Would an FX 8350 still be a good option for a budget gaming build?

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 5, 2015

I was recently looking into buying an i5 4690k, and was planning to pair it with a gtx 960 4gb. But then i took a look at the FX 8350 and was wondering if this would still be a good option even though it is 3 years old. Would I really notice that big of a difference with gaming and if I eventually got another 960 4gb for sli would it be bottlenecked? Considering the big price difference I am tempted to go with the FX 8350. I did some reading and found that when both processors use all their cores, they have about the same performance. So since more games are starting to use more cores, would it stand to reason that the FX 8350 would still last me for some time and deliver similar performance, or would it be better to get the i5? Thanks in advance

RobCrezz · Jun 5, 2015

3rd option, Xeon 1231 v3, 8 threads, cheaper than i7.

boosted1g · Jun 5, 2015

Currently the i5 is better. You can get an i5-4460 + cheaper h97 board for only $10-20 more then an fx-8350 and 970 chipset board (which is really not sufficient for stable overclocks).

Now in the future IF games really start to take advantage of all threads then the fx-8350 will actually be a stronger cpu

Although an i7 or Xeon E3 which have the same thread count but a much more efficient architecture will beat out the fx-8350 by a decent margin.

So for future planning, the Xeon E3 was a really good suggestion as you get near i7 performance minus integrated graphics at just over an i5 price.

One other note: if it was between choosing an fx-8320 and 990 board and a fx-8350 and 970 board I would go with the 990 board and 8230 as with a good 990 chipset board you can stably overclock the 8320 to be faster then the stock 8350 (8320 is just an underclocked 8350).

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 5, 2015

RobCrezz :

Thank you for your reply, so this is basically an under clocked i7 without integrated graphics?

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 5, 2015

boosted1g :

Thank you for your reply, so would i be better off with buying a FX 8320 and overclocking it by a decent margin or save up and buy the Xeon 1231 v3, or the i5 4690k? Would there really be a big difference in the performance? Thanks

Karadjgne · Jun 5, 2015

Here's the kicker. Intel costs a little to a lot more at startup, but will run strong even at stock speeds or small OC with a budget cooler. FX Cpus though, are kinda weak comparatively in single thread performance, so need a very good to high OC to roughly equal Intel's performance. The only way to get that kind of OC is with a really good cooler on a really good 990FX board.

End result is comparatively, amd 8320/8350 OC will run about the same as a decent i5/i7 stock for the same level of performance.

And that's not even accounting for heat differentials between a 70+w cpu vrs a 125w cpu +OC

FallingGravity · Jun 5, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iehrXA3n39c
I was having the same issue you are having right now. I was looking at the 4690k but then saw the FX8350. I saw the 8 cores, 4ghz, and the what seemed like the good price. And fell in love. But then I did some more research and the Intel i54690k is much better at gaming. It seems to me that Intel sprinkles ferry dust on all their CPUs.

maddogfargo · Jun 5, 2015

In modern games there's not a big difference between an i5/i7 and the 8320/8350 any more. There's not even a big difference between an FX 6300/6350 and an i5.

An older comparison...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV2Voo5h3eU

A more recent comparison...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hmNltwUUsc

And no, you don't need an expensive 990FX motherboard to OC an FX 8 core. Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P will do nicely, has 8+2 phase power, LLC and good chipset/VRM cooling. It is usually available on sale for $75-$80 or so.

Please note that to get the most out of a good intel or AMD CPU, you will want to overclock a bit. So get a good cooler.

Personally, I prefer to see videos showing side by side gaming benchmarks as opposed to charts. Nicholas's recent vids have something wrong on the AMD side. I've had an AMD 6 core CPU push MUCH better average frames than what he's quoting for the 8 core CPUs, maxed details in the same games. I'm thinking he has a driver bug in there somewhere.

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 5, 2015

maddogfargo :

I already have a cooler master hyper 212 evo cooler so overclocking shouldnt be a problem

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 5, 2015

Karadjgne :

Thanks for your reply. I already have a cooler master hyper 212 evo cooler so overclocking wouldnt really be a problem, but would i really notice a big difference in performance in modern games between the fx 8350 or 8320 overclocked vs the i5 4690k or the Xeon 1231 v3

boosted1g · Jun 5, 2015

In modern games the i5 and Xeon will perform better on anything CPU intensive over an fx series chip as amd architecture is generations behind intel and just not that efficient. Going from lowest to best: i3 - fx8320 - fx8350 - i5 - Xeon - i7

In future cpu intensive games that can use all 8 threads then fx will beat the i5. From lowest to best: i3 - i5 fx8320 - fx8350 - Xeon - i7.

DubbleClick · Jun 5, 2015

Karadjgne :

I don't think a 7ghz overclock is anything you'd reasonably expect. Because about that's when a fx 8350 performs as well as a stock i5/i7 in games.

maddogfargo · Jun 5, 2015

boosted1g :

'Anything'? Dude, that's 2012 hype.

In most current 2014-2015 releases and well threaded games, FX 8 core is as good as a high end i5/i7. FX 6 core is nearly as good as a high end i3 or midrange i5. Games like BF4, GTA5, Shadow of Mordor have these CPU platforms within 1-3 FPS of each other on high end and multi-GPU setups.

