What's the difference

[Technozo]

What's the difference between AMD Athlon versus AMD FX and is the new 880k Athlon worth it? 

[Hegehog]

The 880k is definitely worth it for a budget build. Im not entirely sure but I think the fx series is just a more powerful and capable chip while athlon is more budget orientated so doesn't have as many flashy features but is great for budget builds. Hope this helped!

[Technozo]

Thanks for the information and I'll strongly consider the 880k but I still want to know what the difference between Athlon and FX are so I'll wait for another reply. 

[Hegehog]

Yea I scoured google but couldn't find anything for it which is weird. I might be using the wrong teach term but it strange to say the least.

[Glenwing]

They use different motherboards. FX series CPUs use motherboards with socket AM3+ and a chipset like the 990FX or 970, while Athlon CPUs use socket FM2/FM2+ motherboards and chipsets like A88X.

 

There haven't been any new FX CPUs released in a long time, so their design is a bit older. The current Athlons are based on the same design but they use newer revisions which are a bit quicker per core per clock (a newer 4.0 GHz quad-core Athlon will be somewhat faster than a 4.0 GHz quad-core FX processor). AMD doesn't make any Athlons with more than 4 cores, while FX CPUs can go up to 8 cores.