Best cheapest option for AMD-FX8350 high end gaming pc??

SL97

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Hey, I'm going to building my first pc very soon and have already selected a lot of the components, however I'm really stuck on the motherboard and it would be great if some of the more experienced pc builders/tech savvy people could help me out here.

I'm going with an AMD-FX8350 CPU and the GPU is going to be a GTX 780, I would like overclocking capabilities but PCIe 2.0 (x16) is a must. If I was to overclock I would be pushing it to about 4.8gHz maximum (going to use a cpu water cooler).

Another must is also USB 3.0 headers at the front, but when a case says they have USB 3.0 but doesnt mention anything about headers, does that mean its only got usb 3.0 at the back of it and i won't be able to hook up the usb 3.0 at the front of the case??

I picked out some motherboards, budget is real tight so I would only be looking at the cheapest of the cheapest motherboards that present the most bang for buck, so far I've picked out these:

Asus M5A97 R2.0 - £70

MSI 990XA-GD55 - £75

ASRock 970 Extreme4 - £77

£80 would really be pushing it, any opinions on those boards would be great, they seem to provide the x16 PCIe 2.0 that would be able to support a GTX 780 and have usb 3.0 (not sure if they have usb 3.0 headers to connect to the front???) however I'm really unsure on the overclocking capabilities on these.

If anybody owns these motherboards or knows a lot about them please feel free to give some advice, any help is appreciated as I don't want to buy one of these motherboards and then find out I can't hook up usb 3.0 at the front of the case or that I can't overclock my FX-8350 to atleast 4.5gHz.
 
Solution
I don't know. Just because you can OC one to 4.2GHz, it doesn't mean it is proportionate to every other CPU. Seriously, just get the ASRock board. It will do you justice. And it has two USB 3.0 on back and a header for your front.

legokill101

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all 990 series chipsets are pcie 2.0, second save some money by geting a 8320 and spend the extra on a serous heatsink like the nh-d14 as the 8 core fx's produce a lot of heat and i cant tell you of those manufactures asus has by far the best reputation for quality and suport
 
If you want this for gaming I think you should look into an i5. The intel processors really make a mockery of the AMDs when it comes to gaming and it will probably hold back your 780.

I don't think you should be skimping out on a decent motherboard either, why penny pinch on important components when your dropping a ton of money for a GTX 780?

Just my opinion, get a quality motherboard and processor because its harder to replace/upgrade those than a graphics card.
 

SL97

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Isn't the 8320 a different architecture to the 8350 so that means the 8350 would provide significantly higher performance?

I really don't want to bottleneck the gpu, the reason I'm not going with intel is because the 8350 provides slightly better performance than the i5 3570k in a lot of things but the i5 beats it in some, and the 8350 is a lot cheaper.
It's really close, if not better in performance and for the price its a no-brainer.
Please see this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4et7kDGSRfc

If I went with the 8320 it wouldn't overclock as high as an 8350 or is that also a myth?

So, the cheapest Asus board is the best to go with? It's 970 chipset btw.
Will it let me get a decent overclock and support USB 3.0 headers on the front of my case? It says it it has only 1 usb 3.0 header but my case has 2 usb 3.0 ports at the front, will this make one usb 3.0 slot worthless and un-usable?

Thanks for your reply mate
 
Yes; if the case does not come with front USB 3.0 ports, you can still use the back USB 3.0. You can also take up an optical bay and add your own front USB 3.0 ports.

As for the motherboards, I would choose the ASRock one just because you plan to do some high overclocking.
 

legokill101

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No. They're the same architecture, and in fact identical apart from their factory-set clocks. AMD may have binned them so that the chance of a chip that overclocks well is higher with an 8350, but even that small difference isn't guaranteed.
 

