Help deciding between CPUs please!

[Skwoad]

Hey,                                                                      - keep in mind all prices are in $Aus- Thanks.

I'm looking at upgrading my computer. I am currently running an I7-920 @ 2.6 Ghz- Not sure of the Mobo atm but can provide if necessary. I am also only using 4gb of ram atm as one of my sticks failed a couple of weeks back.

I'm looking at getting a new CPU - Mobo - Cpu Cooler - Ram. My CPU is currently running extremely hot (Upwards of 70* Celsius) due to the hot weather we are experiencing atm (upwards of 40*)

I've never really looked at AMD CPUs until recently, and was interested in getting this:

AMD FX- 8350 Black Edition @4.0Ghz. -- $211

ASRock 990FX-Killer Mobo ---- $169

Corsair H80i Water cooling system. ---$135

G-Skill 8gb @1600MHz ---$99

I would be interested in doing some Oc'ing once the temperature cools down a bit.

On the intel side, 

I5-4690K @3.5Ghz ---$284

ASRock Fatal1ty H97 -Performance ----$127 or MSI Z97 GAMING 3 ---$179

With same ram + CPU Cooler

Any advice would be appreciated, and questions will be answered asap.

Thanks in advance,

Skwoad.

 

 

[ROK]

I'd get an i5. Don't get a K part without a Z97(or Z87) board, however. If you're going to get a lower end board get an i5-4460.

[79wjd]

Go with an i5-4690k + Gigabyte Z97x SLI (Or some other cheaper z97 board) instead.

that H80i is also stupidly priced, I'd seriously consider something else; and if everything where you live is that bad, then just get something cheaper, Like a Be Quiet Dark Rock, or Cooler Master Hyper 212. 

[JeffreyEagan]

Go with an i5-4690k + Gigabyte Z97x SLI instead 

that H80i is also stupidly priced, I'd seriously consider something else; and if everything where you live is that bad, then just get something cheaper, Like a Be Quiet Dark Rock, or Cooler Master Hyper 212. 

An H55 would be perfect.

[79wjd]

An H55 would be perfect.

There are better options than 120mm AIOs. Such as most high end/decent air coolers; and they're usually quite a bit cheaper. 

[JeffreyEagan]

There are better options than 120mm AIOs. Such as most high end/decent air coolers; and they're usually quite a bit cheaper. 

True, but if you want to go liquid cooling on the cheap, I stand by the H55. I've had mine for three years.

[Aniallation]

I'm looking at upgrading my computer. I am currently running an I7-920 @ 2.6 Ghz- Not sure of the Mobo atm but can provide if necessary. I am also only using 4gb of ram atm as one of my sticks failed a couple of weeks back.

I'm looking at getting a new CPU - Mobo - Cpu Cooler - Ram. My CPU is currently running extremely hot (Upwards of 70* Celsius) due to the hot weather we are experiencing atm (upwards of 40*)

Save your money and don't upgrade. Just get new RAM and possibly a better cooler (temps will still be bad with any CPU if ambient temps are really high). An i7 920 is still perfectly good for gaming and it's not worth it to upgrade to a locked Haswell i5, I would know because look at my sig.

[Skwoad]

So would I be able to Oc with the Msi mobo? Also, everything is god dam expensive here, not much I can do about that. The h60 is $95 if that would be a better option? Otherwise I don't mind spending extra money if its worth it. I would be interested in overclocking - if those Mobos cant, could you recommend ones that can? Prefs using this website as a price guide :

http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products_list.phtml?id=10&bid=2&id2=376

As this is probs the best I can get without having to wait longer than 2-3 weeks.

Also, is that ram ok? Or should i go with some Corsair vengence or Hyper X?

Just wondering, why is everyone saying go intel > AMD? 

Thanks again,

Skwoad

[Skwoad]

Save your money and don't upgrade. Just get new RAM and possibly a better cooler (temps will still be bad with any CPU if ambient temps are really high). An i7 920 is still perfectly good for gaming and it's not worth it to upgrade to a locked Haswell i5, I would know because look at my sig.

