[Bui]

Besise web browsing some simple Office tasks, I mostly use my PC for Lightroom editing of photos, and very occasionally gaming, not the newest ones on the market though. So I don't need an expensive and very powerful PC. Nevertheless I know mine is old, and its performance regarding Lightroom 6 is a bit too slow for my liking. So here is my PC:

+ AMD Phenom II X4 955
+ Mainboard 970A-DS3
+ Recently upgrade to 16G of DDR3 RAM
+ Recently upgrade to RX 580 4GB graphic card.
+ 1 300G SSD for Windows and Lightroom
+ PSU Antech Green 380W

I think the weakest component is the CPU so it's what I'm targeting. Considering I may have to potentially also buy a new PSU, I don't want to pay more than 100 euros, so what could be the best value for money CPU I could buy, that is compatible with this mainboard?

Thanks a lot for your advice.

Besise web browsing some simple Office tasks, I mostly use my PC for Lightroom editing of photos, and very occasionally gaming, not the newest ones on the market though. So I don't need an expensive and very powerful PC. Nevertheless I know mine is old, and its performance regarding Lightroom 6 is a bit too slow for my liking. So here is my PC:

+ AMD Phenom II X4 955
+ Mainboard 970A-DS3
+ Recently upgrade to 16G of DDR3 RAM
+ Recently upgrade to RX 580 4GB graphic card.
+ 1 300G SSD for Windows and Lightroom
+ PSU Antech Green 380W

I think the weakest component is the CPU so it's what I'm targeting. Considering I may have to potentially also buy a new PSU, I don't want to pay more than 100 euros, so what could be the best value for money CPU I could buy, that is compatible with this mainboard?

Thanks a lot for your advice.

I think that for the maximum money you are willing to pay there is not a solution, other than keep on going with what you got. Only the cpu will cost more than that bearing in mind that a new cpu means probably a new cooler.

[jbinpg]

Quite frankly, any bottom line motherboard/CPU upgrade will give you a boost and I use a PC much like yours. I strongly doubt you could find a newer/better chip to fit on your old motherboard. There are some good AMD Ryzen deals around now and I would strongly encourage you to check those out. I am also in the market for an upgrade but might wait for the release of the new Ryzen chips later this year which should allow prices to fall on the previous generation CPUs.

[zoneV]

It looks like you have a Gigabyte mobo with an AM3 cpu socket. Your cpu is about as good as you can put in that mobo. Changing to the newer Ryzen cpus (AM4 socket) would call for new mobo and new memory. The graphics card is good tho' 8 gb would be a slight bit better. Since the mobo supports AMD CrossFire graphics, you could add another RX580 card. Neither is worth the added cost, IMHO. The mobo has 4 memory slots for up to 32 gb. If there are 2 empty slots, add memory if you can find it at a reasonable cost. Things will go a bit faster. The power supply is marginal for your rig even as is (assuming you also have a harddrive or 2). If things work OK, don't change it unless it quits. The SSD is good and USB 3.0 is supported. Save your € for a major upgrade later - cpu & gpu power requirements are coming down while processing power is going up. Unfortunately, the € needed for the latest is not coming down.

[The Squirrel Mafia]

What you currently have is about as good as it's going to get. Like already stated, save your money for a newer future machine instead.

If you're into building your own rigs, a really good bang for the buck CPU would be the AMD Ryzen 5 3600. For what you do, it's a massive leap & bound improvement over your current CPU. Like ridiculously massive & it's not that expensive. Plus it doesn't consume much electricity.

[Bui]

Thank you for your feedback, I also did a few more reading and I also come close to the same conclusion. Speaking about a bigger upgrade, I still prefer to to do the minimum possible (e.g buy new motherboard + CPU, then PSU later, then RAM later, etc etc) than upgrading the whole new PC at once. The 1 time cost is too high, and selling the old machine is not that easy. The wife would not be happy :-) so I have a few more questions:

- Is it still possible to do gradual upgrade: e.g. a new Ryzen 3 3600 + compatible MB. They will still run with my current components?
- For family use (and Lightroom), Intel or AMD is better cost/performance considering also the cost of corresponding MB and I already have a graphic card?
- I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits. Do I have to reinstall it if I get new MB and CPU?
- What time of the year is the best time to to this? I mean I don't follow technical and hardware news so I'm not aware of when the next big things are unveiled, which is usually good time to buy old generation ones.
- Can you recommend an affordable PSU that is power-friendly? Mine is 380W and considering I have 1 SSD with 2 SATAs, and a demanding graphic card sometimes I wonder if the current PSU can keep up. But I like it a lot and does not want to change because it's very power efficient and quite silent.

