50 all in 1 water cooler...

Link to the watercooler you're talking about, Please? I HIGHLY recommend paying the extra 19$ and getting this http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx? Item=N82E16835181030 You wanna overclock the hell out of it right? Use that.

 

[shulace]

Wow! I didn't expect so many answers so quickly! Thanks for the responses guys.

@Mirakledba I would love to upgrade to an intel platform, but due to costs, I'll stay with AMD for now.
@RobCrezz, you hit the spot. I'm pretty sure these cards in xfire should be enough for the next year or 2.

To everyone else, I'm sold, going to stop by my local microcenter tmrw to grab a FX8320 and I want to overclock the hell out of it. Any suggestions for a good budget cooler thats equal to or less than $60? I'm currently eyeing a $30 dollar CM air cooler and a $50 all in 1 water cooler...

Link to the watercooler you're talking about, Please? I HIGHLY recommend paying the extra 19$ and getting this http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx? Item=N82E16835181030 You wanna overclock the hell out of it right? Use that.

What's the model # to the cooler you were referring to? The link didn't work and I did try to just copy and paste the URL to no avail.

EDIT: Nvm, got it work, there was a space in the URL and the Corsair H60 was the same cooler I was looking at before, except it was cheaper at a different site. Woohoo, shopping list made, time to go spend some money!

 

[Mirakledba]

Wow! I didn't expect so many answers so quickly! Thanks for the responses guys.

@Mirakledba I would love to upgrade to an intel platform, but due to costs, I'll stay with AMD for now.
@RobCrezz, you hit the spot. I'm pretty sure these cards in xfire should be enough for the next year or 2.

To everyone else, I'm sold, going to stop by my local microcenter tmrw to grab a FX8320 and I want to overclock the hell out of it. Any suggestions for a good budget cooler thats equal to or less than $60? I'm currently eyeing a $30 dollar CM air cooler and a $50 all in 1 water cooler...

Link to the watercooler you're talking about, Please? I HIGHLY recommend paying the extra 19$ and getting this http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx? Item=N82E16835181030 You wanna overclock the hell out of it right? Use that.

What's the model # to the cooler you were referring to? The link didn't work and I did try to just copy and paste the URL to no avail.

EDIT: Nvm, got it work, there was a space in the URL and the Corsair H60 was the same cooler I was looking at before, except it was cheaper at a different site. Woohoo, shopping list made, time to go spend some money!

Hehe. Congrats buddy. I hope your build goes well for you!

 

[Mirakledba]

Wow! I didn't expect so many answers so quickly! Thanks for the responses guys.

@Mirakledba I would love to upgrade to an intel platform, but due to costs, I'll stay with AMD for now.
@RobCrezz, you hit the spot. I'm pretty sure these cards in xfire should be enough for the next year or 2.

To everyone else, I'm sold, going to stop by my local microcenter tmrw to grab a FX8320 and I want to overclock the hell out of it. Any suggestions for a good budget cooler thats equal to or less than $60? I'm currently eyeing a $30 dollar CM air cooler and a $50 all in 1 water cooler...

Link to the watercooler you're talking about, Please? I HIGHLY recommend paying the extra 19$ and getting this http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx? Item=N82E16835181030 You wanna overclock the hell out of it right? Use that.

What's the model # to the cooler you were referring to? The link didn't work and I did try to just copy and paste the URL to no avail.

EDIT: Nvm, got it work, there was a space in the URL and the Corsair H60 was the same cooler I was looking at before, except it was cheaper at a different site. Woohoo, shopping list made, time to go spend some money!

BTW choosing as solution would be much appreciated.

 

[RobCrezz]

Wow! I didn't expect so many answers so quickly! Thanks for the responses guys.

@Mirakledba I would love to upgrade to an intel platform, but due to costs, I'll stay with AMD for now.
@RobCrezz, you hit the spot. I'm pretty sure these cards in xfire should be enough for the next year or 2.

To everyone else, I'm sold, going to stop by my local microcenter tmrw to grab a FX8320 and I want to overclock the hell out of it. Any suggestions for a good budget cooler thats equal to or less than $60? I'm currently eyeing a $30 dollar CM air cooler and a $50 all in 1 water cooler...

Ive got the Phanteks TC-12DX and its very good. My 2500k is at 4.6ghz and idles at around 28'c and full prime95 load is 60'c.