I do believe that there is something wrong with my CPU cooler -stock intel one. The fan seems to be acting strangely. It will go from 6000rpm to 0rpm and back to 1500. I tried adjusting this in the bios but could not find the area to directly adjust the Rpm.

[79wjd]

So would I be able to Oc with the Msi mobo? Also, everything is god dam expensive here, not much I can do about that. The h60 is $95 if that would be a better option? Otherwise I don't mind spending extra money if its worth it. I would be interested in overclocking - if those Mobos cant, could you recommend ones that can? Prefs using this website as a price guide :

http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products_list.phtml?id=10&bid=2&id2=376

As this is probs the best I can get without having to wait longer than 2-3 weeks.

Also, is that ram ok? Or should i go with some Corsair vengence or Hyper X?

Just wondering, why is everyone saying go intel > AMD? 

Thanks again,

Skwoad

Intel is better than AMD for gaming. 

 

http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=376&bid=2&sid=190651

http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=185&bid=2&sid=84236

http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=185&bid=2&sid=81505

 

If your case can fit it, then I'd get the Noctua cooler ($90), or for lighter overclocks, a Cooler Master Hyper 212 ($35).  

And the Ram is fine. 

[Skwoad]

@djdwosk97

Its not just for gaming, i also do a fair amount of rendering and Photoshop. 

Ill probably get the Noctua cooler - one of my friends recommended it to me as well.

Would it be worth spending more money on the mobo and go for something like this?:

http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=376&bid=2&sid=190641

I'm fairly new to overcloking, so would it be around a 4Ghz? Or would that be too much?

And on a final note, Is that the best I5 around that price point? 

Thanks again,

Skwoad

Edit: Is that Msi Mobo not any good? I seems to overclock well from a brief google. 

[79wjd]

@djdwosk97

Its not just for gaming, i also do a fair amount of rendering and Photoshop. 

Ill probably get the Noctua cooler - one of my friends recommended it to me as well.

Would it be worth spending more money on the mobo and go for something like this?:

http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=376&bid=2&sid=190641

I'm fairly new to overcloking, so would it be around a 4Ghz? Or would that be too much?

And on a final note, Is that the best I5 around that price point? 

Thanks again,

Skwoad

Edit: Is that Msi Mobo not any good? I seems to overclock well from a brief google. 

The MSI board is good, but the board has very little impact on overall performance. If you're overclocking then virtually any Z97 board from MSI, Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, or AsRock will be perfectly fine. What you should look for is Crossfire/SLI Support, and get the board that has the one you want (if either matters to you). Crossfire is multiple AMD GPUs and SLI is multiple Nvidia GPUs. 

 

If you're also editing than an FX8350 does become an option; however, the i5 will still perform better in gaming (and an i7 will be superior in both gaming and rendering). So its really a matter of deciding whats more important and how much you're willing to spend. With the Noctua cooler you should have no problems reaching 4.2ghz (but its very dependant on the cpu -- as they say, its the Silicon lottery).

[mohgames]

 

AMD is a fine choice

i would love to see what the new next gen games will do with 8 cores (cause PS4/xbox one has 8 cores)

[Skwoad]

The MSI board is good, but the board has very little impact on overall performance. If you're overclocking then virtually any Z97 board from MSI, Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, or AsRock will be perfectly fine. What you should look for is Crossfire/SLI Support, and get the board that has the one you want (if either matters to you). Crossfire is multiple AMD GPUs and SLI is multiple Nvidia GPUs. 

 

If you're also editing than an FX8350 does become an option; however, the i5 will still perform better in gaming (and an i7 will be superior in both gaming and rendering). So its really a matter of deciding whats more important and how much you're willing to spend. With the Noctua cooler you should have no problems reaching 4.2ghz (but its very dependant on the cpu -- as they say, its the Silicon lottery).

