AMD or Intel!!!???

Kuosa · Jul 17, 2014

Hi all, i'm sure you have probably all seen these threads 1,000,000 times, and you can be relieved because this isn't some fanboy thread!

I am having a serious dilema between buying an AMD FX8350 or a competing Intel quad core processor that is in the same price margin of around $200. I want to use this build for a lot of gaming, but I want it to perform extremely fast and have NO problem running a few different programs on a dual-monitor set up. I may also do a bit of video editing now and then and a little bit of HTML coding but that won't require any kind of specification to do that if i'm honest.

I am on a budget of around £650 and this is what my build is looking like so far....

HyperX Genesis 1600MHz 2x4GB - £65.86
Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 - £155
AMD FX8350 Black Edition - £127
ACE 700W BR PSU - £21.42
Cooler MAster Hyper 212 EVO - £25.95
AvP Defender 300 K1 - £28.11
Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 - £98.98
Kingston SSD 120GB - £50
Caviar 500GB HDD - £35.99
Total - £608.31
I need a fast processor that can handle pretty much anything I chuck at it without breaking a sweat. I like the idea of an 8X Core FX as it will be great for multi-tasking, especially across dual-monitors. I also really like the idea of being able to overclock it from 4GHz to around 4.7GHz with an air cooler if I ever need some more performance. I do also realise that almost any i5 processore is going to have a lot better single core performance! I really need to know whether to go with AMD's More of less, or intel's Less of more! As I mentioned, I am on a budget which is another reason why AMD is more appropriate in my situation. I know could easily replace the FX for an i5 4670k and still stay within that £650, but I need to spend as little as possible!

I need to know which processor, in your opinion, is better suited for my needs and budget! I wouldn't mind any of you guys suggesting some other parts I could swap to either spend more on a CPU, or to just spend less overall and still achieve the same performance!

RookieOfTheYear · Jul 17, 2014

The Intel build will give you better performance, and has a better upgrade path. But I don't think you will be able to fit into your budget. You would have to sacrifice your SSD or get a cheaper GPU. However the 8350 should last you quite some time. And if you overclock it, it can handle any game for some time to come.

Kuosa · Jul 17, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

Thaisnang · Jul 17, 2014

Personally I would never go for an SSD, If I'm on a tight budget and I want some good performance from my pc. I would spend that money on better CPU & GPU.

Kuosa · Jul 17, 2014

I thought as much, do you think it's worth me going a little over my budget for an intel CPU and a more compatible mobo or will I not see much difference if I went with AMD?

InvalidError · Jul 17, 2014

If the primary use by a wide margin is going to be gaming, I would to with the i5 non-K, a h87/97 board and stock HSF: better stock gaming performance than an FX-8350 overclocked to 4.6-5.0GHz while using 50-100W less power for about the same cost.

Most of Intel's K-chips do not like overclocks of more than 10-15% and 15% is not likely to help you feel much better by the time your stock-clocked chip starts feeling sluggish. If you build with serious overclocking in mind, you will also end up spending more than 20% extra on CPU-MoBo-RAM the process. The benefit-to-cost ratio is much too low to bother with IMO.

Thaisnang · Jul 17, 2014

Ditch SSD..Get an R9 280 & i5 Or fx 8320 if you want to save money.

Kuosa · Jul 17, 2014

Thaisnang :

Like I said, I would mainly like gaming performance, but overall performance of my pc is also important to me and an SSD is absolutely crucial to boot time, how fast you can open or close an application but also little things like AV software scans etc

Thaisnang · Jul 17, 2014

I have no ssd. Windows boots in like 3-5 secs. Shutdown is also the same. I have norton av a full system scan completes within 5-8 mins. Get a hybrid would give you some performance of ssd and storage of hdd for less money.

Kuosa · Jul 17, 2014

Thaisnang :

Nice, but an SSD would still improve that! I have looked into those and in my opinion they are useless! If you had a 1TB SSHD only about 8GB would be SSD technology and the drive itself determines what data is kept on the SSD part.

con635 · Jul 17, 2014

Few things imo are wrong with your build:
DO NOT use that psu, budget around £50-60 and aim for 450-500w thats a decent brand, cant believe no one spotted that :/ The e1230 v3 xeon is 175£ (i7 with no igp) on aria, stock cooler is fine, board is up to you depending on features you want/price its skt1150 you need for xeon and finally ditch that card for a £130 msi r9 270 same performance less watts and ££.

