Looking into going from FX-8320 to an Intel, but I have no idea where to begin

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

Hi there, I am currently running a FX-8320 and looking into making a newer intel system. Intel's naming system and their CPU's are a little confusing for me. So I am unsure were to begin, I have a budget of about $2500.00. I have been told it is way to much. But I don't wanna be where I am now again in a year. Besides my HDD's, K+M, GTX 980 And monitor is all I plan on bringing with me. Because I am use my old build as a media PC. I am sorry if this is the wrong forum. But I was unsure of were to post this. I am not asking you to pick my parts, I just need help understanding Intel's CPUs. Thank you.

blue_smoke · Nov 19, 2015

There's not much to understand. It isn't like cars and their nomenclatures. It is the same thing as AMD.

Celeron - cheap, never touch for gaming rig
Pentium - less cheap, possibly office PC, still wouldn't use in anything
i3- For the very budget build person, excellent for office PC
i5 - mid ranged gaming build people, more than enough for office and multimedia PC
i7 - overkill for everything in my opinion. i7 is for those that need to video edit, game and engineer at the same time
as for the numbers, its just like AMD as I said

based on most PC build recommendations

i3's
6100 - low
6200 - middle
6320 - high

i5's

6400 - low
6500 - mddle
6600- high middle
6600k - high

i7's

6700 - low
6700k - high

blue_smoke · Nov 19, 2015

Whereas amd is
fx-4100
fx-6300
fx-6350
fx-6300E (energy efficient, comparable to Intel's T at the end of their numbers)
fx-8320
fx-8320E
fx-8350
FX-8350E
fx-8370
fx-9 seires
etc

Geekwad · Nov 19, 2015

Pentium-Celeron = Lower tier processors
i3 have hyperthreading but lower core counts.
i5 has no hyperthreading, but higher core counts.
i7 has hyperthreading and high core counts.
Xeon picks up where i7 leaves off with some overlap.

$2500 is a great budget, but would have to ask how you plan on using the computer to add a bit to the above explanation as there are some caveats for i7 choices in particular.

synphul · Nov 19, 2015

Are you talking in terms of us dollars? ($2500). You mentioned bringing other components with you, mouse, keyboard, monitor, hard drives and a gtx 980 video card? If so then $2500 is way more than you would need.

What type of tasks do you need the pc to do, basic browsing, office work, high end gaming, video editing? All of the above?

blue_smoke · Nov 19, 2015

Xeons pick up in the i5 price range. On 1150, which is getting phased out by skylake's 1151, I could get a 4 core, 8 thread Xeon for the same price as an unlocked i5. I could get an i7 for i5 pricing.
Geekwad, this is for his new gaming rig as he said his old one is being used as a media PC.
There is no reason for i7 choices in this day and age yet. They only have 4 real cores, and there is little possibility you'd need that and 4 more threads.

Geekwad · Nov 19, 2015

blue_smoke :

All of that is a fair opinion, but when I see a $2500 budget without a monitor and one GPU and some storage already in the mix, I like to dig into how high the expectations are. When 16gb HBM2 cards come out in less than a year, a PCI 3.0 x 8 lanes isn't going to be optimal. If you want two of them because you plan on playing (or want to work into) multi-monitor setups, or dual 4k VR headsets that need 90fps+ to maintain immersion, then I like to ask some questions.

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

blue_smoke :

Thank you the break down of Intel and AMD. That will honestly help me alot.

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

synphul :

Everything but the video editing. But the 980 is either coming with me or staying with the old build. Depends if the wife wants a Sims 4 machine.

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

Geekwad :

blue_smoke :

All of that is a fair opinion, but when I see a $2500 budget without a monitor and one GPU and some storage already in the mix, I like to dig into how high the expectations are. When 16gb HBM2 cards come out in less than a year, a PCI 3.0 x 8 lanes isn't going to be optimal. If you want two of them because you plan on playing (or want to work into) multi-monitor setups, or dual 4k VR headsets that need 90fps+ to maintain immersion, then I like to ask some questions.

