4K AMD Build Log

[Terminashunator]

Except that the harsh reality just hit me that FX CPUs get around the same single threaded performance as Core 2 Duos...

Hey, HEY that just means Core 2 Duos, which are real cheap if you get the Quad Core 771 Xeons on ebay, are a compelling value. I see nothing wrong with that.

 

Except the FX chips are like 4 years newer.

[Aniallation]

Here's the issue I have with this statement. An 8 core FX 8320 is literally only $20 more expensive than an FX 6350, and it's clearly superior. You get 33% better performance for a 16% increase in cost.

In addition, Linus had already included an aftermarket CPU cooler, which means he could've easily overclocked the FX 8320 or an FX 6300 to match the FX 6350 in clock speeds and actually still have thermal room to spare, which makes the choice of an FX 6350 CPU over an FX 8320 or an FX 6300 all the less sensible.

In pretty much all but a very small number of games, the 6350 will outperform the 8320 at stock speeds due to it's clock speed advantage when the game is only using 6 threads or less. However I do agree that an FX 6300 would be a better idea as with the 6350 you're paying more for a factory overclock.

[TechFan@ic]

In pretty much all but a very small number of games, the 6350 will outperform the 8320 at stock speeds due to it's clock speed advantage when the game is only using 6 threads or less. However I do agree that an FX 6300 would be a better idea as with the 6350 you're paying more for a factory overclock.

You'd think so wouldn't you but that's actually not true at all. Due to the unique CMT architecture, the performance actually goes up from a six core Bulldozer/Piledriver/Steamroller based CPU to an eight core CPU Bulldozer/Piledriver/Steamroller based CPU in the majority of triple A games. That's because the number of float units goes up from 3 to 4, and the majority of triple A games out now and coming in the future are either optimized for four or six threads. Check out the link in my signature for an in-depth explanation of why this occurs.

Games like Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age Inquisition actually require a qaudcore CPU as a minimum and won't work at all with a dual core.

 

[Terminashunator]

I would have run something more like THIS.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($132.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($26.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($97.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($28.47 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($28.47 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($61.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($77.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($243.97 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($59.99 @ NZXT)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.25 @ Newegg)
Total: $797.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-25 13:11 EST-0500

 

Change some priorities around, get a better PSU, CPU, and GPU, cut the SSD a little.

[BurgerBum]

Hi nick!

 

 

Had no idea a 285 could power 4K...

40 FPass in the new CoD. 

(idk what settings but it looked pretty)

[Jerakl]

40 FPass in the new CoD. 

(idk what settings but it looked pretty)

My friends brothers laptop can play the new cod on low settings 900p and it still looked aight. Ofc it loose awesome on ultra

[BurgerBum]

My friends brothers laptop can play the new cod on low settings 900p and it still looked aight. Ofc it loose awesome on ultra

900p is personally my resolution for the next LONG ASS TIME.

its hardly any more difficult to drive than 720 and its just as pretty as 1080. <3

 

also its the highest res i have currently and i cant afford a new screen.

[Sauron]

Would have preferred to see an R9 290 in there, but hey maybe sparing some money on the motherboard (maybe an matx one?) and the case might have made it fit in your budget.

[Faceman]

He did.

Saying "A Challenge has been issued to me by AMD" is not the same as "This build was sponsored by AMD".

Like I said earlier, I know that this is a ticky-tacky complaint, but this video makes absolutely no sense.  Its as if AMD said, hey, we're feeling irrelevant, which they are, so lets sponsor a video in which we eliminate the CPU as a factor because our CPUs have IPC from 2005 and make it appear to the uneducated that AMD CPUs kick butt because 4k gaming!  The monitor alone costs just as much as the build.  Its the same monitor he just did a review on like two days ago. And anyone with a $900-$1000 could have built a vastly superior computer if they would not have used exclusively AMD components.

[Aniallation]

You'd think so wouldn't you but that's actually not true at all. Due to the unique CMT architecture, the performance actually goes up from a six core Bulldozer/Piledriver/Steamroller based CPU to an eight core CPU Bulldozer/Piledriver/Steamroller based CPU in the majority of triple A games. That's because the number of float units goes up from 3 to 4, and the majority of triple A games out now and coming in the future are either optimized for four or six threads. Check out the link in my signature for an in-depth explanation of why this occurs.

Games like Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age Inquisition actually require a qaudcore CPU as a minimum and won't work at all with a dual core.

Actually, many games today still use only two threads for the main processing. This is not to say that an FX8 would provide benefit, but that it is not a giant performance increase as many games aside from few newer titles such as Dragon Age Inquisition and COD:AW are still lightly threaded. 

 

Also, Fc4 and DAI do not a quad "core" CPU to run. That is a limitation put in place by the game's developers to not even try to open the game if less then four logical processors are detected by the OS. Advanced Warfare originally had this issue which surprised a lot of people, however as multi-core optimized as the game might have been a fix to run it on dual-core processors was eventually released. 