Thank you.

[photolady95]

This is mine but I have an extra harddrive inside for use with lightroom's as a scratch disk. Which makes a heck of a difference in how slow Adobe programs work.


New 8 core
AMD FX 8350 4Ghz; Gskill 16GB Memory; Kingston 240GB SSD; WD 1TB SATA; Geforce 710 GT 2GB Vid card; Windows 7 Professional 64 bit; HP 25" LED/LCD IPS monitor on the same motherboard you have.
Built by Me, in 2018!!

[photolady95]

Ryzen won't let you run Windows 7 on a Ryzen motherboard. You'd have to upgrade to Windows 10.


You have to either do a repair install on 7 if you change motherboard or a complete reinstall.


Holidays are a good time to buy new components, as they have sales on equipment at that time.

And a good or better PSU would be something like 750, or more. I'm running a Corsair 650, and it's time for a new one as this one is getting long in the years. If you check this website it will tell you how much power you need and for heaven's sake don't buy cheap PSU's or the minimum the test shows.
eXtreme Outer Vision - Recommended Power Supply Calculator

Hope this helps.

[Not a Number]

According to the CPU compatibility matrix for your motherboard the highest end compatible processor is the FX-4170

https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/fx-4170

The 4.2 GHz clock should give you a decent boost over the 3.2 GHz of you existing CPU. Like a 31% increase in clock speed. How much this translates into actual processing speed would have to be determined by running benchmarks. You probably need to upgrade your cooler as well.

[photolady95]

According to Gigabyte that motherboard will run a FX-8370E with BOIS version F3. It is a AMD 3+ board. The only difference in your motherboard and mine is there is a P after the number 3.

GA-970A-DS3 (rev. 1.0) | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

CPU support comes from Gigabyte, not AMD.

[WorksAsIntended]

- Is it still possible to do gradual upgrade: e.g. a new Ryzen 3 3600 + compatible MB. They will still run with my current components?

Thank you.

You need DDR4 Ram, so you need to buy at least a mainboard, CPU and RAM to get into a new generation. GPU and hard drive will be fine, your PSU may be a tiny bit on the small side with the GPU you use.

[photolady95]

I'd have to agree with Worksasintended about your PSU. You need to check how much power your GPU needs. Then go from there to what you should be using. If the card requires 300W of power to just run it, and then you have all the other stuff inside your computer, plus those items connected to your computer, i.e., printers and other things attached to your USB ports, your present PSU just might not be enough power.

[zoneV]

The information provided by Forum members is good - save your money for an eventual upgrade. Likely that any cpu replacement for your mobo cpu will be used and not show a big improvement. The 970 south bridge chip on your mobo runs the PCI bus and has some minor limitations affecting your RX580 gpu. So a new generation gpu won't do much better. Intel vs AMD: AMD has better cost per performance at this time. New rig = new cpu, new mobo, new memory, new psu & Win 10. My main computer uses a Ryzen 5-1600, 32 gb memory, RX560 4gb gpu, 500gb SSD, 2 500gb HDs, 2 DVDs, 2 monitors, 750 watt psu. There are times when it seems to be slow processing K3 RAW or video files, but never enough time to go get a snack. I still use an much older rig running Win XP and PS5 to process K10 files. That does allow for snack time. For now, have a croissant with cocoa and save for the upgrade.

[photolady95]

Just so you and others know, I've been building and repairing computers for 18 years, and I always build my own.

[rgknief60]

I mostly use my PC for Lightroom editing of photos, and very occasionally gaming,

If you have not done so, look at the tasks you wish to accomplish, and the software you will use. Some programs make extensive use of the CPU, but not GPU, or the other way around. Some will use both. That might help decide on the hardware you purchase.

My current (used ebay) laptop seemed fast until I got the K-1. It has a older i-7 quad core, 2GB video, and 32BG ram. I'm glad I purchased more machine than I needed.

Sometimes I wish there was more power for panoramics, batch or video processing, or focus stacking. On the whole I am satisfied. You might find it's nice to add a wee bit more power than you need for future need or desire.