I might look at getting another Hd7950 if i can find another for sale in AUS - Umart stopped stocking them just after i bought it.

I might go for the MSI Mobo - MSI Z97 GAMING 3 --- $179 - Simply because it supports all my needs - Oc'ing - Inbuilt headphone amp - Crossfire support.

I will go for the I5 -4690K if you think that is the best for my needs. Ill be happy as long as it provides a large performance increase from my older I7- 920. 

If i was not Oc'ing to 4.2ghz at room temp of around 35* with that Noctua cooler, what temp do you think it will be hitting?

And as you said, the ram is fine.

Thanks alot for helping me out man, means alot to me Have never really looked at the AMD Cpu's before so it was a little confusing, thanks for clearing that up! 

[79wjd]

I might look at getting another Hd7950 if i can find another for sale in AUS - Umart stopped stocking them just after i bought it.

I might go for the MSI Mobo - MSI Z97 GAMING 3 --- $179 - Simply because it supports all my needs - Oc'ing - Inbuilt headphone amp - Crossfire support.

I will go for the I5 -4690K if you think that is the best for my needs. Ill be happy as long as it provides a large performance increase from my older I7- 920. 

If i was not Oc'ing to 4.2ghz at room temp of around 35* with that Noctua cooler, what temp do you think it will be hitting?

And as you said, the ram is fine.

Thanks alot for helping me out man, means alot to me Have never really looked at the AMD Cpu's before so it was a little confusing, thanks for clearing that up! 

The board I linked also supports XFIRE, and unless you have very particular ears I doubt you could tell the audio apart. I have an MSI Z87m Gaming and an MSI Z97s SLI Plus, the former has MUCH better audio, yet I can't tell the two part at all. 

 

Without overclocking, you'd probably be around 40~ at idle, 60~ at load. 

[Faceman]

 

 

AMD is a fine choice

i would love to see what the new next gen games will do with 8 cores (cause PS4/xbox one has 8 cores)

AMD is not a fine choice for gaming, especially when a locked i5 will outperform even the highest overclocked FX8.  That is the only place on the internet where a reviewer shows an FX8 beating an i5.  This is from the same source who showed an APU beating an i7-4770k.

 

People think they are getting a good deal when they buy FX, and they are not.  In order to properly utilize and overclock the FX processors, you need a high end motherboard and cooling solution, which makes the cost of an AMD build more than an Intel build in the majority of places around the world.  More on this later.

 

If you enjoy games like MMOs(ArcheAge, WoW, Guild Wars2, World of Tanks, Planetside2 etc..) DayZ, ARMA2, ARMA3, Dead Rising 3, Indies, RTS, Emulators, etc.. the FX will be unplayable unless you think 10-15fps is acceptable.

 

Then the other games that are playable, but no where near as fluid as on Intel.  A few examples are: Starcraft, Skyrim, Civilization V.

 

Then there are a lot of games where the FX will perform similar to Intel, provided you're using a 60Hz Monitor and don't see the bottleneck happening. 

 

----

---

"Average frametimes did not do AMD’s processors any justice either. As we already said the game was fluid with i7 and i5’s, and somewhat playable with the i3 processor line. When we switched to FX CPUs not only did we have worse framerate but the gameplay was simply put, laggy."

 

The modern i3s beat the FX8 in the majority of games.

 

Benchmarks:

http://www.hardcorew...-4340-review/2/

http://www.hardwarep...8-games-tested/

http://www.tomshardw...cpu,3929-7.html

http://www.anandtech...w-vishera-95w/3

http://techreport.com/review/23750/amd-fx-8350-processor-reviewed/14

 

 

"To put it nicely, the FX-8370E is a true middle-of-the-road CPU. Using it only makes sense as long as the graphics card you choose comes from a similar performance segment.

Depending on the game in question, AMD’s new processor has the potential to keep you happy around the AMD Radeon R9 270X/285 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 or 660 Ti level.

