Just so you know I am no Intel fan boy. Over the years I have built close to 20 complete systems for friends and family, all have used AMD processors. I’m no hardware guru and really my views are those of an average Joe.
My latest experience with AMD has me doubting the value and I think at this point it is time to jump the AMD ship.
This all started with a DDR2 stick going out on one of the four gaming computers in my house. Not wanting to buy more DDR2 I decided it was time to upgrade my system to a DDR3 board and pass down my old board and DDR2 to my son.
My system was a Gigabyte 790X UD4P, AMD 965@ 3.8 GHz, Kingston Hyper X DDR2 1066, and a GTX 660.
My Replacement to the above was a Gigabyte 990FXA, AMD 8320@ 4.7 GHz, Kingston Hyper X DDR3 1600 and a pair of GTX 660’s in SLI, later Replaced with a GTX 680.
This process was done a step at a time and performance was measured with each change. Without getting into too much detail and bogged down in raw data let me just say this.
There is very little to be had going from a 965 and DDR2 to an 8320 and DDR3. In CPU heavy games AMD is FAIL. It is really sad when an 8 core processor clocked at 4.7 GHz paired with a single GTX 660, GTX 660 SLI or a GTX 680 drops to 18fps in online gaming. That fps drop was almost identical to the 965. To be clear, I’m not talking about a full server in BF or a mega event in GW2. This happens when there are a moderate amount of players; I don’t know how bad it would be in full servers. FYI my measured internet speed peaks out at 72 and the minimum connection speed is well over 35(I pay for a 50mbps connection)
In defense of the 8320 I will say this; it is a better 18fps than the 965. There were effects that I had never seen in the games with the 965 nothing that one can measure, just extra effects and a better overall gaming picture. BUT we are still talking 18fps.
All told I spent $370 on the MB, CPU and RAM. Going with an Intel 3570 would have only been an extra $70 and would have been much better for my applications. Honestly I would have gone 3770K though.
Don’t waste your money like I did. If you have an AMD 945 to 980 the only real upgrade path is a switch to Intel or wait for AMD’s next.
My latest experience with AMD has me doubting the value and I think at this point it is time to jump the AMD ship.
This all started with a DDR2 stick going out on one of the four gaming computers in my house. Not wanting to buy more DDR2 I decided it was time to upgrade my system to a DDR3 board and pass down my old board and DDR2 to my son.
My system was a Gigabyte 790X UD4P, AMD 965@ 3.8 GHz, Kingston Hyper X DDR2 1066, and a GTX 660.
My Replacement to the above was a Gigabyte 990FXA, AMD 8320@ 4.7 GHz, Kingston Hyper X DDR3 1600 and a pair of GTX 660’s in SLI, later Replaced with a GTX 680.
This process was done a step at a time and performance was measured with each change. Without getting into too much detail and bogged down in raw data let me just say this.
There is very little to be had going from a 965 and DDR2 to an 8320 and DDR3. In CPU heavy games AMD is FAIL. It is really sad when an 8 core processor clocked at 4.7 GHz paired with a single GTX 660, GTX 660 SLI or a GTX 680 drops to 18fps in online gaming. That fps drop was almost identical to the 965. To be clear, I’m not talking about a full server in BF or a mega event in GW2. This happens when there are a moderate amount of players; I don’t know how bad it would be in full servers. FYI my measured internet speed peaks out at 72 and the minimum connection speed is well over 35(I pay for a 50mbps connection)
In defense of the 8320 I will say this; it is a better 18fps than the 965. There were effects that I had never seen in the games with the 965 nothing that one can measure, just extra effects and a better overall gaming picture. BUT we are still talking 18fps.
All told I spent $370 on the MB, CPU and RAM. Going with an Intel 3570 would have only been an extra $70 and would have been much better for my applications. Honestly I would have gone 3770K though.
Don’t waste your money like I did. If you have an AMD 945 to 980 the only real upgrade path is a switch to Intel or wait for AMD’s next.
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