8320 vs 8300?

JacobStar910 · Sep 25, 2015

Hello! So I was looking at my CPU support list on my motherboard and I was also looking at the wiki for PileDriver and Vishera, and I noticed the 8300. Is it like the 8350 like the 8320 is? Or is there a flaw and reason why nobody really talks about it and you can only find it on a select few websites like TigerDirect. Should I buy it or go for the FX-6300 instead?

Also, how does it scale with the 8320 in overclocking and over performance, is it literally the same chip just underclocked or no?

barto · Sep 25, 2015

I think the 8300 is an OEM CPU, thus only in pre-built computers. If you build a PC yourself, you would invest in a 8320 or 8350.

Edit: As for performance, there's very little difference between the 8320 and 8350. The 8320 is a more sought after because it's cheaper and can be overclocked to 8350 speeds. Just get a good 990FX motherboard.

Curious, why AMD FX chips?

JacobStar910 · Sep 25, 2015

barto :

Oh that makes sense, so is it like the 8320 vs 8350, just comes at a lower clock speed? Anyways, I'm running an Athlon right now and my motherboard seems to support the FX-6300 and FX-8300 and I'm on a very tight budget, I want to do an upgrade that won't cost too much but give noticeable improvements. Right now streaming my fps drops to around 40 in CS:GO for example and that's unplayable.

barto · Sep 25, 2015

Can you list out your entire system specs?

DonkeyOatie · Sep 25, 2015

What do you plan to do with this? The FX6300 is cheaper and nearly as good for gaming.

FX8300 3.3Ghz/3.6Ghz turbo
FX8320 3.5Ghz/4.0Ghz turbo
FX8350 4.0Ghz/4.2Ghz turbo
FX8370 4.0Ghz/4.3Ghz turbo

JacobStar910 · Sep 25, 2015

barto :

Athlon ii x4 640 3.3 Ghz
Gigabyte 760g-78LMT-S2P
Kingston HyperX 8GB 1600mhz
Galaxy GT 640

JacobStar910 · Sep 25, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

Just to have a nice upgrade, the 8300 is $15 more expensive than the FX-6300 so it made me curious. The FX-6300 was my original plan.

barto · Sep 25, 2015

JacobStar910 :

Here is the CPU Support List for your motherboard. You're not going to be able to use a 6300 or a 8320. You could go with a 6200, but that's not going to have much improvement over the 640. I would recommend upgrading the GPU first.
http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3833

JacobStar910 · Sep 25, 2015

barto :

I have the rev 5.0, I probably should've included that.

DonkeyOatie · Sep 25, 2015

JacobStar910 :

I see. In the USA, the difference in price is about $96 to $139, so that reason did not occur to me.

The 8320 will require a more expensive motherboard, a better cooler, and a better PSU.

JacobStar910 · Sep 25, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

My PSU is a 450w which will be enough for it, especially since I have an extremely low powered gpu. I already have a Cooler Master 212 Evo that I bought a wihle back so I'm ready for an upgrade. Also how about the 8300? I see that it's a different architecture, what's the major differences compared to the 8320? Is it worse at overclocking, doesn't support something, etc?

DonkeyOatie · Sep 25, 2015

No all FX 83xx processors use the same Piledriver/Vishera architecture. The only difference is the binning. The higher numbered chips are guaranteed to run faster that the lower ones, although the lower ones can (sometimes) be overclocked to match performance.

The FX6300 uses the same architecture with only three modules, instead of four.

JacobStar910 · Sep 25, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

So binning is the clock speed it comes at? Also I think I might get the FX-6300 for starters since by stock speeds it runs faster in games than the 8300 and it'll do me fine, I'd wait to get a new motherboard like the
Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 and OC my FX-6300.

DonkeyOatie · Sep 25, 2015

AMD makes a whole bunch of nearly identical chips that differ only due to small manufacturing difference. All the chips are tested.