A higher- or even high-end graphics card doesn’t make sense, as pairing it with AMD's FX-8370E simply limits the card's potential."

 

"Pop over to the gaming scatter, though, and the picture changes dramatically. There, the FX-8350 is the highest-performance AMD desktop processor to date for gaming, finally toppling the venerable Phenom II X4 980. Yet the FX-8350's gaming performance almost exactly matches that of the Core i3-3225, a $134 Ivy Bridge-based processor. Meanwhile, the Core i5-3470 delivers markedly superior gaming performance for less money than the FX-8350. The FX-8350 isn't exactly bad for video games—its performance was generally acceptable in our tests. But it is relatively weak compared to the competition.

This strange divergence between the two performance pictures isn't just confined to gaming, of course. The FX-8350 is also relatively pokey in image processing applications, in SunSpider, and in the less widely multithreaded portions of our video encoding tests. Many of these scenarios rely on one or several threads, and the FX-8350 suffers compared to recent Intel chips in such cases. Still, the contrast between the FX-8350 and the Sandy/Ivy Bridge chips isn't nearly as acute as it was with the older FX processors. Piledriver's IPC gains and that 4GHz base clock have taken the edge off of our objections.

The other major consideration here is power consumption, and really, the FX-8350 isn't even the same class of product as the Ivy Bridge Core i5 processors on this front. There's a 48W gap between the TDP ratings of the Core i5 parts and the FX-8350, but in our tests, the actual difference at the wall socket between two similarly configured systems under load was over 100W. That gap is large enough to force the potential buyer to think deeply about the class of power supply, case, and CPU cooler he needs for his build. One could definitely get away with less expensive components for a Core i5 system."

 

"The FX-8370E stretches its legs a little in terms of minimum frame rates, particularly in SLI, however it is handily beaten by the i3-4330."

 

 

You should read through the link above, but here is the conclusion.

 

"Conclusion

 

If you've made it this far, congrats and thank you very, very much for reading. I appreciate it genuinely.

 

Okay, so let's conclude. Yes, Intel won 5-2, but that's meaningless. Looking at benchmarks for the sake of looking at benchmarks doesn't

help us. What helps us is seeing where the 4670K wins massively and where the 8350 wins massively. 

 

Gaming

In gaming, the 4670K wins. This is said by Linus, said by AnandTech, said by Bit-Tech, said by Tom's Hardware, said all around the internet

except for at Tek Syndicate. If you are going for a gaming PC, go with the 4670K.

 

Video Editing and 3D Rendering

Yes, there are benchmarks where the 8350 beats the 4670K, however, what is important is that these two are almost neck and neck.

Some sites have the 8350 ever so slightly faster, some have the 3570K/4670K as ever so slightly faster. At the end of the day, it's too close to call.

However, the extra IPC that Haswell offers should help in a wider variety of situations, so I would award this to the 4670K. 

 

Calculations

This one goes to the 8350 which demonstrates a higher performance with calculations throughout due to its higher core count. It beats Intel convincingly

in most calculation benchmarks. 

 

So, what does this mean?

 

This has been said in the introduction, but I will say it again. I am not an Intel fanboy, which is why I went out to research instead of screaming that Intel

is better. I have suggested AMD in the past, their Athlon 64 was better than the Pentium 4, their Athlon 64 x2 was better than the Pentium D. However,

I genuinely dislike the promulgation of false information, especially to people who are asking for help selecting new parts. 

 

If you're an AMD fanboy, you're not going to like it, but Intel's 4670K is better than AMD's 8350. Regardless of however you look at it, in most situations,

the 4670K wins, but it isn't just that, its far superior IPC gives it such an advantage in most every day tasks, which are mostly still single-threaded. 

 

The AMD 8350 is good for certain workloads, but apart from those workloads, it is simply terrible. Its IPC, which is weaker than the i7 920's, which is

5 years old, is simply too weak to put it as any sort of real competition to the 4670K. 

