Help needed to figure out what CPU to get (and motherboard)

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TeZieh

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Mar 11, 2015
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So im getting a R9 380 and i realized i wanted to upgrade my CPU while im at it. But i dont know what to get!! All i do on my PC is play Skyrim, Dota 2, maybe some upcoming titles but i will probably do little recording. Now i dont want to go to Intel if i dont have to, would AMD 6300 or something be good just for playing older games and maybe some upcoming new ones?? With the CPU id also like a decent motherboard paired with it. Thanks!!
 
Solution
Luminary
This would be a good jumping off point, similar price to the ones above, but with better upgradeability as the motherboard is a great overclocker and would do very well with a 4690k eventually:


CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $299.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-30 22:50 EST-0500
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Luminary

Luminary

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Nov 29, 2015
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If you want to stick with AMD, these would be the best two pieces of hardware to get:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($159.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $309.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-30 22:36 EST-0500

You seem to already have a hunch that Intel would be better in the long run (it would), but the parts above will be great for playing current games and older titles with the R9 380. The motherboard is one of the best you can get for the FX-8350, and will support the overclock the CPU would require to really shine for a few more years.

You'll want a better heatsink than the stock one for the 8350, and the Cryorig H7 would be a very good choice. One of the best budget to performance air coolers available right now and fits into almost any mid-tower case:

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $30.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-30 22:39 EST-0500
 
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TeZieh

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Thanks for fast reply, if i went to intel what would be a good starter CPU and motherboard to get so later on i could get a i5 4690k or something?


 
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Luminary

Luminary

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This would be a good jumping off point, similar price to the ones above, but with better upgradeability as the motherboard is a great overclocker and would do very well with a 4690k eventually:


CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $299.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-30 22:50 EST-0500
 
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TeZieh

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Thank you this was exactly what i was looking for. Im probably going to switch to Intel in this case! Thanks again!


 
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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You'd be surprised at the difference Intel can make in some games, especially single thread heavy games like skyrim. An i3 will mop the floor with a 6300.

The r9 380 is pushing the limits of capability on a 6300. Without a good OC, you'll tend to see some bottlenecking, especially on cpu intensive games like skyrim, where single thread performance heavily outweighs core count. In skyrim an fx4300 at the same clock as an fx6300 will get the same performance as it only uses 1-3 cores. This is true of most older titles. Newer titles are headed towards core count (BF4) out weighing single thread performance. I7- 8 core Fx- i5- phenom ii x6- i3- fx 6core- phenom ii x4- fx r core. That's the bf4 hierarchy.

A move to Intel has more benefits than cons and more capability than the fx6300.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($89.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($54.50 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $175.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-30 22:54 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($80.75 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $308.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-30 21:59 EST-0500
 
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TeZieh

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Ive never looked at Xeons before, but can you explain to me why you chose that for a CPU?


 
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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The Xeon are an i7 without a igpu. So they have unlocked Hyperthreading. That means basically they are like an 8 core version of the 4 core i5s. In single thread heavy games like skyrim or fallout, this doesn't do anything, these games use 1-3 cores at best. But in multiple core games like BF4 it's a rather large advantage. With steam games, streaming, etc using compressed audio to make dls smaller, cpu cores are being utilized to uncompress that audio, so all 8 threads of an fx or i7 get used. You can do a lot more work with 8 threads at 3.3GHz than 4 threads at 4.8GHz. It's a lesson learned from consoles like the ps4 which uses an 8 core fx cpu at 1.8GHz. They have to fit that whole game on a limited Blu-ray, and that includes the compressed audio. It equates to higher fps as 4 or more cores can be dedicated to the game graphics and data leaving 4 cores working the audio, Windows, other pc stuff. With an i5, you cut that working in half. This is going to be the trend with most AAA games that run at bf4's level of complexity. It's the same trend as happened a few years ago, between dual core cpus and quad core. Gta: V min required is a quad core (there's a hack for the pentium g3258) and the g3258 suffers even with a good OC, it just doesn't have the core count to work all that data without bottlenecking.

A Xeon / i7 gets the same performance as an i5 in single thread games, but the i5 is lacking in multi-thread. It's going to be a better choice in upcoming titles.

So a Xeon is an i7 with no internal graphics. Not that big a problem for any gamer, those with FX Cpus have been dealing with that for years. But it is also a locked multiplier cpu just like any other non-k Intel cpu. Just has 8 threads to work with instead of four, at the same price as the 4 core cpus.
 
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