I have been debating with myself to upgrade my current cpu AMD Phenom II x4 970 3.5ghz to something more current. I dont really hate my 970, but I am wondering if there is something for the am3+ socket worth buying. I am considering going with the fx-8350 but I dont quite have the cash. Is there another cpu out there now that will give me a pretty good preformance boost that is not the 8350?
My pc is used for Gaming, Photoshop, and some light school work. Also I am using a 7870 ghz ed.
There isn't a whole lot of performance boost you can get with AMD's lineup over that Phenom II unless you have a game that can utilize more than 4 cores. If you really want to upgrade, the 8320 would be your best bet, though I'd wait for Steamroller.
how much do you want to spend, the 8320 is about $30 canadian dollars cheaper than the 8350
Dont upgrade your cpu yet i would wait.
What is the timeframe looking like for the steamroller CPU's release? and will they use the am3+ socket? I really hate swapping motherboards.
I'm not sure exactly, but 2013. Given that Kavari (APU) is slated for Q4 2013, which utilizes Steamroller CPU cores, I'm guessing as early as Q3. Steamroller uses the same basic architecture as Bulldozer and Piledriver, so I don't think there will be a new socket, unless AMD is going to milk, but that would be very unlike AMD, especially since their previous sockets have lived long healthy lives.