A little over a year ago I asked for help here to make a budget AMD build, and it's served me well, but certain games I play (Specifically Path of Exile) Have serious FPS issues with AMD CPU & GPU combos, yet not with AMD/NVIDIA or Intel/AMD. Also, I've been working and I wanted an upgrade anyway.
Current system:


I want to upgrade one of the two parts that will give the biggest gaming performance increase, either the AMD 8320 or the Radeon 7950. I don't want to spend more than 375$, preferably in the low side of the 300-400 range, after shipping and rebates.

I can either
1) Upgrade the GPU
2) Upgrade the CPU, and the motherboard with it

I don't have any major issues with the CPU currently, although I know the single threaded performance can't match Intel's Haswell/Haswell refresh series. However, I have had multiple occasions in the past three months where the screen suddenly decides to stop working. All fans run, but the screen goes black, or freezes. Sound still works though.. I usually have to restart it. This has gotten me killed twice lately in hardcore gaming, and I'm perturbed. My GPU rises to upper 70s and low 80s (Celsius of course) in intense multiplayer parties. Motherboard gets hot too, but not that high. The CPU rarely goes above 50.

So here's my question: What option will give me a better performance boost for the money, and what specifically should I buy? I already have a Hyper 212 EVO so I can get a non-boxed CPU and save a tad. I will be doing gaming that requires quick response times, including PvP. I will only be running a single 1080p monitor for the next few years.

Yeah, I'm going to have to reinstall stuff. I'm fine with that, I might even go and try Windows 10!

This post was edited by RaveTheGo on Feb 1 2015 01:22pm

Your CPU is fine. Upgrade the GPU. Get either a GTX 970 or an R9 290x.

Upgrade motherboard and GPU...everything else is fine.


/e GPU cause it's necessary, motherboard, because with a DECENT motherboard , you could even overclock. ^^

This post was edited by Ghot on Feb 1 2015 01:35pm

This.

But ImO wait a while until AMD releases their next GPU and hope for current R9 or Nvidia GTX 9xx series price to drop a little, then get one of those.

I would say wait if they were going to be released within a week or so, but from what I've read (in the past two months or so), the 380x won't be released until about March and the 370x will be a month or two after that.

MSI or EVGA GTX 970 for the win.

Gaming G1 or - in "case" you own a Fractal Design R4/5 - ASUS Strix

On the other hand, I guess all of the 970s perform about equally well. EVGA definitely for its customer service... still don't get why everyone loves the MSI.

This post was edited by aneas on Feb 1 2015 01:52pm

Coz it's pretty, and matches the red/black scheme. EVGA rules, no question about it.

Strictly speaking in terms of poll options, GPU over CPU+Motherboard. Your current ones are fine.

Poe is the problem not your cpu nor your gpu..