i5 4590 with low end H81 mobo or FX 8320e with GA-990FXA UD3

re_loaded · Mar 6, 2015

The title says it all. I am on a budget limited upgrade so I have to consider whether to get an i5 4590 with a ASRock H81M-HDS motherboard for LGA1150 or get an FX8320e and do some decent overclock on the Gigabyte mobo (I've to consider the power bill too). Both combo cost almost the same, with Intel choice about $30 more expensive.

I game a lot with my pc and also do some light calculations and web surfing. Hoping to play 1080p modern titles at decent FPS.(BF4, Crysis 3). So I want to know is the extra $30 worth spending on an Intel system over the AMD system.

I am also planning to get an EVGA GTX 960 SSC to replace my HD 7770 (coz of performance and power consumption), and I'm hoping that the money that I save from the CPU/Mobo upgrade can be used to buy this card. Other CPU/Mobo suggestion is also welcomed.

Thanks!

Justkeeplookin · Mar 6, 2015

I can tell you any i5 2500 and over can beat an AMD Fx. The efficient series is only lower base clocked. If you plan on overclocking go for a K series processor on intel. A H97 will serve you well with your current CPU

Justkeeplookin · Mar 6, 2015

Gaming the Intel will do better while the AMD will also do well but more heat and power used. Plus more efficiency on Intel. Intel also has better single core performance that said an Intel Quad Core can beat an AMD Six Core. AMD compensates for it's loss of good single core performance by adding extra cores. AMD processors work well when there are many cores

Justkeeplookin · Mar 6, 2015

If your willing to spend $30 than the 4590 for a 4690. If you wanna overclock you can downgrade to a i5 3770k or go to a i5 4690k. If overclocking you want and good Motherboard i recommend the AsRock Z97 Extreme 4

re_loaded · Mar 6, 2015

Forgot to mention, this is my current build.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 B73 unlocked to X4
MOBO: Asus M5A78LM-LX Plus
GPU: Diamond Radeon HD 7770 GHz edition
PSU: EVGA 500B
RAM: 8GB Kingston Blu

boosted1g · Mar 6, 2015

I would get a 4460 with h97 motherboard.

You will loose a pretty unnoticeable amount of clock speed but gain more ports and features on the board and be a better option with future upgrades in mind.

Justkeeplookin · Mar 6, 2015

Are you open to change your GPU. Ik a 7770 can play B4. Just curious.

boosted1g is right you will gain more ports and features.

re_loaded · Mar 6, 2015

Thanks for responding quickly Justkeeplookin. Well, the thing is, there is a Microcenter near where I live, so the combo price is quite cheap compared to online price for both Intel and AMD systems. I would really love to get the i5 4690k with a decent Z97 mobo, but that will cost me around $100 more than the 8320e + GA 990fxa besides going over my budget. I dont really mind overclocking if I get the Intel but will certainly overclock if I get the 8320e.

The only available i5 at the MC is the 4590(cheapest), 4590s and 4690k. but only the 4690k come with the $40 bundle savings with a mobo.

re_loaded · Mar 6, 2015

I am planning to get a Gtx 960 later, so i'll just stick to that in the meantime.
Is the H81 motherboard that I mentioned good enough for the 4590?

Justkeeplookin · Mar 6, 2015

I prefer H97 boards. You can't overclock them but they are good. If you are planning to overclock get a 4690K or a 3770K or a 3750K . Anything with a K on the end or an X on the end means it's overclockable and the memory multipliers are unlocked.

Justkeeplookin · Mar 6, 2015

Yea no bottlenecking should occur

Creme · Mar 6, 2015

8320e overclocked to 4ghz should consume around 100w for the CPU itself as lower voltages are needed than a regular 8320.

The i5 will consume a bit less, but also perform less on heavily multithreaded tasks. The electric bill difference is not that dramatic between these two however.

If you're merely gaming, the i5 will do better, cost more, but give less headaches with temps and you can get away with a cheap motherboard.

The intel also has an upgrade path. The amd does not.

CTurbo · Mar 6, 2015

Get either an i5 4460 or 4590 and a H97 motherboard. I do not recommend the H81 motherboard or any AMD cpu. I also REALLY don't recommend the GTX960 considering the R9 280 is equal to it in performance for $40-50 less and the R9 280x is better for roughly the same price.

Pc6777 · Mar 6, 2015

what games are you playing and what stuff do you do? an 8 core fx will be as good or better in games that take advantage of 4-8 cores like watch dogs... also in the next year or two almost all new aa titels will most likely be optimized for 8 cores... in older games, intel i5 wins but in older games both will easily reach 60 fps... I would go with amd but i5 would not be a bad choice... also leaves a little extra cash for a better gpu if this is for gaming...

re_loaded · Mar 6, 2015

Thanks for the tips guys. Lets say I am leaning over the AMD side since it costs about $100 less than the 4590+h97 mobo bundle, is the Gigabyte 970A-UD3P a good platform to overclock the 8320e to about 4ghz?
CTurbo, thanks for the advice on the R9 280, but from several benchmarks and videos that I watched, the GTX 960 is a very power efficient card, consuming roughly around 80W less than the 280, so does that translates a lot in terms of electric bill? I've made some calculations and it does costs a lot less than the r9 280 in terms of electric bill for a span of around 5 years, but I want to know more reasons about it other than the raw power that a GPU can provide.

re_loaded · Mar 6, 2015

Currently, I play the standard steam games(Dota2, CSGO, L4D2) but I wanted to play more advanced game like BF4 and Crysis 3 in the near future. The reason I am leaning towards AMD side is because of the performance per dollar. Again, this upgrade is budget limited so, if I go towards Intel, I wont be able to get a nice GPU in the near future.

