Is the AMD 8370 close to Intel CPUs for gaming performance?

zarugal · Jan 5, 2015

Hi all,

I currently have two MSI GTX 970 GPUs in SLi, with an AMD FX-6350 running in a tri-screen setup. I had noticed that my CPU was bottlenecking in a few games, and I intended to upgrade to one of Intel's fancy new Skylake processors when they came out towards the end of the year.

However, recently I've really started to put a strain on the little guy. Far Cry 4 is really pushing it, and from 3Dmark runs I can see that the FX6350 is holding my system back.

My question is: would an FX8370 be a significant upgrade, and is it on a par with decent Intel CPUs?
From what I have read there are arguments for both sides, and some even saying that there is almost no difference (for purely gaming, i7s outperform in other tasks). Seeing as I intend to make a major upgrade in 9-12 months time I don't really fancy switching out my mobo for one of the current Intel CPUs, all of which I'll then have to replace again for the Skylake CPU, unless I'm really going to notice the £400-£500 difference in performance.

I must also mention that I can't upgrade to one of the FX9xxx series chips as my mobo can't supply enough power to the CPU socket for one.

Thanks in advance.

sincreator · Jan 5, 2015

I hate to say it, but you need to switch to Intel if you want to get the most out of your SLI GTX 970's. Not all games will be bottlenecked though, just the ones that rely on faster cores. EG: Skyrim, Blizzard games, Codemasters racing games.

Honestly there may not be much difference between the two chips because only a handful of games even take advantage of more than 4 cores, let alone 8 cores. Here are some benchmarks to ponder:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/5

I honestly think you should save your money, and upgrade when you originally planned.

PS: If your motherboard cannot support the 9000 series FX chips it must not be a very good overclocker either, so if someone suggests doing so I would avoid it. Overclocking the FX chips will draw far more power than your current board can handle I would assume, and I don't think you should risk it IMO. Most likely your board is rated for a 95w cpu max, and the company did not want to risk running anything higher.

NightAntilli · Jan 5, 2015

You're better off overclocking your current CPU than upgrading to anything higher within the AMD platform.

If you're going to wait for Skylake, just wait it off. You can buy a water cooler instead to get the max out of your current CPU. Which motherboard do you have?

synphul · Jan 5, 2015

I agree with the others. If you're not going to move to intel (which would give you the performance you're after) then stick with your current cpu and overclock it. If I'm not mistake the fx lineup, the first number indicates the cores, the others indicate the family. 6350 vs 8370, the fact it's moving from xx50 to xx70 is only a minor upgrade (not worth it really) and the 8xxx only means you're moving from 6 cores to 8. More cores won't help you, faster cores will (aka intel).

mdocod · Jan 5, 2015

Generally speaking when we overclock 6 piledriver cores to dissipate about the same power as 8 piledriver cores, the result is a superior gaming CPU.

zarugal · Jan 5, 2015

Thanks guys. I had feared (and expected) an overwhelming support for an upgrade to Intel. I may just have to bite the bullet and in the near future go for a high-end Intel that's going to last, particularly if later Intel CPUs are not going to improve on current performance by a huge margin. Seeing as you all have CPU badges on here, what exactly should I be looking for in a CPU to get the best from my SLi cards, and what Intel mobo would best partner it.
I've never been happy with AMD, I've done nothing but kick myself since buying it. There's a good reason that they're so much cheaper.

My motherboard is a Asus Crosshair V Formula Z. It has a max CPU socket power of 140W.. So could probably handle some overclocking, but not the 220W required for the FX9xxx series.

mdocod · Jan 5, 2015

Actually, with proper cooling configuration that board can deliver ~300W or more to the socket pretty comfortably. You can use any FX CPU you want on that board or overclock your 6350 to ~5ghz+ (assuming a half reasonable clocking chip).

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

The Crosshair V Formula Z is one of the the handful of motherboards that will actually accept and run a 220W TDP CPU well. That being said you can OC the FX 63XX or FX 83XX in the 5GHz and run 24/7 as long as you watch Temps. It will also depend on the chip you get.

I love AMD but when it comes to Crossfire and SLI I really would only use and recommend Intel. The 63XX, 83XX, 9XXX will be perfectly fine or enough for single GPU but not as much with multi-GPU setups.

