Overclocking console replacement.

[Bloodraghe]

The last few days I've been doing research for the above stated build, with 3 cpu/apu's in mind- G3258, X4 860K, and A10-7850K. I know the X4 and A10 are more or less the same chip with or without the igpu. Much of the information I've found on here is they will all bottleneck as soon as the processor has a decent load put on it, framerate stutters and that they will bottleneck a GTX 960. All of this seems contradictory when many review videos praise the cpu's for their price to proformance. What I would like to know is how likely is it any of the issues will happen and to what extent?

 

 

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor / A10-7850K
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard 

 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

[Manny Calavera]

get i3 and you can get cheap 50$ or even less mobo.

 

dont get pentium or athlon.

[i_build_nanosuits]

i3-4150/4160 and a cheap B85 board will perform better than any of those solutions OP.

With the prices right now it would be this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($108.95 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.45 @ OutletPC)

Total: $153.40

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-28 13:33 EDT-0400

[Bloodraghe]

Overclocking is a requirement.

[OAcesync]

The last few days I've been doing research for the above stated build, with 3 cpu/apu's in mind- G3258, X4 860K, and A10-7850K. I know the X4 and A10 are more or less the same chip with or without the igpu. Much of the information I've found on here is they will all bottleneck as soon as the processor has a decent load put on it, framerate stutters and that they will bottleneck a GTX 960. All of this seems contradictory when many review videos praise the cpu's for their price to proformance. What I would like to know is how likely is it any of the issues will happen and to what extent?

 

 

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor / A10-7850K

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard 

 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

I would go with the Athlon. Neither of those CPUs will bottleneck a 960, my OC pentium doesn't bottleneck a 280 which is the same level as a 960

[i_build_nanosuits]

Overclocking is a requirement.

why so? i'm telling you: this little core i3 perform better in games than a 5ghz G3258 or a 5ghz 860K...hands down. (i tested all this please refer to my youtube videos if you want to know more)

[Bloodraghe]

This is going to be my first OC build and is going to be more or less a learning build

[Faceman]

Overclocking is a requirement.

It shouldn't be when you can get much better performance out of an i3 processor that doesn't need to be overclocked.

[Faceman]

This is going to be my first OC build and is going to be more or less a learning build

Thats fine and all, but that doesn't mean you should purposely handicap your performance just so that you can overclock.

[i_build_nanosuits]

This is going to be my first OC build and is going to be more or less a learning build

in that case, i would go with the G3258, that way at least you'll have a good motherboard once you realise you want a real processor you'll be able to drop in an i5-4690K or i7-4790K without having to buy a new motherboard again.

 

you'll see...games are a stuttery mess with this dual thread CPU, you need 4 threads minimum for games, the athlon isnt really better cause the cores are just so damn slow...none of these will be a good match for a GTX 960...you'll get full performance on a GTX960 with a core i3 CPU or better.

[Bloodraghe]

Thats fine and all, but that doesn't mean you should purposely handicap your performance just so that you can overclock.

I'm not worried about handicapping this build as this isn't my desktop. in 3 month I'm going to building this or a Skylake equivalent.

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.99 @ Micro Center)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($74.99 @ Mwave)

Motherboard: Asus Z97 PRO GAMER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($163.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($99.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($55.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($329.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: BitFenix Fury 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Mwave)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)  ($86.98 @ OutletPC)

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.85 @ OutletPC)

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.85 @ OutletPC)

Monitor: Acer GN246HL 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($189.99 @ Newegg)

Keyboard: Logitech G710 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($81.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $1663.56

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-28 13:44 EDT-0400

[Faceman]

I'm not worried about handicapping this build as this isn't my desktop. in 3 month I'm going to building this or a Skylake equivalent.

 

 

Then why even both with this build?  Or if you are planning to upgrade to an i7-4790k in just a few months, that makes it a no-brainer to go with a Pentium G3258 + Z97 motherboard.

[Bloodraghe]

Then why even both with this build?  Or if you are planning to upgrade to an i7-4790k in just a few months, that makes it a no-brainer to go with a Pentium G3258 + Z97 motherboard.

 

The 4790K is going to be  my desktop when its built. The G3258/X4 860K is a console replacement media PC. I'm building both, the media pc has higher priority atm

[i_build_nanosuits]

The 4790K is going to be  my desktop when its built. The G3258/X4 860K is a console replacement media PC. I'm building both, the media pc has higher priority atm

a media PC should be quiet...idealy silent, and this won't go hand in hand with overclocking...build yourself a small form factor machine around a core i3 CPU and a GTX 960. This will play, run and render just about anything very well.

[tomas710]

If y

 

I'm not worried about handicapping this build as this isn't my desktop. in 3 month I'm going to building this or a Skylake equivalent.

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($74.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Asus Z97 PRO GAMER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($163.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($55.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: BitFenix Fury 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Mwave)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)  ($86.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.85 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.85 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer GN246HL 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Logitech G710 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($81.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1663.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-28 13:44 EDT-0400

Buy a good intel mobo if you are doing an I7 build in a few months, no point of going AMD just to have to change it 3 months

[tomas710]

Oh, for a media PC I'd go with AMD, it's cheaper and it doesn't require that much CPU performance anyway

[tomas710]

And...If you are getting a 960, dont get an APU, save money on integrated graphics you are not gonna use anyway

[i_build_nanosuits]

If i was to build myself a media pc for my living room, i would go with this with the prices and deals available as of today:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($108.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.45 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($80.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($184.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: BitFenix Aegis Core (White) MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $645.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-28 14:03 EDT-0400

 

This is powerful, yet cheap...reliable and also very quiet (i would add a small and cheap aftermarket heatsink for quieter operations as well if possible.)