I would love to build a either a VR ready system or 4k ready system. with pascal coming out soon, that's why I am keeping the 980 for now.

synphul · Nov 19, 2015

While it's true that mainstream desktop i7's (lga 1150/1151) like the 4790k and 6700k are still quad cores like the i5's, they are a bit different. They have hyperthreading which can help if doing a considerable amount of video editing. It can help in a few (though small number) of games. If someone doesn't want to fool with overclocking, the i7's are clocked faster out of the box. They also provide improved performance for those who wish to stream their game play while playing (less fps drops while streaming). Things to consider.

It's important to look at benchmarks for various games or programs you wish to run and compare different processors. Statements like 'they only have 4 real cores' is a little misleading in tone. Neither intel nor users attempt to claim i7's on these platforms have more than 4 cores despite the hyperthreading but with 'only' four cores they're still the fastest and most powerful desktop cpu's available.

The enthusiast/workstation class motherboard platforms like lga2011/x99 continue with the i7's offering 6 core 12 thread and 8 core 16 thread cpu's which get pretty expensive. Unless they're overclocked the higher the core count the slower the cores. The 4790k/6700k still have the fastest core speeds.

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

synphul :

While it's true that mainstream desktop i7's (lga 1150/1151) like the 4790k and 6700k are still quad cores like the i5's, they are a bit different. They have hyperthreading which can help if doing a considerable amount of video editing. It can help in a few (though small number) of games. If someone doesn't want to fool with overclocking, the i7's are clocked faster out of the box. They also provide improved performance for those who wish to stream their game play while playing (less fps drops while streaming). Things to consider.

It's important to look at benchmarks for various games or programs you wish to run and compare different processors. Statements like 'they only have 4 real cores' is a little misleading in tone. Neither intel nor users attempt to claim i7's on these platforms have more than 4 cores despite the hyperthreading but with 'only' four cores they're still the fastest and most powerful desktop cpu's available.

The enthusiast/workstation class motherboard platforms like lga2011/x99 continue with the i7's offering 6 core 12 thread and 8 core 16 thread cpu's which get pretty expensive. Unless they're overclocked the higher the core count the slower the cores. The 4790k/6700k still have the fastest core speeds.

So I could get something like a 6700K, And be at least comfortable for a few years?

Geekwad · Nov 19, 2015

0ruiner0 :

I would really focus your attention to the x99 platform and the Haswell-E 5930k i7 processor. This gives you 40 PCIe lanes, enough to run two cards at x16 and still have 8 lanes left over for expansion cards you may want.....like PCIe storage devices. It's a 6 core, 12 thread processor (so 4 more and faster threads than your current 8320), and easily OC's, if that's something you'd like to do.

That platform will have a top end 10 core, 20 thread processor....so has great upgrade potential (if it ever did need to be). Along with quad channel DDR4, it's the most flexible platform out now (in my opinion) in the HEDT market.....and certainly fits in your budget with room to spare (even if you added a second 980 now while you wait for the next-gen GPUs).

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

Geekwad :

0ruiner0 :

I would really focus your attention to the x99 platform and the Haswell-E 5930k i7 processor. This gives you 40 PCIe lanes, enough to run two cards at x16 and still have 8 lanes left over for expansion cards you may want.....like PCIe storage devices. It's a 6 core, 12 thread processor (so 4 more and faster threads than your current 8320), and easily OC's, if that's something you'd like to do.

That platform will have a top end 10 core, 20 thread processor....so has great upgrade potential (if it ever did need to be). Along with quad channel DDR4, it's the most flexible platform out now (in my opinion) in the HEDT market.....and certainly fits in your budget with room to spare (even if you added a second 980 now while you wait for the next-gen GPUs).

So taking the Haswell-E 5930k and pairing with something like this Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler. Overclocking/ Cooling I assume be a less of a hassle? So if and when the time came it could be SLI 2 titan cards and no bottle neck? not planning on that but it is nice to dream.

synphul · Nov 19, 2015

In the past there hasn't been much appreciable difference between x16/x8 sli and x16/x16. That could be different now, I'm not all that up on vr and the type of performance/hardware requirements over standard gaming. Like Geekwad mentioned, with x99 (skylakes workstation motherboards aren't available yet) you can go with a cpu that supports 40pcie lanes. The least expensive 5820k is also a 6 core 12 thread but only supports 28 pcie lanes. You'll need the 40 lanes if you intend to run sli both at x16.