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

@Link - You must not be looking around enough. The FX 6300 are 95w tdp and with two less cores they OC to higher speeds easier than the 8-core variants. Another reason you don't see 5GHz that much is because they are used in budget builds a lot with budget motherboards consisting of weaker 4+1/4+2 power phases. OP has a top of the line mobo with 8+2+2 that OC 83xx well and support the FX 9xxx.

I mean you tend to look at sources and experiences of people with bad AMD experiences.

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

You're somewhat right. I have noticed a lot of Vishera users do not test their OC for stability as hard and long to my standards. The long time users do get 5GHZ stable. It's not as hard as you think. I got an 8350 and Crosshair V Formula Z uses for $220 two days ago. OCed 500MHz on stock voltage. Also a lot have CLC coolers and custom loops.

Also if people can OC 8-cores to 5GHz then 6-cores can too and be more stable. Once again the CHVFZ is the best AM3+ Mobo. If any mobo can get to 5GHz its this one.

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

The 6300 is recommended for its performance per price. Not because it's a 95w processor. THis is just like how Intel is recommended for its superior performance. the Tdp is just cherry on top. 95w makes it compatible with most mobos. The rest is up to the user to decide if they want performance over heat and power draw. Its also the user to decide what the mobo limit is.

Intel users OC also and a lot of people have goals for 5GHz I5/I7s. High OC all sacrifice lower heat/power envelope

zarugal · Jan 5, 2015

I think from reading through all the answers on here it would make more sense to upgrade to a high range Intel, instead of trying to just work my AMD into a molten heap through extreme overclocking whilst I wait for Skylake. Thanks for all the help - if I could pick multiple solutions to this thread I would, but seeing as I can't I'm just going to go with the first one as it was first after all

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

IF youre indeed waiting for Skylake, that may be coming out later this year, why by Intel now when you can wait with your AMD (hard wait) and then go straight to Skylake as it will be a different socket then Haswell and broadwell.

mdocod · Jan 5, 2015

Seems to be some confusion about the FX-6300's overclocking potential.

6300's have a track record of being very good overclockers. Many of them have remarkably low stock VIDs (both samples I've worked with were 1.212V VID). This is probably tied to the fact that binning 6 cores into the socket specifications for the 95W TDP envelope actually requires fairly decent silicon. Given equal cooling, you're more likely to reach 5 ghz stable on an FX-6300 than pretty much any other FX chip made at this time. The only exceptions might be the 8370E and 9590 or of course 8 core products with the worst module disabled. Both of the 6300's I've worked with required less voltage to run higher stable clocks than my 8350.

Given a flagship motherboard like the formula Z and a top performing cooling system like a custom loop or one of the really powerful 280mm AIOCLCs, there's really no excuse for NOT being able to hit 4.8-5+ghz on the majority of FX-6300's coming off the line today. A failure to get into that range stable would be related more to overclocking incompetence than anything else.

Given a flagship motherboard like the Z and "unlimited" cooling (sub-ambient options), pretty much all FX chips are capable of running 5ghz stable.

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

Get it through your head. OP already has THE highest end mobo for AMD. He doesn't have to buy another. On top of that OP already wants and is thinking of getting Skylake. I see no point in buying Intel NOW then spend more money and buy Skylake too or have to sell a fairly young pieces of hardware at bargain prices.

OP can get a good cooler (if he does not have one) and OC the FX 6350 he already has. The overall answer is that an 8370 won't improve OP performance. Best choice is to OC current CPU while waiting for Skylake. If the OC is not enough the cooler will be good for OCing his future Intel PC

NightAntilli · Jan 5, 2015

Agreed with slyu9213. A good water cooler for the current CPU will cost between $80 and $120, while upgrading to a respectable Intel motherboard + cpu now will cost anything between $300 and $600. That's a lot of money to spend, to just re-upgrade in a few months.

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

Additiomally Refurbished Corsair watercoolers are an option. I bought one H100I for $64 and one H89I for ~$40 and they were all in perfect condition and come with a 1 year warranty from Corsair. H100I cools 8350, h80I cools OCed 1055t, and my old Khuler 620 now cools my 860k.