CTurbo · Mar 6, 2015

The Gigabyte 970A-UD3P is a great AM3+ motherboard. Just remember that you'd need a decent after market cooler in order to overclock. The 960 is a very efficient card and really that's all it has going for it. The electrical bill savings would work out to mere dollars at the end of the year. There is no video card on the market that will be viable for 5 years.

CTurbo · Mar 6, 2015

I'm curious to see these price savings by going with AMD.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gpbdMp
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gpbdMp/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($187.56 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $259.55

vs

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dtvy8d
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dtvy8d/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320E 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor ($127.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $236.96

That looks more like $23 not $100 and the FX wouldn't come close to the 4590 no matter how high you overclocked it.

CTurbo · Mar 6, 2015

I'll go one step further and add the video cards.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bzjhxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bzjhxr/by_merchant/

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kgPyZL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kgPyZL/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($187.56 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB DUAL-X Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $419.54

vs

CPU: AMD FX-8320E 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor ($127.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($199.00 @ NCIX US)
Total: $435.96

re_loaded · Mar 6, 2015

CTurbo :

I appreciate you putting that on PcPartPicker, thanks! I am currently using a CoolerMaster T4, so I dont think I need a new CPU cooler. The $100 saving that I was talking about is from MicroCenter.(sorry for not mentioning that earlier) Currently they have this amazing CPU+Mobo bundle deal.

8320e+970a UD3P for $160 before tax. Its cheap because of the $40 off for the mobo.

On the other hand, I will get the $40 bundle off ONLY if I purchase the K cpu's, and that will costs around $260 for i5 4690k+Z97 mobo. If I go with the 4590, its still quite cheap but there is no bundle savings and will costs around $240 for 4590+h97 mobo. Might as well add $20 more and get the former bundle.
So the difference is more like $80, sorry for exaggerating with the $100

. but still, I could use that extra money to get a new GPU. I am not a fan of either AMD or Intel, but I just want to get the best CPU for the limited budget that I have.

CTurbo · Mar 6, 2015

Dude the i5 4590 is only $159 at microcenter so that's even better.

I'm not a "fan" of either Intel or AMD in particular, I just like what's best for the money, and lately that is almost always Intel cpu and AMD video card.

jeffredo · Mar 7, 2015

CTurbo :

The i5-4590 is $189.99. So is the i5-4460 (at Amazon US). Seems the 4590 is the better buy since you're getting 300 Mhz for free basically. As for the GTX 960, its sitting price wise exactly where it should be. Its $20 more than a R9 280 and faster. Its $40 less than the cheapest R9 280X and 10% slower. I don't know where you're getting your pricing info (if in the US, but is off). I know "rebate", blah, blah, blah. Mail in rebates can't be figured in when you're buying anything. Half the time they don't go through because you didn't dot the correct "i" or cross the right "t".. or they just decided to screw you over. Plus they're almost always in the form of a "card" that can't be used to pay the bill for your purchase made 8-12 weeks earlier. If everything goes right, cool, but they should be considered a nice little perk that has nothing to do with the charge you're putting on your credit card right now.

Justkeeplookin · Mar 7, 2015

Ok wait lets simplify this.

If your gaming a lot go for Intel.

If your using multi-threaded or multi-core programs heavily go for AMD

If your overclocking to get even more performance go for Intel

If your looking to save some $$$ on the electric bill go for Intel

If you don't want the hassle of cooling problems go for Intel

If you plan to save money go for AMD

If you want best bang for buck go for Intel

If you never plan on gaming go for the AMD (cheaper)

If you need efficiency, like best performance per GHz go for Intel

If you need a processor with a good Power to Performance ratio go for Intel

If you want a processor that will last for 3-5 years if you take care of it well go for Intel

For a fact Intel has better single-core performance than AMD. To compensate for that AMD adds extra cores. if you match up an Intel 3.0 GHz single-core and an AMD 3.0 GHZ single-core that was released the same year, the Intel would dominate. However AMD processors work better when they have many cores. But as you know not many programs utilize 4+ cores except rendering, compressing, editing, and those multithreaded programs

Justkeeplookin · Mar 7, 2015

re_loaded :

CTurbo :

I appreciate you putting that on PcPartPicker, thanks! I am currently using a CoolerMaster T4, so I dont think I need a new CPU cooler. The $100 saving that I was talking about is from MicroCenter.(sorry for not mentioning that earlier) Currently they have this amazing CPU+Mobo bundle deal.

8320e+970a UD3P for $160 before tax. Its cheap because of the $40 off for the mobo.

On the other hand, I will get the $40 bundle off ONLY if I purchase the K cpu's, and that will costs around $260 for i5 4690k+Z97 mobo. If I go with the 4590, its still quite cheap but there is no bundle savings and will costs around $240 for 4590+h97 mobo. Might as well add $20 more and get the former bundle.
So the difference is more like $80, sorry for exaggerating with the $100

. but still, I could use that extra money to get a new GPU. I am not a fan of either AMD or Intel, but I just want to get the best CPU for the limited budget that I have.

If you have the need for overclocking you can stretch $20 to get the K. By the way you can find a GTX 960 from $160-$230 , I have seen them in those ranges

re_loaded · Mar 7, 2015

What is the best Z97 mobo between the listed choices if i get the i5 4690k and do some OC'ing and why?(power phase, blue black theme, no hassle in bios)

1)MSI Z97 PC mate ATX
2)ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX
3)ASRock Z97 Pro4 ATX

i5 4590 with low end H81 mobo or FX 8320e with GA-990FXA UD3

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