New PC Question: Better to get best CPU now or upgrade down the road.

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  1. Posts : 607
    7 x64 Ultimate
       #11

    Just to add that seeing any benefit from a cpu upgrade is highly dependent on the applications you are running. If you are running the same garden variety programs that you used to run (web browser, MS Office, Adobe Suite etc) you will get a lot more from adding RAM and an SSD than you will a new mobo and cpu.
    If you are overclocking or say, video-editing, you may benefit. But typical business applications will idle the extra 6 cores you just bought.
    Nothing wrong with that CPU, but if you have a few dollars to spare, the FX-8350 is a better CPU. It's faster, though it does run hot. You may want an aftermarket cooler like the Hyper 212 EVO for it.
    Yes, cool and quiet is good. I installed that cooler recently and it is both effective and quiet.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 708
    Windows 7 x64
       #12

    Unless you have plenty of paper money, get the best of it.

    Stick to your current MB and OS.
    Get new PC mean new MB. (Like having a new step-mother)

    Spend it on CPU is good, so is SSD, RAM, some licence software, this or that.

    I would rather spend on upgrading.
    Bought a $180 2nd-hand laptop and spend $350+ for upgrading by adding 4 SSD, etc.
    Another $100 to repair my favorite laptop.

    Life is unknown.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3,487
    Win 7 Pro x64/Win 10 Pro x64 dual boot
       #13

    RogerR said:
    Just to add that seeing any benefit from a cpu upgrade is highly dependent on the applications you are running. If you are running the same garden variety programs that you used to run (web browser, MS Office, Adobe Suite etc) you will get a lot more from adding RAM and an SSD than you will a new mobo and cpu.
    If you are overclocking or say, video-editing, you may benefit. But typical business applications will idle the extra 6 cores you just bought.
    I will agree that a multi-core processor is highly situational and application dependent, but I have found a sort of "bonus" with using an 8-core CPU that I wasn't expecting. I can use several CPU intensive programs at the same time (as they all use different cores) without a performance hit. Monitoring my cores shows me that I'm using all eight of them when I simultaneously run several applications at once.

    As I said, it's not something I expected. Everyone knows that a multi-cored application has to be specially designed to use more than one or two cores, and there isn't much software out there that is made that way yet. There's nothing but anecdotal evidence to show that my FX-8350 is actually dividing up the workload on a per core basis, but with monitoring the cores, it sure seems like that is what's happening.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2,047
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-BIT
       #14

    I have a question. What if threads 0-3 are being used by programs, will the threads 4-7 be used by the other programs?
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  5. Posts : 3,487
    Win 7 Pro x64/Win 10 Pro x64 dual boot
       #15

    Yes. That seems to be how it is working. At least in my experience. However, I should mention that cores 4 though 7 on an AMD 8-core are virtual, not physical cores. At least that is what I've read. It's very similar to the Intel i7 quads that have Hyperthreading.

    If it's true, it's blatant false advertising.

    Class action lawsuit alleges AMD's Bulldozer CPUs aren't really 8-core processors | PCWorld

    There were other articles, but I can't find them, and it's late and off topic. :)
      My Computer


 
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