[Bloodraghe]

If i was to build myself a media pc for my living room, i would go with this with the prices and deals available as of today:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($108.95 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.45 @ OutletPC)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($48.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($80.00 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($184.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: BitFenix Aegis Core (White) MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $645.35

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-28 14:03 EDT-0400

 

The i3 is out of the picture since it doesnt OC. The whole point is to learn to OC on the media PC so when time comes I know what i'm doing on the desktop.

[i_build_nanosuits]

The i3 is out of the picture since it doesnt OC. The whole point is to learn to OC on the media PC so when time comes I know what i'm doing on the desktop.

thats rediculous...OCing nowadays is as easy as up the CPU multiplier a couple notch, add some more volts to vcore, test for stability, rince and repeat...you don't need or have to build a machine to learn something that can be done in a matter of an hour with an overclocking tutorial..it's ridiculous.

 

You can also make your hand on the core i3 machine, learn to lower the voltage on your CPU...make it more efficient, undervolt it...or overclock it on the FSB...you can get the strap to run at 103 or 104mhz...there's all those settings you can tweak, your RAM, cpu VCCIN etc. all of that you still get you can mess with the bios all you want...the only thing you can't do is change the CPU multiplier...all the rest you can still do.

 

This would be the recommendation for a cheap overclockeable rig that you could tweak all you want so long as you don't care much about running modern AAA titles:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($64.89 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($19.99 @ Best Buy)

Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($48.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($80.00 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($184.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: BitFenix Aegis Core (White) MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $651.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-28 14:14 EDT-0400

[Faceman]

The 4790K is going to be  my desktop when its built. The G3258/X4 860K is a console replacement media PC. I'm building both, the media pc has higher priority atm

Exactly as nanosuits said.  Go with an i3 + 960.  In just 3 months time you will be overclocking your i7.  There is no need to buy a sub-par processor and overclock it when you can buy a much better processor that doesn't need to be overclocked.

[Prysin]

The last few days I've been doing research for the above stated build, with 3 cpu/apu's in mind- G3258, X4 860K, and A10-7850K. I know the X4 and A10 are more or less the same chip with or without the igpu. Much of the information I've found on here is they will all bottleneck as soon as the processor has a decent load put on it, framerate stutters and that they will bottleneck a GTX 960. All of this seems contradictory when many review videos praise the cpu's for their price to proformance. What I would like to know is how likely is it any of the issues will happen and to what extent?

 

 

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor / A10-7850K

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard 

 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

According to benchmarks made by anandtech, for mid ranged cards, the A10 and Athlon 860k can keep producing framerates and performance around that of an midrange i3. Nothing more. The i3 would in general be a better buy, but if you want to OC then 860k is a better choice then the pentium due to its extra threads, The pentium sometimes get locked out of games due to lack of threads.

[i_build_nanosuits]

According to benchmarks made by anandtech, for mid ranged cards, the A10 and Athlon 860k can keep producing framerates and performance around that of an midrange i3. Nothing more. The i3 would in general be a better buy, but if you want to OC then 860k is a better choice then the pentium due to its extra threads, The pentium sometimes get locked out of games due to lack of threads.

he wants to learn overclocking haswell...which is somewhat different than FM2+ from AMD...i know principles are the same, but the settings in the bios varies a lot...just saying.

 

BTW OP, here's a very good overclocking guide on haswell...very thoroughly put together by a good friend @ProKoN, experienced overclocker here on the forum:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/41234-intel-haswell-4670k-4770k-overclocking-guide/

 

You can overclock your 4790K (or g3258, i5-4670k/4690k whatever) in a matter of an hour or so with this tutorial...then you test the settings you think are stable for like a week, and then you improve upon until you get to know your chip very well...everything you might want to know is in there.

[Prysin]

he wants to learn overclocking haswell...which is somewhat different than FM2+ from AMD...i know principles are the same, but the settings in the bios varies a lot...just saying.

 

BTW OP, here's a very good overclocking guide on haswell...very thoroughly put together by a good friend @ProKoN, experienced overclocker here on the forum:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/41234-intel-haswell-4670k-4770k-overclocking-guide/

 

You can overclock your 4790K (or g3258, i5-4670k/4690k whatever) in a matter of an hour or so with this tutorial...then you test the settings you think are stable for like a week, and then you improve upon until you get to know your chip very well...everything you might want to know is in there.

I have to agree that FM2+ OCing is hard, ive set up two 7850k systems, and getting these things stable while balancing temps and voltages arent easy. But it makes for a good feeling when you get it right.

[Faceman]

According to benchmarks made by anandtech, for mid ranged cards, the A10 and Athlon 860k can keep producing framerates and performance around that of an midrange i3. Nothing more. The i3 would in general be a better buy, but if you want to OC then 860k is a better choice then the pentium due to its extra threads, The pentium sometimes get locked out of games due to lack of threads.