I'm not telling OP not to get Intel. I'm saying it's a waste putting at least $300-400 entry for a Haswell/broadwell now to sell for a few hundred less then buy Skylake soon after. Especially when the OP has most of the ingredients to a nice overclock.

zarugal · Jan 5, 2015

Thanks for all your help, but if what Link from the future said in his original comment is true (and based on my past research it certainly correlates) about the performance increase of Skylake over current Intel CPUs being fairly small, I think I'd rather go the route of upgrading to a decent Intel setup now, and skipping Skylake for the following Intel CPU (provided I need to upgrade that is).
I see no point in pushing my rig to it's limit for potentially another year for a potential 10-15% increase over what I can already get.
I don't particularly want to overclock my CPU. I already have a fairly decent all-in-one CPU watercooler, so I don't really want to spend on another one for the sake of overclocking.
And before someone points out that my motherboard is very good for overclocking, ok. But the reason I chose it was that Asus has a great reputation for quality/reliability, 3-way SLi, a great fast-boot capability, and it matched the colour of the rest of my rig (wasn't that much of a factor actualy, just a nice co-incidence).
As much as I'm sure you could all debate the feasibility/capability of overclocking for a long time, I'd be much more interested in a decent Intel CPU/mobo combo. My original question of whether an AMD is comparable to an Intel in an SLi rig has been answered. AMD sucks for it. Now I need to go about changing it and I could do with some help, if you would please?

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

Jesus Link. I feel like I'm talking to a stubborn blind child (not calling you one). Read my comments and come talk to me again.

OP said he wanted to select multiple answers but chose the first because it was the FIRST. Again only the rich with no care for spending money wisely should buy a Intel 1150 PC just buy a Skylaje a few months later.

I swear you wouldn't make the comments you write if you actually read all posts in a thread. If you do something is wrong. Ill stick with communicating with the OP and other AMD/Intel users that can have a peaceful discussion.

zarugal · Jan 5, 2015

slyu9213 :

Actually I wanted to pick the first, second, and fourth answers as they were most relevant to what I was asking.

I mean this in no unkind way, but none of your answers have been particularly helpful to me as I have no intention of overclocking. Useful info for others perhaps though, and thank you for your knowledge.

NightAntilli · Jan 5, 2015

Sure... Since you're not interested in overclocking I chose a non K CPU... We can play with the CPU to increase or lower the price. Since you want 3-way SLI the motherboard won't change much.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($295.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Extreme ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($240.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $527.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-05 20:49 EST-0500

zarugal · Jan 5, 2015

Link from the future :

Choice of Intel CPU/mobo combo.

Started a new thread a little earlier after declaring this one answered. New one can be found here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2465239/intel-cpu-motherboard-partner-gtx970-sli-tri-screen-rig.html

slyu9213 · Jan 5, 2015

Glad you got to a decision zarugal. As I mentioned in some others post it's best to upgrade when you need it. The only reason I recommended staying with the FX 6350 and not upgrade to another AM3+ processor or Intel was because your original post mentioned thinking of upgrading to Skylake. In that case going from AM3+ to LGA 1150 to whatever Skylake would be a bad idea. But you decided to go with LGA 1150 and skip Skylake which is a good decision. Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge wasn't a earth shattering upgrade nor was Ivy to Haswell. Sandy Bridge to Haswell isn't much of a upgrade in my opinion so Haswell to Skylake would be the same. Additionally if you already have an AiO Water Cooler you didn't/don't have to buy another one. We just didn't know you had one. It's a bit late but thanks for telling us you didn't want to overclock. That probably would have made this thread much less and we would not have recommended OCing to begin with.

In this case you don't even have to look at the unlocked Intel processors. Which Intel socket do you plan on getting? LGA 1155, 1150? I would recommend you stick with the 1150 socket as the 1155 is already dead. This leaves the locked i5, i7, and then the Xeon procesors as your choice. What is your budget?

zarugal · Jan 5, 2015

NightAntilli :

That's a fairly agreeable price. Although is there a danger of running out of PCI-e lanes for 3-way SLi with that CPU?

NightAntilli · Jan 5, 2015

A bit cheaper:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($295.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming GT ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($188.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $484.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-05 21:00 EST-0500

I don't think there's any danger of that.

Is the AMD 8370 close to Intel CPUs for gaming performance?

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