[tobi]

Just what im building now...almost... To bad I cant afford(#wife) that sweet monitor tho.

[Jerakl]

900p is personally my resolution for the next LONG ASS TIME.

its hardly any more difficult to drive than 720 and its just as pretty as 1080. <3

 

also its the highest res i have currently and i cant afford a new screen.

I have 768p atm and uh...

 

pixels?

 

My 1080p monitor is in shipping. I have a 780 so using anything under 1080p is shameful

[Jeruva]

Nice build, in my opinion could be better, but in general it's a good choice for those who don't know how to build a good gaming rig for new year.

[Revinval]

This is the philosophy I use for my computers that I build. Upper mid range on everything and hold out on the frilly expensive stuff. Best value for all around. 

[KamiKatze]

I Expected a FX 8320 and a R9 290. Idk about CAD but in EUR this is do-able far below the 900€ mark.

[mdog95]

Thank Linus, he's the one who puts in the hard work to make videos like these available to the community!

 

And yeah, I think that's definitely very important to keep in mind - we're not trying to say that 4K is affordable overall, you still need a powerful system to run 4K in very demanding titles. But there is still a ton of fun and enjoyment to be had from playing less demanding titles at a ridiculously high resolution

Also if you're having too much trouble running those more demanding games at 4k, you can just turn the resolution down to 1080p and it will still look fine, and it should also scale fine.  This is coming from somebody who is still stuck with a 900p monitor on his laptop though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Hieb]

Before anybody complains about the 6350, CPU doesn't really matter at 4k.

 

@Jerakl I'm having fun gaming @ 4k with an R9 270. I play a lot of racing games and MMO's. 

 

It matters just as much as it does at 1920x1080.

Framerate and graphical settings (primarily related to physics, lighting, anything with animations) are going to affect CPU load, but the higher res has pretty much no impact on it. Playing at 4K doesn't somehow move the load from CPU to GPU, CPU bottlenecks just become less evident because lower framerates result from 4K punching your GPU in the dick.

 

So if someone is looking for 60 fps average gameplay and doesn't care if it dips into the 40s, then an FX-6350 is fine whether you play at 1280x720, 1920x1080, 3440x1440 or 3840x2160. Conversely, it's not ideal if you plan to play your games at 144Hz even if it's at 1280x720.

[Inb4uall]

Great video. I enjoyed it much more simply because it was actually applicable to me as an average Joe who doesn't have problems like should I buy three 970s or two 980s. Please make more like this in the future.

[VulsaviiK]

Even if he considered the monitor you mentioned, that still puts the build over $1000.  Of course, this is still viable as a $1000 build if you already have a 4k capable monitor but that's probably only applicable to a very minor group.

 

It's a viable build for sure, however I'd still put forward the argument there's not really much point to playing those games at 4k

 

This is the philosophy I use for my computers that I build. Upper mid range on everything and hold out on the frilly expensive stuff. Best value for all around. 

 

Spend money on the things you'll likely use between builds. Things like power supplies, cooling, storage devices etc. I mean the investment for a custom water loop is huge to start out, but radiators, fittings etc. aren't likely to change too much. I could justify the cost of a 480gb SSD to store some games on because I'm likely to hold onto that SSD until it doesn't work anymore

[Barqing]

Where can I find the monitor that he used in the video? I was thinking about building this but I need to know the total cost before I start

[Crimson Dog]

Would a somewhat weaker X4 860k paired with a somewhat stronger 280x be able to pull off the same?

[DrMoron]

Would a somewhat weaker X4 860k paired with a somewhat stronger 280x be able to pull off the same?

Well, seeing as the 280x is basically an earlier model of the 285, I should think so.

 

I'm actually pretty impressed at the 'value' that the base unit represents, except for those players who also play WoW, where the Intel architecture is just flat-better.  I wonder how well this rig fares in other non-MOBA MMO games, though.  Does it fare similarly to WoW?

[Crimson Dog]

Well, seeing as the 280x is basically an earlier model of the 285, I should think so.

 

I'm actually pretty impressed at the 'value' that the base unit represents, except for those players who also play WoW, where the Intel architecture is just flat-better.  I wonder how well this rig fares in other non-MOBA MMO games, though.  Does it fare similarly to WoW?

Does that mean i should be able to max all these games out at 1080p?

 

Also, care to elaborate on the WoW point? Why are intel CPUs better than AMD ones for WoW? 

[Redliquid]

What's the name of the monitor?

[Bicketybam]

Where can I find the monitor that he used in the video? I was thinking about building this but I need to know the total cost before I start

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/275394-acer-b326hk/ - This is the monitor he used within this review, but it costs about $1000 itself.

 

What's the name of the monitor?

 

Acer B326HK