 

I hope that this clears up some of the misconceptions here. Yes, AMD had their time, their Athlon 64 was better than the Intel Pentium 4, however,

those days are well and truly over. If, in this day and age, you recommend an AMD processor for any usage apart from calculations, you are either

being a fanboy or just plainly ignorant of the facts which say that the 4670K is superior. 

 

Of course, this is not to say that nobody should use AMD, but, if you suggest an AMD build for someone else, especially if you suggest an 8350

against a 4670K, know that you are suggesting a worse option, especially for a gaming PC. To argue that the 8350 is competitive with the 4670K

across the board is delusional and just plainly wrong. Yes, you are wrong. 

 

So that's it guys, for most people, the 4670K is the better option compared to the 8350 and the information shows it. 

 

Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my little article. I hope I have helped you see what the statistics say about these two processors.

I appreciate you taking the time to read what I have written. Cheers :)"

 

Also, when people say that the FX8 is a less expensive option, they are wrong.  In order for the FX8 to be viable, it needs to be overclocked, which means you need a motherboard with at least 8+2 VRM phase design, and more expensive cooling solution.  This makes it cost the same, if not more than a locked i5 processor which will beat the FX8 in every single game, no matter how high the FX is overclocked.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sLd6hM

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sLd6hM/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor  ($126.00 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($93.00 @ Newegg)

Total: $248.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-10 03:38 EST-0500

 

Vs.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TPL4pg

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TPL4pg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($40.00 @ Amazon)

Total: $214.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-10 04:22 EST-0500

[79wjd]

@Faceman 

at least throw that shit in a spoiler. 

[Skwoad]

The board I linked also supports XFIRE, and unless you have very particular ears I doubt you could tell the audio apart. I have an MSI Z87m Gaming and an MSI Z97s SLI Plus, the former has MUCH better audio, yet I can't tell the two part at all. 

 

Without overclocking, you'd probably be around 40~ at idle, 60~ at load.

Do all mobo's have similar Oc'ing features? Do you recommend i go the gigabyte one that you recommended over the MSI one? Or will there be little difference?

And would it be worth getting a water cooler over and air cooler? A h60 is only like $10 more than the Noctua. 

 

And that was a long post

Edit: I also really like the MSI bios, ive been using a really old bios on my current pc that looks so bad D: But thats just preference...

[79wjd]

Do all mobo's have similar Oc'ing features? Do you recommend i go the gigabyte one that you recommended over the MSI one? Or will there be little difference?

And would it be worth getting a water cooler over and air cooler? A h60 is only like $10 more than the Noctua. 

 

And that was a long post

Any Z97 board will have the same overclocking features. As for the MSI vs. Gigabyte, it really doesn't matter -- I was just suggesting a cheaper one, but performance wise you won't notice a difference. 

 

The NH-D14 and H60 will perform similarly, but the NH-D14 will be quieter. 

[Skwoad]

Any Z97 board will have the same overclocking features. As for the MSI vs. Gigabyte, it really doesn't matter -- I was just suggesting a cheaper one, but performance wise you won't notice a difference. 

 

The NH-D14 and H60 will perform similarly, but the NH-D14 will be quieter. 

So even tho its water cooling vs. air cooling I wont see much difference? So its just better to go with the cheaper option then.

And the CPU i chose is unlocked right? All these people kept saying that is was locked? I thought the K on the end ment it could be Oc'd?

Edit: The cooler said it only fits Intel LGA2011, would it still fit LGA 1150?

[AlTech]

Hey,                                                                      - keep in mind all prices are in $Aus- Thanks.

I'm looking at upgrading my computer. I am currently running an I7-920 @ 2.6 Ghz- Not sure of the Mobo atm but can provide if necessary. I am also only using 4gb of ram atm as one of my sticks failed a couple of weeks back.