Thaisnang · Jul 17, 2014

con635 :

Lol didn't notice the psu. I agree with this guy.

Kuosa · Jul 17, 2014

con635 :

Alright I appreciate you trying to help but could justtify why I should make some of these changes? For starters I don't need an i7 as I have no use for hyperthreading, and if I needed a higher clock speed I would either overclock my CPU or go with AMD? There is the difference between that i7 and an i5 4670k. I understand that is a budget psu but why not? It's 700W so when it comes to upgrading, it's highly unlikely I will need a new psu?

con635 · Jul 17, 2014

I thought you wanted 8 core multitasking? hyperthreading can be thought of as 4 strong cores and 4 weak ones added on as in '8 threads'. Games are also heading towards 8 threads and are starting to use more than 4 threads and hyperthreading.
Learn a bit about psus on google that '700w' is more than likely 200w on the 12v rail (read the amps on the sticker/spec for 12v) its really just too much to write but I can tell you with 8 core fx and hd7870 that thing would break down instantly.
Fwiw I run all amd always have and I'm a big fan incase you think I'm biased just not going to give wrong info in regards to 'whats the most performance for my money'.

aylafan · Jul 17, 2014

Thaisnang :

3-5 seconds boot from a mechanical hard drive? That's impossible even if it was a hybrid. A SSD takes 7-10 seconds to boot from Windows 8 (a little longer with Windows 7). I have a Samsung 840 EVO SSD and I can't even boot in 3-5 seconds. It's also known to be one of the faster SSD's. You must be confusing "Suspend/Sleep" with "Restart/Shutdown".

Kuosa · Jul 17, 2014

con635 :

Sure, but can you tell me why the FX8350 and 7870 "Will break down instantly" ?

Kuosa · Jul 17, 2014

aylafan :

Thaisnang :

3-5 seconds boot in a mechanical hard drive? That's impossible even if it was a hybrid. A SSD takes 7-10 seconds to boot from Windows 8 (a little longer with Windows 7). I have a Samsung 840 EVO SSD and I can't even boot in 3-5 seconds. It's known to be one of the faster SSD's. You must be confusing "Suspend/Sleep" with "Restart/Shutdown".

I would agree.

Thaisnang · Jul 17, 2014

Kuosa :

aylafan :

Looolll..I just guessed that..Well I have win 8.1 I've checked my boot and shutdown speed with stopwatch. It takes 9.52 secs to boot and 3.91 secs to shutdown.

con635 · Jul 17, 2014

Kuosa :

That cheap psu would break down instantly, not the cpu/gpu, like I said it probably only outputs around 200w (like most £20 psus regardless of 'rated' watts) on the 12v rail which is the important part for your main components, it could actually break your components as well though or at worst catch fire. I'm out and about atm maybe later when I'm home I'll post some good links and reviews re quality/poor quality psus if no one else does or explains better but as a general rule dont *ever* skimp on psu/mobo these are your pcs heart and lungs and the bits that you'll most likely keep the longest after your case.
My windows 7 64bit cold boots in 10-11secs with scan disk ssd, 24 secs with 7200rpm hdd fwiw ( I hear win8 is much quicker)

Thaisnang · Jul 17, 2014

Kuosa :

Read this it'll give you some idea http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-a-Power-Supply
& check the reviews here you'll know why
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B006FUTPPK/ref=dp_db_cm_cr_see_all_top?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

con635 · Jul 17, 2014

Thaisnang :

Kuosa :

Read this it'll give you some idea http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-a-Power-Supply
& check the reviews here you'll know why
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B006FUTPPK/ref=dp_db_cm_cr_see_all_top?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Thank you and it doesnt even have a 6 pin gpu connector, a quality 700w would have 2 8pin.

RookieOfTheYear · Jul 17, 2014

I'm not sure where you're located, but it's obviously somewhere in Europe. Here are some parts I put together based on availability in the UK. You can use them as a reference to what are good components. This build is over budget, but would out perform the build you posted by quite a lot and has a much much better upgrade path for the future (making it well worth the extra £40). Feel free to ask me any questions or anything.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/M476pg

And if that is too much, here is a build that is slightly cheaper, but doesn't have as good of an upgrade path.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/NmsvdC

RookieOfTheYear · Jul 17, 2014

Here is a revised build. Much better than the other two I posted.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/rJsvdC

Here is one a little closer to your budget. But still like £50 over.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/JGsvdC

AMD or Intel!!!???

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