Hardware upgrade, CPU or GPU ?

Report · Dec 03, 2017

Hi, now my pc have these specifications :

- Motherboard : ASROCK 970 PRO-3 (SOCKET AM3+);

- CPU : AMD FX 8320 octa-core 3,5 GHZ ;

- GPU : SAPPHIRE RAEDON HD 7870 ( 2 GB DDR5 ) ;

- RAM : Kingston Hyperx 8 GB DDR3 ( 2 slot x 4 gb ) 1600 MHZ ;

- Power Supply : cooler master b600.

- Memory : 1 x 250 GB SSD + 1 TB 7200 RPM

And i have a buget of 1000 euro to upgrade some parts of it.

What do you recommend to me ?

*Upgrade my CPU to ryzen 7 1700x ( 330 euro ) + Motherboard MSI B350 Tomahawk ( 95 euro ) + RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK32GX4M4A2400C12 Kit 32GB, 4x8GB, DDR4, CL12 ( 260 euro ) + Power Supply Be quiet! 1000W Power Zone 1000W ATX ( 170 euro ) + Memory Samsung MZ-N5E500BW SSD 850 EVO, 500 GB, M.2 ( 172 EURO ).

TOTAL = 1027 EURO and keep the same gpu : SAPPHIRE RAEDON HD 7870 ( 2 GB DDR5 ).

Or :

*Upgrade my GPU to MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Aero 8 GB GDDR5X, 256 bit, 2560 CUDA CORES ( 555 euro ) + Kingston Hyperx 8 GB DDR3 ( 2 slot x 4 gb ) 1600 MHZ ( so i get a total of 16 gb) ( 75 euro ) + Power Supply Be quiet! 1000W Power Zone 1000W ATX ( 170 euro ) + Memory Samsung MZ-N5E500BW SSD 850 EVO, 500 GB, M.2 ( 172 EURO ).

TOTAL = 972 EURO and keep the same CPU : AMD FX 8320 octa-core 3,5 GHZ.

I use'it with Premiere Pro (latest version) especially for export videos ( usally i need to downgrade from

full hd 1920x1080 50 fps to sd 720x470 25 fps, some lumetri color correction, then i use a lot 'median effect' ).

What do you recommed to me for fastest rendering/export with prmiere pro ?

Report · Dec 03, 2017

CPU definitely then when you get the urge to further improve performance add a cheap GTX 1060 6GB GPU (less than 250 EURO).

Report · Dec 03, 2017

I second Bill. CPU definitely: Despite it's eight cores, it is actually slower than even recent quad-core, non-hyperthreadable i5 CPUs, let alone a quad-core i7 (as determined by the MPEG-2 DVD export score with the MPE set to software-only mode in PPBM). In fact, it is almost as slow as some newer dual-core Intel CPUs.

In addition, most GPU-accelerated workflows use a combination of high CPU and high GPU usage. Thus, a balanced system is critical. Otherwise, if you upgrade the GPU without also upgrading the CPU, what would happen there would be the GPU occasionally sitting idle waiting for the CPU to catch up. And remember, no GPU upgrade can compensate for a weak CPU!

Unfortunately, any CPU upgrade in your particular system will also require a motherboard and memory upgrade. Too bad memory prices are astronomically expensive right now, and may not come down for a year. This is because AM3+ is a dead-end platform where no new CPUs have been introduced for that CPU socket (and is now effectively EOL), making your current FX-8320 part of the latest series of CPUs compatible with AM3+, and any drop-in upgrade to the fastest available AM3+ CPU is priced much higher than any tangible performance benefit justifies.

Report · Dec 04, 2017

I understand, thank you very much for your explanation !