I'm looking at the AM3+ tier lists in the context of a FX series CPU. The exact CPU is to be determined, but it seems like there may not be a huge amount of difference if one is looking to OC anyway. The CPUs are (at Micro Center):
Model (base/turbo/TDP)
__________________________
8320E $109 (3200/4000/95W)
8320 $119 (3500/4000/125W)
8350 $149 (4000/4200/125W)
8370E $149 (3300/4300/95W)
8370 $169 (4000/4300/125W)
Since the 8320E/8370E are 95 W TDP parts, should I think of them as more like the other 95 W TDPs (specifically the FX-6300) or more like the other 8 series CPUs at 125 W TDP?
I am not looking for an extreme overclock -- I'd probably end up somewhere in the range of 4000-4300, although I wouldn't complain about the ability to go a bit higher if it didn't cost me much extra. On the other hand, I'm also looking at the other side from a marginal-cost perspective and am not inclined to pay too much for the last 100-200 MHz. You get a $40 discount at Micro Center on select motherboards with purchase of a FX. Here are the candidates, in ascending price order:
AsRock 970M Pro3 $10 (not listed on tier list, although the 970 Pro3 is listed in 970 Tier 2).
Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 $30 (970 Tier 2 -- "These MoBos are NOT FIT to be paired with FX 8, with OCing in mind. And if a Motherboard is not good enough for OCing a particular CPU, is always good to NOT get that MoBo for that CPU. But besides that, they’re fine for FX 6 or lower.")
AsRock 970 Extreme3 $35 (970 Tier 1-B -- "Good board for OCing FX 6, fine for mild OC on FX 8, don't expect extreme OC due to moderate power phases design, but is a good overall board quality wise, better than any Tier Two board.")
Asus M5A97 R2.0 $50 (970 Tier 1-A: "Great boards for OCing . . . can OC FX 8 well.")
AsRock Fata1ity 970 Performance $50 (not listed in tier list).
GA-970A-UD3P $50 (970 Tier 1-A)
MSI 970 Gaming $60 (970 Tier 1-A)
MSI 970A Krait USB 3.1 $60 (970 Tier 1-A)
M5A99FX PRO R2.0 $80 (990 Tier 1-B: "Great boards for extreme OCing on any current FX in the market.")
AsRock 990FX Killer $90 (990 Tier 2: "Good boards quality wise, great for OCing, have enough power for some serious OC on FX 8 or lower CPUs.")
I also have a spare GA-970A-DS3P (970 Tier 2).
I have two use cases in mind, which may or may not be the same system. One is to run batch optical character recognition on a large stack of PDFs using a multi-threaded application (not Acrobat!). So that system would prize stability & reliability, but I can't think of any other special features. The other use case is to run a bunch of VMs, ideally with Xen-based Qubes OS, so that system would benefit from good virtualization support (Astock?) and lots of separate USB and other controllers (or, alternatively, open PCI Express slots in which to add such controllers -- x1 would be fine).
After writing this out, I think my question is what I could get on the $50-60 boards vs. the $30-$35 boards vs. my spare or the Pro3.
Thanks!
Model (base/turbo/TDP)
__________________________
8320E $109 (3200/4000/95W)
8320 $119 (3500/4000/125W)
8350 $149 (4000/4200/125W)
8370E $149 (3300/4300/95W)
8370 $169 (4000/4300/125W)
Since the 8320E/8370E are 95 W TDP parts, should I think of them as more like the other 95 W TDPs (specifically the FX-6300) or more like the other 8 series CPUs at 125 W TDP?
I am not looking for an extreme overclock -- I'd probably end up somewhere in the range of 4000-4300, although I wouldn't complain about the ability to go a bit higher if it didn't cost me much extra. On the other hand, I'm also looking at the other side from a marginal-cost perspective and am not inclined to pay too much for the last 100-200 MHz. You get a $40 discount at Micro Center on select motherboards with purchase of a FX. Here are the candidates, in ascending price order:
AsRock 970M Pro3 $10 (not listed on tier list, although the 970 Pro3 is listed in 970 Tier 2).
Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 $30 (970 Tier 2 -- "These MoBos are NOT FIT to be paired with FX 8, with OCing in mind. And if a Motherboard is not good enough for OCing a particular CPU, is always good to NOT get that MoBo for that CPU. But besides that, they’re fine for FX 6 or lower.")
AsRock 970 Extreme3 $35 (970 Tier 1-B -- "Good board for OCing FX 6, fine for mild OC on FX 8, don't expect extreme OC due to moderate power phases design, but is a good overall board quality wise, better than any Tier Two board.")
Asus M5A97 R2.0 $50 (970 Tier 1-A: "Great boards for OCing . . . can OC FX 8 well.")
AsRock Fata1ity 970 Performance $50 (not listed in tier list).
GA-970A-UD3P $50 (970 Tier 1-A)
MSI 970 Gaming $60 (970 Tier 1-A)
MSI 970A Krait USB 3.1 $60 (970 Tier 1-A)
M5A99FX PRO R2.0 $80 (990 Tier 1-B: "Great boards for extreme OCing on any current FX in the market.")
AsRock 990FX Killer $90 (990 Tier 2: "Good boards quality wise, great for OCing, have enough power for some serious OC on FX 8 or lower CPUs.")
I also have a spare GA-970A-DS3P (970 Tier 2).
I have two use cases in mind, which may or may not be the same system. One is to run batch optical character recognition on a large stack of PDFs using a multi-threaded application (not Acrobat!). So that system would prize stability & reliability, but I can't think of any other special features. The other use case is to run a bunch of VMs, ideally with Xen-based Qubes OS, so that system would benefit from good virtualization support (Astock?) and lots of separate USB and other controllers (or, alternatively, open PCI Express slots in which to add such controllers -- x1 would be fine).
After writing this out, I think my question is what I could get on the $50-60 boards vs. the $30-$35 boards vs. my spare or the Pro3.
Thanks!
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