Intel Core i7 960 or AMD FX-6300 For Gaming?

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itsMilo

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Hi, I was wondering whether I should buy the AMD FX-6300 new, or the Intel Core i7 960 off of Ebay. I'll be pairing it with either a GTX 750 Ti or the HD 7950. Which one will deliver better for gaming, editing, and everyday tasks?
 
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LucoTF

Given that milo will be using a dedicated GPU I'm not sure why you chose the i3-4360 over the...
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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In reality, they're fairly close. If the FX-6300 had a bigger cache and more threads, it might be different. This i7 doesn't have the same performance characteristics of current generation i7's. Depending on the price you can get that for, it might be more worth your while to find an FX-6350, with a faster clock speed and more cache than the 6300. Really I'd recommend going with any i5 Haswell refresh chip. Even a current generation i3 completely kicks the shit out of the 6300, 6350, i7-960 or any of the other FX chips INCLUDING the 8 core chips.

It's also completely worthwhile as a gaming processor. As you can see here it puts up almost identical number to the i5, for less money.

http://www.techspot.com/review/943-best-value-desktop-cpu/page6.html


What is your actual budget for the entire build and what do you already have?



 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Yeah, I denoted that in my second reply. It was a knee jerk reaction to say the i7 was a winner since with more recent generation i7's it is. Also though the i3-4360's single thread Passmark score is 2136 compared to the FX-6300's score of 1413. Since that score is more relevant for MOST gaming titles it's overall performance for any given use could probably go either way. It also uses a LOT less power at 54w compared to 95w on the FX.


Personally, if I had to buy a processor for myself, today, for less than 150 bucks, it would be the i3-4370@3.8Ghz. However, the FX-6300 IS under 100 bucks right now, and will perform well enough with any given GPU so it probably doesn't make a lot of difference anyhow.


Threaded games will do better with the FX, especially if they're optimized for it, while single threaded games will likely do better with one of the current generation i3's. My 8320@4.5Ghz doesn't quibble at all though so keep in mind MOST games are GPU bound anyhow.
 
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itsMilo

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Hi, sorry I am new to Tomshardware and am not used to the reply system. My budget is $120. Is the Intel Core i3-4150 good?
Edit: I'm also only going to be playing light games on it. Minecraft, COD AW, CS:GO, Ballistic Rumble, NFS Rivals, Skyrim, and possibly GTA V on low settings.
 
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itsMilo

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Okay, is it possible to overclock the i7, if so, what cooler do you recommend?

 
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CompuTronix

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I have owned a 2.66GHz i7 920 overclocked to 4.2GHz. They were very popular back in the day.

Although the 3.20GHz i7 960 has a fixed 24x multiplier, it actually does overclock quite easily to 4.2GHz by increasing the Base Clock from the default 133MHz up to 175MHz, and the Vcore to about 1.375.

These 130 Watt i7 9xx 45 nanometer processors were often overclocked to 4.2GHz using 21x 200MHz. The C0 stepping was less overclockable than the later D0 stepping.

Most Socket 1366 motherboards will support Base Clocks up to about 220MHz. The i7 9xx processors officially supported Tripple Channel DDR3 up to 1066 MHz, but 1600MHz worked well.

Just FYI. :sol:

 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Tryin' to keep it simple for what is clearly a novice builder though. I just figured if they wanted to overclock it's probably a good idea to take the simple approach. Anybody can overclock an FX or K series cpu, but it takes a bit more stamina to overclock some of the older hardware. But you're right, it certainly can be overclocked to a respectable degree. I don't know that I recommend it for a novice builder though. Unless of course they have the patience necessary to learn the process. Then again, that's only my opinion. Which doesn't necessarily amount to two beans in a tin cup some days. Heh.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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By the way, right at this very moment I'm doing a new build with a Phanteks Enthoo Pro, and I've got to say this is one of the best, easiest to work with cases I've ever had the pleasure of cracking open. And for the price, the build quality is fantastic and there is tons of cable management room. Having worked with it now I'd recommend it even more than I did before when I was just going off of images and reviews. I'd recommend this case to anybody with a 100 dollar bill looking for something a bit higher end.
 
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CompuTronix

CompuTronix

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Simplicity of overclocking aside, here's some interesting specs for Intel Quad Core processor transistor counts:

65nm Core 2 Quad - 582 million.
45nm Core 2 Quad - 822 million.
45nm Core i 9xx - 731 million.
32nm Core i 2xxx - 1160 million.
22nm Core i 3xxx - 1400 million.
22nm Core i 4xxx - 1400 million.
 
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CompuTronix

CompuTronix

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Haven't seen any, but it better have a soldered IHS, because the Die will be so small that it won't have enough surface area per transistor density to cool when overclocked.

I foresee that the days of overclocking will soon become a fond memory. For example, the 4790K Turbo's to 4.4 ... it's hardly worth the effort to overclock.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Yeah, you're right about that. It's clearly cheaper to go with a current generation motherboard and CPU unless you buy used, which I always highly un-recommend unless you're buying from somebody you know well enough to take to your mother's house for dinner, regularly.
 
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itsMilo

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If I go used I'll check to make sure the condition is perfect working condition, and then Ebay will cover me after that.

 
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itsMilo

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Honestly I have nothing yet, I've been trying to figure out what parts I want. My dad is getting me the PSU and the case, which is a Thermaltake Tsunami

 
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itsMilo

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It'll be a summer project, so I can get some help to OC it.

 
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itsMilo

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My budget depends on how much money I'll have by June. I'm 13, so I'll be mowing lawns, weeding, aerating, watering gardens, etc. Currently I have about $100. I'm getting $150-$200 for my birthday, and I hope I can cover the rest of the cost by yard work. So, about $400. If I absolutely need to I'll save up a bit more.
EDIT: My current laptop is a Dell Latitude E6410 with Intel Core i3-340M, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, and obviously Intel HD Graphics. I can't play anything on it except Minecraft at medium settings. I'll be throwing this ssd onto my new build as a bootdrive, and then putting one of my extra 2.5" drives into my laptop.

 
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LucoTF

LucoTF

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I have no issues with buying second hand parts from ebay. I would never buy a second hand power supply though, it's the heart of the build. Also, ram is extremely sensitive so I don't like getting second hand ram either

I recently came across a listing for some ddr3 memory on ebay uk and the seller had laid the memory on their CARPET to take a picture of it! they need to learn about static
 
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