I'm looking at getting a new CPU - Mobo - Cpu Cooler - Ram. My CPU is currently running extremely hot (Upwards of 70* Celsius) due to the hot weather we are experiencing atm (upwards of 40*)

I've never really looked at AMD CPUs until recently, and was interested in getting this:

AMD FX- 8350 Black Edition @4.0Ghz. -- $211

ASRock 990FX-Killer Mobo ---- $169

Corsair H80i Water cooling system. ---$135

G-Skill 8gb @1600MHz ---$99

I would be interested in doing some Oc'ing once the temperature cools down a bit.

On the intel side, 

I5-4690K @3.5Ghz ---$284

ASRock Fatal1ty H97 -Performance ----$127 or MSI Z97 GAMING 3 ---$179

With same ram + CPU Cooler

Any advice would be appreciated, and questions will be answered asap.

Thanks in advance,

Skwoad.

Get the 8350 and the mobo. I would say H100i though for this as it is AMD (the're products tend to heat up quite a bit). Note: You will need an external GPU for windows as it requires direct x 9.0c for 7. IF it is not for gaming then get an AMD Radeon R7 250.

[79wjd]

Get the 8350 and the mobo. I would say H100i though for this as it is AMD (the're products tend to heat up quite a bit). Note: You will need an external GPU for windows as it requires direct x 9.0c for 7. IF it is not for gaming then get an AMD Radeon R7 250.

A 4790 (non-K) with no cooler and an h81 board will outperform an 8350 and be about the same price; or he could even go with a Xeon 1231v3 on an h81 board and he'll outperform an 8350 and be about $80~ cheaper. And he could still go with a 1231V3 on an h97 board (with XFIRE support) and still be about $50 cheaper. 

 

 

So even tho its water cooling vs. air cooling I wont see much difference? So its just better to go with the cheaper option then.

And the CPU i chose is unlocked right? All these people kept saying that is was locked? I thought the K on the end ment it could be Oc'd?

Edit: The cooler said it only fits Intel LGA2011, would it still fit LGA 1150?

Well, watercooling isn't automatically better than air cooling. Its not until you get to a 240mm radiator (or a thick 120) that you start to benefit from water cooling. So, an H80i, or NZXT Kraken X41 would be the lowest I'd go for an AIO. The cooler will fit on LGA 1150.

 

The 4690k is overclockable; you misread what they were saying, they were saying that A locked i5 is better than an 8350 (in gaming), therefore an unlocked i5 would be even better.

 

But as I said earlier, you should get your priorities straight. If editing/rendering is more important to you than gaming, then I'd go with an Intel Xeon 1231v3 on an H97 board that supports crossfire; if gaming is more important, then I'd go with a 4690k on a Z97 board. 

[totjup5]

Go with the 4690k

[Skwoad]

A 4790 (non-K) with no cooler and an h81 board will outperform an 8350 and be about the same price; or he could even go with a Xeon 1231v3 on an h81 board and he'll outperform an 8350 and be about $80~ cheaper. And he could still go with a 1231V3 on an h97 board (with XFIRE support) and still be about $50 cheaper. 

 

 

Well, watercooling isn't automatically better than air cooling. Its not until you get to a 240mm radiator (or a thick 120) that you start to benefit from water cooling. So, an H80i, or NZXT Kraken X41 would be the lowest I'd go for an AIO. The cooler will fit on LGA 1150.

 

The 4690k is overclockable; you misread what they were saying, they were saying that A locked i5 is better than an 8350 (in gaming), therefore an unlocked i5 would be even better.

 

But as I said earlier, you should get your priorities straight. If editing/rendering is more important to you than gaming, then I'd go with an Intel Xeon 1231v3 on an H97 board that supports crossfire; if gaming is more important, then I'd go with a 4690k on a Z97 board.

Gaming will be prioritized on this computer but, some rendering will be done for school. I already have an external GPU - Hd 7950.

This was really just a question about what CPU would be a better buy. I will be going for the 4690K with the Noctua Cooler.

Thank you for your help and have a great day.