Plenty of updated google game benches and videos out there in the past 6 months or so. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall one of the most complete collections of apples-to-apples comparisons for CPU and GPU combos is the Russian YouTube channel, TechnoKitchen. It's worth checking out.

maddogfargo · Jun 5, 2015

RobCrezz :

If you go intel, don't overlook ^ this ^. Rob made a very good recommendation that will save you some money.

boosted1g · Jun 5, 2015

maddogfargo :

boosted1g :

'Anything'? Dude, that's 2012 hype.

In most current 2014-2015 releases and well threaded games, FX 8 core is as good as a high end i5/i7. FX 6 core is nearly as good as a high end i3 or midrange i5. Games like BF4, GTA5, Shadow of Mordor have these CPU platforms within 1-3 FPS of each other on high end and multi-GPU setups.

Plenty of updated google game benches and videos out there in the past 6 months or so. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall one of the most complete collections of apples-to-apples comparisons for CPU and GPU combos is the Russian YouTube channel, TechnoKitchen. It's worth checking out.

That was my whole point that new games that are not limited to 4 threads will perform better on an fx-83xx over an i5, but an Intel with 8 threads will preform better because the architecture is better.

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 5, 2015

maddogfargo :

Yes if I go with intel i will get the Xeon over the i5 4690k because its only $10 more

synphul · Jun 6, 2015

For what it's worth, I keep seeing the new games come out like gtaV, witcher 3 etc and the fx series is barely keeping up at best, much less better than an i5 let alone an i7. The whole waiting for games to use more cores in the sense of making fx cpu's better than they currently are is a pipedream. People have been saying it for the past several years and halfway through 2015 it's still yet to happen. The xeons are ok, the cheapest option for 4 core with ht though the i5's keep up in most tasks or outperform the xeons in games and cost less. Fx are what they are and unless harry potter pops to life and waves his wand, I wouldn't expect them to suddenly become a 'great' option. If someone's on that tight of a budget they can save even more over the fx and get an i3 that hangs within 1-2fps in just about every game for a solid $50 less than the amd. Down the road they would still have the option to upgrade to an i5/i7/xeon.

RobCrezz · Jun 6, 2015

Yeah the 1231 is essentially the i7 with no igpu at a lower price, and negligible reduction in clock speed. Plus you can save money on the motherboard as you dont need a more expensive z97 for over clocking.

Karadjgne · Jun 6, 2015

There are some games like bf4 multi-player where an OC 8350 is third in performance, beaten only by an i7 4470k/i7 4790k and top of the list being 2011/x99 builds. That said, in some games, like skyrim, especially when modded, the OC 8350 is beaten easily by a i3 or pentium g3258.

What this means is that in games predominantly core count dependent, the fx Cpus hold an advantage over the 4core i5s or ht i3's, but in single thread performance dependent games, the fx Cpus just don't hold a candle to Intel.

There isn't anything wrong, or bad, about an fx system, as long as there is an understanding that it will have limitations in some areas of gaming, same as lower budget Intel.

FallingGravity · Jun 6, 2015

computerbuilder3211 :

The only issue with the Xeon is that you can only OC to like 3.8 or 3.9 ghz. The i54690K on the other hand, that can be overclocked (if you know what you are doing) over 4.5 ghz. The Xeon has 4 more threads but the i5 you can just OC the living s**t out of.

synphul · Jun 6, 2015

The xeon has a base and turbo speed like all recent intel cpu's but it doesn't overclock at all. It's a locked core cpu. For the 1231v3 which is popular, max turbo is 3.8 and the way max turbo works, that's if 1 core is fully loaded. If 2 cores are fully loaded, the max turbo drops to 3.7ghz and with 3 or all 4 cores maxed it drops to 3.6ghz. Where as an unlocked cpu like the i5 or i7 can stay steady at 4.6ghz or higher across all four cores.

To get the same speeds as a stock 4690k without oc you'd need a 1241v3 which runs $264+ and the next fastest xeon would be the 1271v3 which gives an admirable 3.6 base, 4ghz turbo for $323. In which case you may as well spend the $330 for an i7 with ht, an igpu, and speeds of 4ghz/4.4ghz. In most benchmarks the performance difference between ht enabled and disabled is less than the difference of the 4690k and 4790k stock since the 4790k is by default 500mhz faster. Threading helps but speed is important as well. If it weren't, the flagship desktop would've stayed at the much slower locked core i5 and xeon speeds instead of being the fastest chip in the entire intel lineup.

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 7, 2015

FallingGravity :

computerbuilder3211 :

The only issue with the Xeon is that you can only OC to like 3.8 or 3.9 ghz. The i54690K on the other hand, that can be overclocked (if you know what you are doing) over 4.5 ghz. The Xeon has 4 more threads but the i5 you can just OC the living s**t out of.

So would an oc i5 4690k beat the xeon in performance?

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 7, 2015

RobCrezz :

What kind of motherboard would you recommend?

FallingGravity · Jun 7, 2015

computerbuilder3211 :

FallingGravity :

So would an oc i5 4690k beat the xeon in performance?

yes. especially in games that dont take advantage of all the threads or game that is cpu intensive

computerbuilder3211 · Jun 7, 2015

FallingGravity :

computerbuilder3211 :

yes. especially in games that dont take advantage of all the threads or game that is cpu intensive

Even if the game can take advantage of all 8 threads? Also which one would last me longest until i need to upgrade? I would like to buy the one that is the most future proof.

Would an FX 8350 still be a good option for a budget gaming build?

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