Drew010

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Building an AMD rig currently is actually a pretty good idea. With the next generation of consoles coming up built on 8 core AND AMD architecture, games will start to become more optimized for AMD...As for the PCIe 2.0, I would suggest maybe saving up some money, or just holding back until more AMD MOBOs have PCIe 3.0. The ASUS Sabertooth 990FX/GEN3 R2.0 has PCIe 3.0 (and yes, it does run at PCIe 3.0 with an AMD processor), however it is a bit pricey (~$200, not sure what that is in pounds). Hope this helps!
 

For maximum overclocking, the MSI board looks like the better choice. It has more VRM phases than the Asrock board.
 
@Sakkura: That doesn't count for everything. There are complaints from people complaining about their troubles with getting the MSI board to OC a FX-8320 pass 4.1GHz. There were reviews that says that the MSI board OC is good, but more praises on the ASRock one.
 

SL97

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So, simply put the cheap ASrock board will be the better buy out of the other boards I mentioned?
Forking out more money for a sabertooth or a crosshair board is really not an option for me. I'd love to hit 4.8gHz maybe even 5gHz on an overclock but I'll settle for 4.5 if thats all the motherboard will allow.

 

I'll admit that power phases aren't everything. On the other hand, Newegg reviews etc. aren't reliable.
 

SL97

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£80 on a board would be the absolute max for me if it means I can reach 4.5gHz in an overclock and have x16 pcie 2.0 and also have the USB 3.0 headers, any suggestions?
 

SL97

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yeah i'll be going with a corsair h60, i know 4.8ghz was ambitious so 4.5 or 4.4ghz would do it for me, i just don't want to risk bottlenecking the gtx 780

the 8320 is tempting, would i be able to achieve a 4.2ghz overclock on it? assuming its exactly the same as 8350 but just with a lower factory clock, as its £30 cheaper than a 8350
 

SL97

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ok so if i can achieve a 4.2ghz overclock on a 8320, what overclock would i be able to achieve a 8350?
and what motherboard should I go with? the case I chose has 2 usb 3.0 ports on the front i'd want them to be able to support them both but the motherboards say they only have 1 usb 3.0 header :( the header basically means that it will only support 1 usb port right?
 
I don't know. Just because you can OC one to 4.2GHz, it doesn't mean it is proportionate to every other CPU. Seriously, just get the ASRock board. It will do you justice. And it has two USB 3.0 on back and a header for your front.
 
Solution
Once you get your system up and running and you want to start your overclock check in on the overclocking section for some helpful hints. I see you mentioned the Corsair H-60 as a cooler for the CPU, however if your planning on a serious overclock you will want to get the H-80 or H-100 for cooling power.
You should wait a few weeks after your system is running to allow the Thermal Compound to cure completly so that the CPU will not heat up too fast.
 

trixsta

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LOL i think you will find the fx8350 wipes the floor with the i5 ....but everyone knows that now so i wont waist anymore of my breath on a fan boy....the only thing the i5 has against the 8350 is you might get 1 or 2 fps faster on games ..where as the fx 8350 will smash the i7 on streaming and multi tasking and almost draw level and surpass the i7 3770k on 1440p upwards and the higher the pixels the more it hammers the i7 let alone the i5 ....
 
Here's an interesting article from Hardwaresecrets. It is about a year old and it compares the i5-3470 (3.2 GHz) and the i5-2500K with the FX 8350 and other AMD CPUs. The two i5 CPU's are a lot faster than any of the AMD CPUs in all the benchmark and gaming tests. The only test the 8350 was faster was with 3D rendering with cinebench. No i7's or faster 15's were tested.

Here's the conclusion:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/FX-8350-vs-Core-i5-3470-CPU-Review/1657/18

 


I would not say I am a fanboy, I actually really enjoy AMD CPUs I used them exclusively until my current i5. I do agree that the 8350 beats the i5 and even the i7 in certain task, but when it comes to gaming it is pretty unanimous that the intels perform much better. Just look at the benchmarks, here on tom's they consistently recommend the i5 for gaming. If he didn't ask specifically for a gaming rig I would recommend an AMD.