Upgrading from Phenom II X4 840 to an FX-8350

[megamanxtreme]

Short story:
Is the FX-8350 a worthy upgrade from the Phenom II X4 840?
Don't suggest Intel, I am just talking within AM3+ mobo limits.


Long story:
My friend's motherboard(AM3) died and the computer shop offered him a new one(AM3+).
He's a DJ in Argentina and I want to ship him an FX-8350, but before I can do that I want to know how it performs vs the Phenom II X4 840. (Yes, I know it's actually an Athlon.)

He's also a gamer, but most of the time, he usually produces music and videos.
How well does it improve in Photoshop, Premiere, Vegas, over Audition versus the Phenom?

The import tariff is high in Argentina, so I can't suggest a new MOBO, so don't come telling me about anything regarding APUs or Intel. (FX-8350 can go around $300 - $400 in their currency, better I ship it and it doesn't come close to that price)

 

[Norton]

An FX-8350 would be a good upgrade from a PII X4- your friend should be quite happy with it.

On my main rig I went from an overclocked PII 960T to an FX-8150 and then an 8350. The 8350 performs well for me with no complaints at all.

What motherboard did he get?

 

[megamanxtreme]

What motherboard did he get?

Asrock 960gm-vgs3

 

[newtekie1]

http://anandtech.com/bench/product/697?vs=188

Might help out a little. The Athlon II x4 645 is the exact same CPU as the 840, just clocked 100MHz(~3%) lower. So the comparison should be very very close to the 840 vs. 8350.

Edit:

Asrock 960gm-vgs3

That board doesn't support the 8350 by the looks of it...

It only supports up to 95w(and that is kind of laughable with that VRM setup). So if you want an 8-core FX, you'll have to go with the 8370E or 8320E. Which are quite a bit slower than the 8350.

What was his original board? Because, honestly, the board they offered him is garbage.

 

[megamanxtreme]

That board doesn't support the 8350 by the looks of it...

Right, I just looked-it up.
He told me that the computer shop guy told him that he can up to an 8-core processor in there.

Okay, now I am open to anything that can be a good replacement.
Unless, we can up the Phenom line.

 

[newtekie1]

You can put an 8-Core in it, it just has to be a 95w version. The 8370E would work, but I would expect it to throttle pretty hard if he put it under load. I think it would still be faster than the x4 840, just not as much of a difference as the 8350.

 

[IamEzio]

FX 8370e and 8320e are supported , this are 95W 8 core cpus .

 

[megamanxtreme]

Thank you guys, I'll throw in an 8370e, and tell him to make sure his BIOS is up-to-date.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

 

[Toothless]

I'd say get a better board so it won't die from pushing 95 watts.

Does your friend have a decent cooler for the processor?

 

[megamanxtreme]

I'd say get a better board so it won't die from pushing 95 watts.

Does your friend have a decent cooler for the processor?

I would say stock cooler.
I guess I'll wait until next year and get him something else. (Until Zen comes around, I guess)

 

[thebluebumblebee]

What was his original board? Because, honestly, the board they offered him is garbage.

+1

 

[megamanxtreme]

What was his original board? Because, honestly, the board they offered him is garbage.

I never asked him for the specifics of the type of board, just that it was a Gigabyte that failed on him. Since I upgraded to the FX-6300, I had my FX-4100 lying around, but I have a feeling that it won't be much of an improvement.

The mobo might be all he can afford, it's not cheap in Argentina.

 

[Kanan]

I never asked him for the specifics of the type of board, just that it was a Gigabyte that failed on him. Since I upgraded to the FX-6300, I had my FX-4100 lying around, but I have a feeling that it won't be much of an improvement.

The mobo might be all he can afford, it's not cheap in Argentina.

Yes the FX-4100 is not worth it. Either you can buy a FX 8320 or 8370 or get him something entirely else, I'd go with Intel i5 4460 then and a cheap H-chipset board for around 40-50 bucks.

 

[megamanxtreme]

Yes the FX-4100 is not worth it. Either you can buy a FX 8320 or 8370 or get him something entirely else, I'd go with Intel i5 4460 then and a cheap H-chipset board for around 40-50 bucks.

I had a feeling that it wasn't worth it, so I was looking at the FX-8350, or I would have sent the processor(FX-4100).

I guess I'll wait until next year and get him an i7 and a decent mobo. Unless Zen delivers something magical, I'll be keeping my hopes up.

 

[Kanan]

Yep, that's the best plan I guess.

 

[suraswami]

To be safe I would go with FX-6300 series, it will still give bit more performance in photoshop and video editing. Games too I believe it should do better.

 

[megamanxtreme]

To be safe I would go with FX-6300 series, it will still give bit more performance in photoshop and video editing. Games too I believe it should do better.

My mobo is Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-78LMT-USB3 (Socket M2)
I guess I can upgrade to the 8350 and send him my FX-6300.

Will he have to install Windows if he upgrades? I didn't have to when I upgraded from FX-4100, but that was under Windows 7. Now, he and I are running Windows 10.

 

[MIRTAZAPINE]

My mobo is Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-78LMT-USB3 (Socket M2)
I guess I can upgrade to the 8350 and send him my FX-6300.

Will he have to install Windows if he upgrades? I didn't have to when I upgraded from FX-4100, but that was under Windows 7. Now, he and I are running Windows 10.

No a cpu upgrade would not require any updates or installation. It only when you change your motherboard where you have to.

 

[suraswami]

A CPU upgrade would still complain about activation, just follow it and should be good.

 

[chuck216]

As someone who went from a Phenom II 940 to a FX-8320 based system, It's definitely worth the upgrade the performance difference is very significant. And the 8000 series FX chips overclock like a MF'er I can get 4.7 GHZ on air up from the the 3.5 base with no problem. That's like buying a 9370 for the price of a 8320.