The ones that can run 4.0Ghz/4.3Ghz turbo, at 'stock' voltages become FX8370s
The ones that can run 3.5Ghz/4.0Ghz turbo, at 'stock' voltages become FX8320s
The ones that can run 3.3Ghz/3.6Ghz turbo, at 'stock' voltages become FX8300s.

JacobStar910 · Sep 25, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

Oh wow thanks interesting, thanks for the information! So what do you think personally, should I get the 8300 and then get the motherboard after and OC as far as it will go or get the FX-6300 first?

DonkeyOatie · Sep 26, 2015

This is our thinking on motherboards. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2384030/motherboard-tier-list-am3-chipsets.html

The motherboard you have might fit the FX 6300 or FX 8300, but it lacks the power phases and VRMs and heatsinks (VRM =Voltage Regulation Module) to run those chips reliably. The motherboard is very likely to overheat and - worst case : fail, - best case: run slowly or thermally throttle.

The CPU you have now is about the best under $100 CPU that can be supported by the board. Sooner or later, you need to bite the bullet and do a major upgrade. You need to plan a phased budget to reach your final goal.

The first thing I would spend money on is a better GPU. Many games you play may be GPU limited, so a better GPU will give you immediate benefits. The rest of the system may not be able to use it's full capabilities, but you can grow into it. I don't know what your PSU is, but that may need to be upgraded to support the higher power system you will end up with.

Changing motherboard and CPU is a big step because you usually have to replace the Operating System too. If you have an OEM OS it is keyed to your motherboard and may not be transferable (VERY likely)

When you are ready for this upgrade, we can see what the best choice is at that time. It may be an Intel solution.

madmatt30 · Sep 26, 2015

On that board the 6300 is a far safer bet - the tdp is the same as a 8300 - you lose 2 threads but gain higher base clocks which in 99% of apps will give better performance.
There is probably room to push the clock speeds a little even on that board with the addition of vrm cooling whereas there is no leeway with an 8 core at all.

DonkeyOatie · Sep 26, 2015

As madmatt30 says, you can add heatsinks to the board, and you can add a fan intended to help cool it, but I think this is 'lipstick on a pig' territory with this board.

Cryio · Sep 26, 2015

8300 is no longer an OEM only CPU. If you can find in stores for a lower price than the 8320, buy it. It's basically the same CPU with the same capabilities except it's usually much cheaper.

8300 is the BEST BUY IMO today.

DonkeyOatie · Sep 26, 2015

It is specced lower, so it my achieve a lower overclock. In any case, that board needs to be a lot better to run a 125W chip and to overclock it.

JacobStar910 · Sep 26, 2015

DonkeyOatie :

Alright so what I've gathered is that I'll go with an 8320. It'll take me 4 months or less to upgrade to:
FX 8320 (OC to hopefully 4.3 Ghz or more)
ASRock 970M Pro3 (140w tdp supported)
R9 380 Nitro
SeaSonic 600w Gold

DonkeyOatie · Sep 27, 2015

If you are in the USA, this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651 is the cheapest motherboard I would use to overclock an FX 8320 to 4.3 Ghz or higher. 140W is really not enough. When you overclock your CPU it may exceed this, and in any case, I do not like running at the limits. You will also need an aftermarket CPU cooler.

This looks like what you say you want.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB Nitro Video Card ($198.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ B&H)
Total: $460.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-27 10:18 EDT-0400

This is what I think you need

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($139.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB Nitro Video Card ($198.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ B&H)
Total: $512.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-27 10:19 EDT-0400

and this is a simpler, better, Intel-based, gaming system.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($165.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB Nitro Video Card ($198.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ B&H)
Total: $501.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-27 10:22 EDT-0400

8320 vs 8300?

Honorable

Expert

Honorable

Expert

Champion

Honorable

Honorable

Expert

Honorable

Champion

Honorable

Champion

Honorable

Champion

Honorable

Champion

Titan

Champion

Distinguished

Champion

Honorable

Champion

Share this page