Some boards like the evga z170 classified have a plx chip that allows up to quad sli but at x8 and I don't believe it supports x16/x16. The x99 boards/cpu's like the one Geekwad mentioned do.

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

synphul :

In the past there hasn't been much appreciable difference between x16/x8 sli and x16/x16. That could be different now, I'm not all that up on vr and the type of performance/hardware requirements over standard gaming. Like Geekwad mentioned, with x99 (skylakes workstation motherboards aren't available yet) you can go with a cpu that supports 40pcie lanes. The least expensive 5820k is also a 6 core 12 thread but only supports 28 pcie lanes. You'll need the 40 lanes if you intend to run sli both at x16.

Some boards like the evga z170 classified have a plx chip that allows up to quad sli but at x8 and I don't believe it supports x16/x16. The x99 boards/cpu's like the one Geekwad mentioned do.

So the 6700K supports 40pcie lanes?

Geekwad · Nov 19, 2015

synphul :

It really isn't different now either. The highest of current high end cards still only show tiny performance hits going from x16 to x8, but the major jump in manufacturing process and memory bandwidth in this new generation are going to start to have less than perfect optimization (bottleneck) at the PCIe bus.....especially as they mature. Because this introduction and maturity is going to take place over the next 1-4 years during a new purchase's ownership, at the high end of the performance curve, x99 is the best available now to deal with it over the longer term (in my opinion).

synphul · Nov 19, 2015

No, the cpu Geekwad mentioned does, the 5930k. Natively it will support x16/x16 but I'm leaving that up to those who are more in tune with vr gaming to say whether it will benefit you or not for your needs.

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

synphul :

ok, Thank you for that. So a Intel Core i7 5960X would be over kill?

Geekwad · Nov 19, 2015

0ruiner0 :

Unless some fairly heavy rendering is part of your daily tasks, then I would say yes. The 5960x adds two more cores and 4 threads, but the base clock is lower. It can be over clocked too, and to a similar neighborhood as the 5930k (or the 6700k for that matter), but it doesn't offer any better performance outside of very well optimized multi-threading programs. Both 5930k and 5960x are 40 lane CPUs. The 6700k offers 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes directly to the CPU.

If a 6 core 12 thread processor ever does in the future seem like it's holding you back, say for instance if you did 4k or 3D VR editing in the future, then the platform has i7 chips up to 10core 20 thread coming, and Xeon has 22 cores and 44 thread options. I know that seems crazy (and it is for most people), but speaking for the platform and its possibilities, it's the best of the best that any manufacturer has to offer right now in the High End Desktop space.

0ruiner0 · Nov 19, 2015

Geekwad :

0ruiner0 :

Unless some fairly heavy rendering is part of your daily tasks, then I would say yes. The 5960x adds two more cores and 4 threads, but the base clock is lower. It can be over clocked too, and to a similar neighborhood as the 5930k (or the 6700k for that matter), but it doesn't offer any better performance outside of very well optimized multi-threading programs. Both 5930k and 5960x are 40 lane CPUs. The 6700k offers 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes directly to the CPU.

If a 6 core 12 thread processor ever does in the future seem like it's holding you back, say for instance if you did 4k or 3D VR editing in the future, then the platform has i7 chips up to 10core 20 thread coming, and Xeon has 22 cores and 44 thread options. I know that seems crazy (and it is for most people), but speaking for the platform and its possibilities, it's the best of the best that any manufacturer has to offer right now in the High End Desktop space.

6700k would be the saner option, would more head room on the platform for the future? If I am understanding you correctly.

Geekwad · Nov 19, 2015

The 6700k is the less expensive of the options:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($399.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($211.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $724.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

But with your budget an additional $250-300 for the 5930k will be, in my opinion, more flexible over the next 3-5 years:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($559.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 OC Formula/3.1 EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($303.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1003.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Looking into going from FX-8320 to an Intel, but I have no idea where to begin

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