AMD 8350 or Intel i5 4690k

So I've been debating this for the last few hours and I cant come to a decision.

My current build is a AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE with a ASRock 970 EXTREME3 motherboard. It claims to support the FX 8350 but after reading reviews there's some controversy that it doesn't. So I may have to buy a new motherboard, That's where the 4690k comes into play. The cpu motherboard combo is about the same price for both. I had planned on buying the Noctua NH-D14 as a replacement for my Corsair H60 but if I have to buy a new motherboard that wont happen. I would also have to buy a DVD drive to reinstall windows. I'll mainly be using this for gaming, streaming and sometimes rendering.

My budget is $350. So what should I do?

 

 

 

 

Is the speculation about it not being supported due to poor VRMs or just no support? If it's because of poor power delivery, you could consider the 8320e which consumes less power. 

If you do have  to get a new mobo, the i5 is the better choice for just gaming. 

People say it has no support but then others say it does as for the VRM I have no idea.

 

Looking herehttp://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/970%20Extreme3/?cat=CPU

It does support the 8350 but has a weak 4+1 power phase. I would think it's enough for a lower power 8320e but i'm not certain. The 8320e is on the supported list but you will probably have to do a bios update. 

If the power delivery  is good enough, the 8320e will be your most cost effective upgrade. 

The one on there website is a updated version of mine they released shortly after I had bought it.

Oh. Do you know if there are any bios update for your version? 

Yes I updated it a few days ago just to be sure. With the bios updated it says it supports it but I'm still unsure.

 

use an iso of windows then use your product key when you need, don't buy a dvd drive. i haven't used any kind of disk in many years.

Most of my flash drives have gone missing so I'd have to buy one.

the FX8320e draws just as much power as a normal FX8320 on load.

Op´s current mobo is not designed for an FX 8 core. So if he want to upgrade the cpu, i highly recommend to upgrade the mobo as well.

In this case i would recommend upgrading to a 4690K with Z97 board straight away. In my opinnion its not realy worth it to invest in a 3 year old platform anymore.

I would recommend intel, because even though amd makes great cpu, they omit a great deal of heat.

 

if you can afford the i5 and motherboard it would be the best choice. The h-60 is fine for cooling it (and maybe a small overclock.) It has much better single thread performance over the 8350. At this point there aren't enough games that make use of more than 1-2 cores. It also uses less power and makes a lot less heat than the 8350. The AMD cpu is still a great choice but if it was me spending the money I would get the i5. Also make sure the motherboard you get is z97 if you get the Intel.